New Spins: 25th January 2021

Welcome to another addition of New Spins, this week it's all about the doomy, sludgey stuff with three awesome new artists I've been checking out recently.

Snow - Fast N' Heavy Loud N' Slow

Any of you who read this blog regularly will know that I have a penchant for hardcore punk. My discovery, around age 15/16, of the US hardcore bands of the early 80s acted as my gateway into heavy music. So Brazilian band Snow's debut album instantly tickled me with it's combination of thick sludge guitar sounds, hardcore punk drumming and the kind of carefree energy that reminds me of the finest so-cal skate punk bands. They also have some great song-writing chops too, with the tracks Escape From Brazil, Crying Eyes and Nowhere Fast being particular standouts. It reminds me a lot of Boris's last album NO, which was one of my favourite albums of last year, and if you're looking for something that combines the sounds of Acid Bath and Melvins with Black Flag's viciousness and Trash Talk's catchiness, then Snow are definitely worth checking out. 

Listen on Bancamp here

La Nausee - Split

It's interesting that in the press release for this single by La Nausee they mention Deftones as an influence, because while this is a filthy slab of sludge, there is definitely a 90s alt-metal vibe to it too... you know, the kind of turn-of-the-millennium stuff that had a similar groove to nu-metal but without the terrible rapping and misguided hip-hop beats. Hailing from Belgium, La Nausee have produced a debut single full of dark and nihilistic themes, and a brutal but hook-laden sound that rampages for 2 minutes and 49 seconds with absolutely no filler. It's definitely a great sign of things to come from this band, and I'm looking forward to what they produce next.

Listen on Bancamp here

Guia Luz Negra - various singles

Guia Luz Negra is a one man project from Mexico that is hard to categorise so easily. There's a distinctly Danzig vibe in both the vocal prominence and the song-writing style, but the riffs have a distinctly doomy taste to them and there are elements of desert rock and psychedelia scattered across the canvas too. Imagine if Danzig had started a side project with Jus Oborn and Dave Wyndorf, and you kind of get the picture. In any case, there are four singles online right now from this project and all of them are bangers, but particularly the latest one Almighty which is a precursor to an EP expected later this year. Keep your eyes peeled!

Listen on Spotify here