Spirit Caravan: Fang

Motorhead meets Black Sabbath...here's a dose of Spirit Caravan. Can't go wrong with Wino.

ALABAM THUNDERPUSSY: DRY SPELL

Alabam Thunderpussy. Not too much to say about these guys except they sound like a cross between Black Sabbath, Lynnyrd Skyynyrd, Motorhead and Kyuss on crank. Unpretentious and purely visceral with trashy cover art and lyrics, plenty of high octane head banging grooves, and a vocalist that sounds like he eats nails, washing them down with whiskey and amphetamines. Pure, unclean fun. Here's "Dry Spell". It's from their 'River City Revival" album. If you like what you hear you should seek out the album. A solid release.

MOTORHEAD: ORGASMATRON

Here's Motorhead's "Orgasmatron", one of my favorite and possibly the heaviest Motorhead song ever recorded. This track has a heavy, wide open, trippy apocalyptic feel to it that is rare to find in a Motorhead song...not your standard Motorhead/biker metal fare. Check it out. It comes from their 1986 album with the same name. Enjoy.

WINO'S "PUNCTUATED EQUILIBRIUM"

Ok. It's rare these days that I get a new album or movie in my hands to review for you. With my wife and I's hours cut due to the economy, we don't have much extra cash to spare on luxury items. I have a huge backlog of music and movies from my years and years of collecting to review for you here, so don't worry, I will never run out of material. It is nice though when I have something that is new to me to review for you, and yesterday I was fortunate enough to be able to pick up Wino's brand new album "Punctuated Equilibrium".

"Punctuated Equilibrium" is without a doubt Wino's best work since he left Saint Vitus. Don't get me wrong, The Obsessed and Spirit Caravan are still great, but there is something about this album that is more exceptionally focused and well executed than his other efforts. "Punctuated Elibrium" is the perfect psych/hippie/doom metal album. It is an addictive brew mixed with equal parts Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Motorhead, Hawkwind, and Helios Creed. Wino's guitar playing is incredible. He is the master of the ungodly, sinister, earth moving, almighty riff. His guitar solos channel all kinds of psychedelic demons. There are evil, hip shaking, head banging grooves all over the place. Nasty sounding, grungy, spacey chords abound. The sparse use of keybaords here and there is nice. Wino's Lemmy meets Ozzy vocals are in top form. The songwriting is tight and loaded with hooks. What is surprising about this record is Wino's foray into space rock on some of the tracks towards the end such as "Wild Blue Yonder". Helios or Hawkwind couldn't have done it any better. The longer, spacey instrumental tracks (there are only a few) are just as strong as the songs with vocals. There is not a weak moment on here. If you're into Saint Vitus, The Obsessed, Spirit Caravan, or into doom/hippie/stoner/psychedelic metal in any form go out and pick this one up now. It will not disappoint.

Here's "Release Me", the opening track. Enjoy, you gotta pick this one up.

MOTORHEAD: THE ACE OF SPADES

Motorhead. No matter if you love 'em or hate 'em, you can't deny their influence on metal and hard rock in general over the past three decades. After leaving the space rock band Hawkwind in the early mid 1970's, Lemmy came foward on his own in full force with Motorhead. With a biker image, blazing fast tempos, deafening guitars and growling vocals, biker metal was born, and rock and roll became exciting again. Not until the insurgence of punk in the late 1970's would there be anything that approached their energy.

Here's one of my favorite tracks, the classic "Ace of Spades".

ORANGE GOBLIN

Orange Goblin are a heavy stoner metal band that came out around 1997. They have released six albums so far, my favorites being "The Big Black"(2000), "Coup de Grace"(2002), and "Thieving From the House of God"(2004). Their sound can best be described as seamless fusion of Kyuss, Motorhead, and Black Sabbath. In other words, no holds barred balls to the wall acid burned hippie biker metal with a tinge of horror thrown in for good measure. The vocals are always solid...they sound like a cross between John Garcia of Kyuss and Lemmy of Motorhead.

All three of these albums differ greatly from each other, but the same attitude runs through each. "The Big Black" is a heavy, trippy, sprawling, stoner space rock epic. "Coup de Grace" keeps the stoner rock but adds a hefty dose of biker metal and punk to the mix. John Garcia of Kyuss even does guest vocals on two tracks: "Jesus Beater" and "Made of Rats". They also do a very faithful cover of The Misfits' "We Bite"! On "Thieving from the House of God", they still keep on the stoner side, but have mellowed out a bit. They draw on more traditional '70's rock for this album, creating a more melodic, yet still potent sound.

I highly recommend all three of these albums. They are not perfect, because Orange Goblin tends to wonder off and lose focus on longer tracks, which is nothing to complain about because there's only a few. I would start out with "Coup de Grace" because it is the strongest of the three.

'Til next time,
As John Garcia sings in "Made of Rats"...

"If it seems like I'm sinkin',
and I'm talking to the back of my hand,
it's because I've been drinkin',
cuz I don't understand..."

Here's "Scorpianica" from "The Big Black", "Monkey Panic" from "Coup de Grace", and "Some You Win, Some You Lose", from "Thieving from the House of God". Enjoy!

SPIRIT CARAVAN-"The Last Embrace"

Spirit Caravan. Anybody out there ever heard of this band? They are led by ex-Saint Vitus and Obsessed singer Scott "Wino" Weinrich. Like the two bands he came from, they are doomy stoner metal, but Spirit Caravan has a more unique sound than the other two. Filled with earth-moving riffs and grooves, a small dose of Sabbath worship, and gloomy introspective vocals, Spirit Caravan were a band to be reckoned with. The songs are mostly mid-paced so they don't fall in the same rut of sludge as some other doom metal bands. The best way to describe them would be to imagine a cross between the heavy, early Soundgarden and Motorhead.

"The Last Embrace" is a sprawling two-disc set covering most of Spirit Caravan's short but fruitful career. It's a good place to start if you're curious.

Here's "Healing Tongue" and "Cosmic Artifact". Enjoy!