2009 YEAR IN REVIEW
2009 was a good year for doom. From a massive doom festival in Upstate NY to new releases (and release parties) by Toronto's biggest names, twas a solid 12 months for slow motion headbangers. What follows are my HIGHlites of the year; my top 10 concerts and top 10 albums of 2009.
TOP 10 CONCERTS
10. Sons of OTIS/Electric Magma/Keef/Skull @ Sneaky Dee's, June 13th: While the attendance wasn't spectacular, there weren't too many four-band bills that were heavier than OTIS' CD release party.
9. Zoraster/The Gates of Slumber/SerpentCult @ Annex Wreckroom, August 3rd: This was one tour that certainly blew its share of eardrums. Hitting Toronto on a holiday Monday, these three bands brought the doom!
8. Quest For Fire/Chylde/The Saffron Sect @ The Horseshoe Tavern, July 25th: Buffalo's finest heavy rock band showed that there's more to that city than chicken wings and a losing football team. Quest For Fire had the unenviable task of going on afterwards, but still performed admirably.
7. KISS @ Air Canada Centre, October 2nd: The hottest band in the land still puts on one helluva arena rock show. Technical difficulties in the early going could've put a damper on the evening, but were quickly resolved. Unfortunately, we still had to endure a full set of Buckcherry...
6. White Cowbell Oklahoma @ Lee's Palace, December 18th: Even better than KISS, the Toronto southern rock collective brought their rowdy stage show to a packed Palace, complete with lotsa lewdity, nudity and special guest appearances.
5. OM/Lichens/Sons of OTIS @ Wrongbar, October 9th: This was the most people I've ever seen at an OTIS gig, and they've rarely sounded better. I wasn't digging the droner interlude, but then Al Cisneros came on and showed us all why he's the spaced-out god of stoner doom bass and vocals...
4. Zoroaster @ Adrift Clubhouse, Earthless @ The Horseshoe Tavern, February 20th: I really wasn't feeling local opener Orca, and Witch kinda fell flat afterwards, but seeing Zoroaster in a tiny warehouse followed by Earthless a couple blocks away in the same evening was definitely one of my highlites of '09!
3. Blood Ceremony/Lullabye Arkestra/The Saffron Sect/Keef @ Sneaky Dee's, January 3rd: The first heavy rock show of '09 still went down as one of the best, several months later. I have never seen so many people at Sneaky Disease for a lineup that was both heavy and diverse while Blood Ceremony announced their arrival to the Toronto indie hipster community. (Some of us had discovered them a couple years prior, but I digress...)
2. Mononc' Serge et Anonymus/Les Ékorchés @ Le National (Montreal), April 18th: This was a show that mighta been lost in translation. While Anonymus struggles to draw 30 people in Toronto, they sell out concert halls in Quebec, especially when accompanied by the controversial Mononc' Serge. This sold-out show at Le National was opened by Les Ékorchés, a sludge-metal supergroup with bass violin. More than just a concert, it was a real spectacle, with costumes, props, and a dance number at the end... But you probably wouldn't have liked it, unless you speak French.
1. Born Too Late II doomfest @ The Bug Jar (Rochester), August 1st: Twelve solid hours of doom (with a brief intermission in between). Need I say more?
TOP 10 ALBUMS
10. Nadja - When I See the Sun Always Shines on TV (The End Records): Toronto's drone/doom/shoegaze duo releases an all-covers album, putting their take on tunes by the likes of Slayer--and A-ha. A haunting, trippy record, it's also more accessible than some of their other work.
9. The Womb - This is the Doomlodge (indie): Another outstanding local release, The Womb deliver a solid 45 minutes of doom, sludge, hardcore, death and (insert adjective here) metal.
8. Argus - s/t (Shadow Kingdom Records): Perhaps the most promising doom debut of '09, this Pittsburgh quintet is keeping the Sabbath (not to mention Candlemass, Trouble and the like) dream alive!
7. Les Ékorchés - IV Démons (Indica): Les Ékorchés are a French-Canadian supergroup featuring members of Voivod, Ghoulunatics, BARF--and a guy who plays the bass fiddle. Sung entirely in joual, their second album is both catchy and in-your-face. Fourth track "Crash le Bacon" was the soundtrack to my unemployed summer...
6. Candlemass - Death Magic Doom (Nuclear Blast): To some it was a rehash, but I really feel that the second collaboration between Candlemass and Solitude Aeturnus frontman Rob Lowe was a large step forward from their previous effort. Even when they're "going through the motions," so to speak, Leif Edling and company are still better than most doom metal bands out there.
5. Sons of OTIS - Exiled (Small Stone): Exiled no longer, the fifth OTIS album is the best work they've done in the past 10 years. One of my top two local releases of '09.
4. Iron Man - I Have Returned (Shadow Kingdom Records): A return to form for one of the undergroud legends of the Maryland doom scene. Al Morris III, the black Iommi, has found a worthy Ozzy in Joe Donnelly, and a solid rhythm section that takes the recognizable Sabbath sound and brings it into the 21st century.
3. Electric Magma - Mudshovel (indie): Album number five from another local stoner institution, and it's their best work to date, the instro trio incorporating a vocalist from the West Coast and playing tunes worthy of the "sludge" moniker they've bestowed on themselves.
2. Black Pyramid - s/t (MeteorCity): These guys have been one of my favourite stoner doom bands since I first heard a promo of their 7" on Electric Earth in '08. Lemme tell ya, the debut full-length doesn't disappoint!
1. Ogre - Plague of the Planet (Shadow Kingdom Records): A one-track, 38 minute record about giant killer robots from outer space. The Portland, Maine trio have given us Jerusalem for the 21st century.
What did you think of the lists? Discuss em on the THTGIR forum
2009 was a good year for doom. From a massive doom festival in Upstate NY to new releases (and release parties) by Toronto's biggest names, twas a solid 12 months for slow motion headbangers. What follows are my HIGHlites of the year; my top 10 concerts and top 10 albums of 2009.
TOP 10 CONCERTS
10. Sons of OTIS/Electric Magma/Keef/Skull @ Sneaky Dee's, June 13th: While the attendance wasn't spectacular, there weren't too many four-band bills that were heavier than OTIS' CD release party.
9. Zoraster/The Gates of Slumber/SerpentCult @ Annex Wreckroom, August 3rd: This was one tour that certainly blew its share of eardrums. Hitting Toronto on a holiday Monday, these three bands brought the doom!
8. Quest For Fire/Chylde/The Saffron Sect @ The Horseshoe Tavern, July 25th: Buffalo's finest heavy rock band showed that there's more to that city than chicken wings and a losing football team. Quest For Fire had the unenviable task of going on afterwards, but still performed admirably.
7. KISS @ Air Canada Centre, October 2nd: The hottest band in the land still puts on one helluva arena rock show. Technical difficulties in the early going could've put a damper on the evening, but were quickly resolved. Unfortunately, we still had to endure a full set of Buckcherry...
6. White Cowbell Oklahoma @ Lee's Palace, December 18th: Even better than KISS, the Toronto southern rock collective brought their rowdy stage show to a packed Palace, complete with lotsa lewdity, nudity and special guest appearances.
5. OM/Lichens/Sons of OTIS @ Wrongbar, October 9th: This was the most people I've ever seen at an OTIS gig, and they've rarely sounded better. I wasn't digging the droner interlude, but then Al Cisneros came on and showed us all why he's the spaced-out god of stoner doom bass and vocals...
4. Zoroaster @ Adrift Clubhouse, Earthless @ The Horseshoe Tavern, February 20th: I really wasn't feeling local opener Orca, and Witch kinda fell flat afterwards, but seeing Zoroaster in a tiny warehouse followed by Earthless a couple blocks away in the same evening was definitely one of my highlites of '09!
3. Blood Ceremony/Lullabye Arkestra/The Saffron Sect/Keef @ Sneaky Dee's, January 3rd: The first heavy rock show of '09 still went down as one of the best, several months later. I have never seen so many people at Sneaky Disease for a lineup that was both heavy and diverse while Blood Ceremony announced their arrival to the Toronto indie hipster community. (Some of us had discovered them a couple years prior, but I digress...)
2. Mononc' Serge et Anonymus/Les Ékorchés @ Le National (Montreal), April 18th: This was a show that mighta been lost in translation. While Anonymus struggles to draw 30 people in Toronto, they sell out concert halls in Quebec, especially when accompanied by the controversial Mononc' Serge. This sold-out show at Le National was opened by Les Ékorchés, a sludge-metal supergroup with bass violin. More than just a concert, it was a real spectacle, with costumes, props, and a dance number at the end... But you probably wouldn't have liked it, unless you speak French.
1. Born Too Late II doomfest @ The Bug Jar (Rochester), August 1st: Twelve solid hours of doom (with a brief intermission in between). Need I say more?
TOP 10 ALBUMS
10. Nadja - When I See the Sun Always Shines on TV (The End Records): Toronto's drone/doom/shoegaze duo releases an all-covers album, putting their take on tunes by the likes of Slayer--and A-ha. A haunting, trippy record, it's also more accessible than some of their other work.
9. The Womb - This is the Doomlodge (indie): Another outstanding local release, The Womb deliver a solid 45 minutes of doom, sludge, hardcore, death and (insert adjective here) metal.
8. Argus - s/t (Shadow Kingdom Records): Perhaps the most promising doom debut of '09, this Pittsburgh quintet is keeping the Sabbath (not to mention Candlemass, Trouble and the like) dream alive!
7. Les Ékorchés - IV Démons (Indica): Les Ékorchés are a French-Canadian supergroup featuring members of Voivod, Ghoulunatics, BARF--and a guy who plays the bass fiddle. Sung entirely in joual, their second album is both catchy and in-your-face. Fourth track "Crash le Bacon" was the soundtrack to my unemployed summer...
6. Candlemass - Death Magic Doom (Nuclear Blast): To some it was a rehash, but I really feel that the second collaboration between Candlemass and Solitude Aeturnus frontman Rob Lowe was a large step forward from their previous effort. Even when they're "going through the motions," so to speak, Leif Edling and company are still better than most doom metal bands out there.
5. Sons of OTIS - Exiled (Small Stone): Exiled no longer, the fifth OTIS album is the best work they've done in the past 10 years. One of my top two local releases of '09.
4. Iron Man - I Have Returned (Shadow Kingdom Records): A return to form for one of the undergroud legends of the Maryland doom scene. Al Morris III, the black Iommi, has found a worthy Ozzy in Joe Donnelly, and a solid rhythm section that takes the recognizable Sabbath sound and brings it into the 21st century.
3. Electric Magma - Mudshovel (indie): Album number five from another local stoner institution, and it's their best work to date, the instro trio incorporating a vocalist from the West Coast and playing tunes worthy of the "sludge" moniker they've bestowed on themselves.
2. Black Pyramid - s/t (MeteorCity): These guys have been one of my favourite stoner doom bands since I first heard a promo of their 7" on Electric Earth in '08. Lemme tell ya, the debut full-length doesn't disappoint!
1. Ogre - Plague of the Planet (Shadow Kingdom Records): A one-track, 38 minute record about giant killer robots from outer space. The Portland, Maine trio have given us Jerusalem for the 21st century.
What did you think of the lists? Discuss em on the THTGIR forum