Listening Lately: Mountains of Dusty Witches

May 2018 has been a great month for stoner/doom, both in terms of new releases and promos in the blog inbox.  While you’re waiting for that Khemmis album to drop, do yourself a favor and listen to albums from Mountain Dust and Witch Mountain. Montreal heavy blues dealers Mountain Dust converted me with some demos… Continue reading Listening Lately: Mountains of Dusty Witches

Album Review: Khemmis’s Desolation

What can I saw about the new Khemmis record?  Their 2015 debut Absolution set them on a path to becoming darlings of the indie metal press; Hunted, released a scant year and a half later, was named Best Album of the Year by Decibel and solidified their place in the hearts of doom metal listeners… Continue reading Album Review: Khemmis’s Desolation

Show Review: Howling Giant, Gorge, and More at Cherry Street Station

There are times in life when you must do That Which is Right: marrying the girl you got pregnant, keeping a lifetime supply of Dunkin Donuts napkins in your glovebox just in case, and sometimes even reviewing a concert that your own band is playing. It was not my intent to cross the streams of… Continue reading Show Review: Howling Giant, Gorge, and More at Cherry Street Station

Sanhedrin: Riding on the Dawn to Fiddler’s Green

Sanhedrin -- Photo by Susan Abramson

Sanhedrin entranced me when I saw them open for Khemmis at Brooklyn’s St. Vitus in early 2017.  The ferocious trad/doom trio seemed to come out of nowhere, only playing a handful of shows a year — but on big stages, opening for national headliners.  And now through some wizardous aligning of the metal scene planets,… Continue reading Sanhedrin: Riding on the Dawn to Fiddler’s Green

Listening Lately: Exercises in Collaboration with Slomatics, Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard, and Glory or Death Records

Hearing Live and Dangerous literally changed my musical life, so when I saw that Glory or Death Records was putting out a compilation of Thin Lizzy covers….  OMG.  Featuring a couple of my Psycho Las Vegas favorites, Mothership and Goya, the first LP of Bow to Your Masters Volume 1 has just been released via… Continue reading Listening Lately: Exercises in Collaboration with Slomatics, Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard, and Glory or Death Records

Listening Lately: Delivery Jams Part II ft. King Witch, Curse the Son, and Norse Mythology

You may wonder, “Why is Jessica delivering pizzas in North Haven, an hour away from where she lives?”  Surely a valid question… The reason is that Apizza Grande’s North Haven location has recently become my family’s business.  And in the name of the Family Business, I took what we’ll call a “paid winter internship” there… Continue reading Listening Lately: Delivery Jams Part II ft. King Witch, Curse the Son, and Norse Mythology

It’s More Like a Warning: An Interview with Usnea

Usnea, from left: Justin Cory, Zeke Rogers (back), Joel Williams, and Johnny Lovingood. Photo by Orion Landau.

On Friday August 18th, Alternative Control talked with up-and-coming doom band Usnea before their set at Psycho Las Vegas.  The Portland, Oregon outfit — which includes guitarist/vocalist Justin Cory, bassist/vocalist Joel Williams, guitarist Johnny Lovingood, and drummer Zeke Rogers — releases their third full-length album Portals Into Futility this Friday on Relapse.  They will also be… Continue reading It’s More Like a Warning: An Interview with Usnea