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Oakland, California-based heavy psych collective HAURUN will release their spellbinding debut full-length, Wilting Within, September 22nd via Small Stone Recordings.

HAURUN is the product of five musicians with a love of dark tones and psychedelia. Through the mysterious world of Craig’s List, guitarist Joel Panton and drummer Eliot Rennie began writing music in 2018 with shared influences of Black Sabbath, Earth, and Kyuss. After a long and challenging search to find the right musicians, they banded together with vocalist Lyra Cruz, guitarist Daniel Schwiderski, and bassist Joel Lacey to deliver a sound that’s heavy whilst deeply emotive.

The band’s stunning debut, Wilting Within, is a journey through layers of slow burning verses and expansive choruses, infused with the enchanting power of Cruz’s vocals. HAURUN blends the hypnotic riffs of doom metal and the gritty essence of grunge to deliver a fresh sound, casting psychedelic spells on the listener.

In advance of the record’s official unveiling, HAURUN reveals first single, “Lunar,” a sonic voyage through hypnotic melodies, heavy distortion, and psychedelia. Lyra’s ethereal vocals intertwine with layers of sludgy guitar riffs, transcendent soundscapes, and mystique that is signature to HAURUN’s style.

Stream HAURUN’s “Lunar” at THIS LOCATION.

Wilting Within was recorded and engineered with the mighty Phil Becker at El Studio in San Francisco, California who captured the intensity and melodic soundscape of HAURUN’s live performance. Eric Hoegemeyer at the Tree Laboratory in Brooklyn, New York and Chris Goosman at Baseline Audio in Ann Arbor, Michigan worked their alchemical magic in mixing and mastering.

Wilting Within will be released on CD and digitally via Small Stone Recordings and on limited vinyl via Kozmik Artifactz. For preorders, visit THIS LOCATION.

Fans of Acid King, Windhand, YOB, King Buffalo, and Emma Ruth Rundle pay heed.

Wilting Within Track Listing:

1. Abyss 

2. Lost & Found

3. Tension 

4. Flying Low 

5. Lunar

6. Soil

HAURUN:

Lyra Cruz – vocals

Joel Paul Lacey – bass

Daniel Schwiderski – guitar

Joel Panton – guitar

Eliot Rennie – drums

For HAURUN coverage contact liz@earsplitcompound.com.



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Denver rock unit ABRAMS is pleased to reveal their new video for “In The Clouds.” Now playing at Metal Injection, the track comes off the band’s In The Dark full-length, set for release on September 9th via Small Stone Recordings.

Comments the band, “At 2:59, ‘In The Clouds’ turned out to be one of our most to-the-point songs to date. The thunderous bass tone paired with the pounding drums are some of the tastiest and heaviest sounds on this record. There are hints of Soundgarden blended with the fuzziness of major key titans Torche.  The climactic drop at the end of the song is probably my favorite moment on this record guaranteeing a headbang from the listener.”

Adds Metal Injection, “The band nails this perfectly grungy, sludgy sound with just the right amount of atmosphere and it works so well. Especially toward the end of ‘In The Clouds’ when they bring it all down into a crushing finale.”

Watch ABRAMS’ “In The Clouds” video at Metal Injection HERE.

Initially seeking to fuse melodic hooks with dissonance, ABRAMS began in 2013 in Denver, Colorado, with guitarist/vocalist Zach Amster and bassist/vocalist Taylor Iversen. Later joined by drummer Ryan DeWitt, ABRAMS has released an EP and three studio albums, all to critical acclaim. With each release the listener can hear the band evolving and maturing to what it has become today. A band dedicated to compelling songwriting, and energetic live performances, ABRAMS ups the ante with the moody, heavy, psychedelic rock venture of their forthcoming LP, In The Dark.

Adding Patrick Alberts (Call Of The Void) to the lineup, In The Dark serves as ABRAMS’ first release as a four-piece, following behind 2020’s Modern Ways. With the pandemic cancelling all touring plans for Modern Ways, ABRAMS immediately got to work demoing more than twenty-five plus songs for their next release. Given the world was in lockdown, Amster took a deep dive to learn the ins and outs of home recording to refine song structure, with a hyperfocus put on vocal hooks. There was a goal set to have as complete and polished songs as possible prior to entering the studio in Summer of 2021 with producer, engineer, and collaborator Dave Otero (Khemmis, Cattle Decapitation) at Flatline Audio who was the last piece in shaping the final soundscape.

The new collection is a fine-tuned, forty-five-minute sonic journey detailing the angers, fears, frustrations, and joys inherent in living in a world gone mad. With cinematic guitar riffs, brooding leads, and addictive vocal hooks, ABRAMS conjures a mature, polished, and intensely passionate craft, urgent but not at all rushed. There are hints of early AmRep mixed in with the larger sounds of ‘90s alt heroes Failure, Quicksand, and Hum. Combine that with the heaviness of recent Mastodon and stoner psychedelia of All Them Witches and you get In The Dark.

In The Dark features cover art by Robin Gnista and will be available on CD, LP, and digitally. Find preorders at THIS LOCATION where first single, “Like Hell” can be streamed.

ABRAMS:
Zachary Amster – guitar, vocals
Taylor Iversen – bass, vocals
Ryan DeWitt – drums
Patrick Alberts – guitar

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[Photo by Eddie Brnabic]  Stream / Share ROBOTS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD’s “Mystic Goddess” HERE.

Portland, Oregon based psychedelic stoner doom collective ROBOTS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD will release their Mystic Goddess full-length via Small Stone on May 21st! Forged thanks to a rare 2015 planetary alignment, ROBOTS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD made an immediate impact with a meteor shower of cosmic grooves and high-octane riffs in the galactic vortex where doom, psych, and stoner rock collide. As a live act, they are a force with which to be reckoned and their 2019 debut Cosmic Riders has garnered over 300,000 plays and counting on digital streaming sites, including Bandcamp, Spotify, and YouTube.  

Eager to take their sound to uncharted regions of the galaxy, ROBOTS OF THE ANCIENT WORLDentered Seattle’s Soundhouse Studios in February 2020 to record with Jack Endino, famed sonic architect of the grunge revolution, and his longtime protégé Mikel Perkins. They emerged through the wormhole with Mystic Goddess, a forty-three-minute hallucinatory sound excursion through a wide range of styles that keeps listeners engaged while never losing focus or sacrificing flow.  

“Raw, powerful, no nonsense production is what we were seeking,” says guitarist Justin Laubscher. After connecting with Endino through a friend and veteran of the grunge wars, Laubscher says the band “scraped up every nickel we could and went for it.” 

Recorded, mixed, and mastered in six days, Mystic Goddess almost crashed and burned prior to liftoff. Four days in, Endino abruptly fell ill, “wrecked from this weird flu from hell,” according to Laubscher. “At the time, COVID-19 was not yet a thing in the US.” Perkins engineered the final two days of tracking. “Perkins is a legend, stepped in without missing a beat, and we all felt at ease. He entertained our more fringe ideas, the ones up until that point I was apprehensive to present to Jack.” Endino eventually finished the mixes remotely and Perkins is credited as co-producer. 

 Musically, the new album includes nods to stoner rock titans like the Stooges, Kyuss, and Boris but the band also wasn’t afraid to borrow ideas from Guns ‘N’ Roses and Santana, while deep diving into their usual lyrical fetishes.  

“I’m intrigued by psychedelics, esotericism, and conspiracy theories. I love to go deep with secret societies, other dimensions, and all that jazz. So, when you hear the Carl Sagan intro to ‘Cosmic Riders’ or David Icke closing out ‘Mystic Goddess,’ it’s a tribute,” notes Laubscher, “a nod to those dudes who are a creative inspiration for my song writing.” 

In advance of the release of Mystic Goddess, ROBOTS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD is pleased to unveil the record’s hypnotic opening title track. Vocalist Caleb Weidenbach comments, “I think for us, this song really is in a way a blueprint to our sound. Justin showed up with these killer riffs and I was hooked on the track. A lot of times my lyrics come from a place of feeling and the words often just spill out of my mouth when they are ready. It’s about women who captivate you, it’s about loneliness and those times we feel lost. I was going through some heavy shit at that time and this song pulled out a lot of the feelings.” 

Bask in the galactic grooves of “Mystic Goddess” at THIS LOCATION. 

Mystic Goddess, which features cover art by Swedish artist Robin Gnista, will be released on CD and digital formats via Small Stone with Kozmik Artifactz handling a limited vinyl edition. Find preorder options at THIS LOCATION. 

Mystic Goddess Track Listing:

1. Mystic Goddess
2. Wasteland
3. Agua Caliente
4. Out Of The Gallows
5. Unholy Trinity
6. MK Ultraviolence
7. Lucifyre
8. Ordo Ab Khao 

ROBOTS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD: 

Caleb Weidenbach – vocals
Nico Schmutz – guitar
Justin Laubscher – guitar
Trevor Berecek – bass
Harry Silvers – drums

View / Share MISS LAVA’s “Fourth Dimension” HERE. Lisbon’s premier heavy rockers MISS LAVA will release their long-awaited new full-length, Doom Machine, this January via Small stone.  The perfect soundtrack for the post-lockdown world, the band’s fourth album and follow-up to 2017’s Dominant Rush EP stands as their densest output to date doused in kaleidoscopic riff explorations and hypnotic interludes; a multi-textured sonic journey that’s at once deep, heavy, mesmerizing, and cathartic. Captured live at Generator Music Studios in Sintra, Portugal by Miguel “Veg” Marques, the record carries with it the warmth and soul of a band full of fresh vigor and perhaps the demons of these tumultuous times. The record is loosely focused on the tragic death of guitarist K. Raffah’s baby son and the other members’ children born during the creative process. “Doom Machine is a very emotional experience for us…,” Raffah shares. “[My son] was only here for a month and a half, but his light was very bright. We feel his presence every time.” Thematically vocalist Johnny Lee adds, “This album reflects on how each one of us can breed and unleash our own self-destructive force, assembled to be part of a giant ‘Doom Machine.'” In advance of the record’s release, today the band is pleased to unveil a video for first single, “Fourth Dimension,” noting, “this is a riff raff explosion that urges people to get out of the cave allegory they live in.”Directed by José Dinis, view MISS LAVA’s “Fourth Dimension” at THIS LOCATION.

Doom Machine will be released on CD and digitally via Small Stone with Kozmik Artifactz handling a limited vinyl edition. Find preorders at THIS LOCATION. Doom Machine Track Listing: 1. Fourth Dimension2. In The Mire3. Magma4. Brotherhood Of Eternal Love5. Sleepy Warm6. The Great Divide7. Karma8. The Fall9. Alpha10. The Oracle11. Terra12. Doom Machine13. God Feeds The Swine *14. Feel Surreal *15. Red Atlantis *** Bonus tracks on CD and digital only  Doom Machine is the successor to MISS LAVA‘s Dominant Rush EP (2017), Sonic Debris (2016), Red Supergiant (2013), and Blues For The Dangerous Miles (2009) – named by Loud Magazine as one of the Top 5 Portuguese Albums Of The Year – as well as a limited edition self-titled blood red vinyl EP (2008). MISS LAVA has brought their explosive presence to stages in the UK, Spain, and Germany and played slots at festivals like Stoned From The Underground, Stonefest, Super Bock Super Rock, Rock In Rio Lisboa, Reverence Valada, Vagos Open Air, Barroselas Metal Fest, and Faro Bike Meeting in their home country. In addition to having traveled to play an exclusive one-off at the legendary Whisky a Go-Go in Los Angeles, the band has shared stages with Queens Of The Stone Age, Graveyard, Ufomammut, Greenleaf, W.A.S.P., Kyuss Lives!, Fu Manchu, Valient Thorr, Entombed, Truckfighters, and many more. The band hopes to return to stages in 2021 to showcase that audio crush that is Doom Machine.

Stream / Share TIA CARRERA’s “Layback” At THIS LOCATION 

Austin, Texas-based heavy psych/blues rock instrumental trio TIA CARRERA will release their long-awaited Tried And True full-length via Small Stone June 12th.Guitarist/engineer Jason Morales and drummer Erik Conn are pushing two decades under the TIA CARRERA banner. Thus, latest endeavor Tried And True, has more than earned its name. Ahead of 2019’s two-song Visitors/Early Purple LP, the founding duo recruited longtime friend and Austin legend Curt Christenson (Dixie Witch, Crimson Devils) as a permanent member, and his well-established bass wizardry has served to embolden the band’s sound, dynamics, and unspoken communion as artists. Tried And True represents in blistering fashion TIA CARRERA‘s unwavering trajectory of heavy psych/blues bliss exploration.  

The band is famously selective about what they release to the public. With each performance unique by virtue of improvisation, they’ve amassed a huge, never-issued collection of recorded material, both live performances and private studio tracks.  Tried And True is a sonic voyage culled from their latest studio work and across a thirty-seven-minute LP (the compact disc runs seventy-one minutes with the only-previously-on-vinyl “Visitors” and “Early Purple” as CD bonus tracks) the three-piece once again scorches their way into the hearts of the lysergic converted. As veterans, TIA CARRERA remains fueled by passion and creative drive, and any time they’ll let us hear what they’ve been up to, we can only consider ourselves lucky.  

Recorded and mixed at The BBQ Shack in Austin, engineered by the band’s own Jason Morales, mastered by Jerry Tubb at Nova Mastering (also in Austin) and swathed in the eye-catching artwork of Alexander Von Weding, Tried And True will see release on CD, digital, and limited edition vinyl formats. Fans of Earthless, Jimi Hendrix, All Them Witches, Fu Manchu, Black Elephant, and Kyuss pay heed. 

For preorders and to sample first single, “Layback,” visit the Small Stone Bandcamp page at THIS LOCATION. 

Tried And True Track Listing:
1. Layback 
2. Taos 
3. Swingin’ Wing 
4. Zen And The Art Of The Thunderstorm 
5. Tried And True 
6. Visitors* 
7. Early Purple* 
* CD Only Bonus Tracks 

TIA CARRERA: 
Jason Morales – guitar 
Curt Christenson – bass 
Erik Conn – drums  

“…groovy heavy rock jams with psychedelic mood, lengthy, tasty solos and hazy atmosphere. Alcohol consumption is strongly advised during the listening…”  – Downtuned Mag