Penance - Proving Ground

Here's another offering from the altar of doom metal. Penance are a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania doom metal outfit who produce some great tunes. While the vocals are mixed a little higher in the recording than they probably should be, they don't overpower the riffs and backing tracks. A good thing since these guys have some pretty kick-ass riffs.

Definite influence from some of the greats like Saint Vitus and various stoner rock sounds. Down-low and dirty sounds, just the way I like them.

Any fans of stoner rock and traditional doom metal will enjoy this recording.

Penance - Proving Ground

1.	Proving Ground
2.	Cloudless
3.	Transcending
4.	Dead Already
5.	Bitter
6.	Pain
7.	Never Lost
8.	Cast In Grey
9.	Bleed You
10.	Circle #9
11.	Slipping...

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Witch - Self-Titled

"Witch was formed in 2005 by Dinosaur Jr. guitarist J. Mascis and long time friend Dave Sweetapple. However, Mascis does not play guitar for the band; he plays his first instrument, the drums . To complete the band's lineup, Mascis and Sweetapple recruited the guitarist and vocalist, Kyle Thomas, from avant-folk group Feathers . Their eponymous debut album was released on March 7, 2006. They also contributed an alternate version of the song "Rip Van Winkle" to the Invaders compilation, which was released by Kemado Records in 2006. Their latest album Paralyzed was released on March 18th, 2008."

Now that that's out of the way, this album is an amazing piece of doom. And I listen to a LOT of doom. When I heard "Seer" by way of a recommendation, I was hooked. I didn't expect anything less from a project associated with Dinosaur Jr. members.

This is some definite stoner-feeling, traditional doom metal and fans of trad doom will appreciate it. There's a touch of psychedelic in there as well. Witch also released a new album recently (Paralyzed), but I believe this one is a little better. Don't get me wrong, definitely check out the new album, but the self-titled is an essential album from the contemporary doom scene.

Kyle Thomas - vocals,guitar
Antoine Guerlain - guitar
Dave Sweetapple - bass
J Mascis - drums

Witch - Self-Titled

1. "Seer" - 7:57
2. "Soul of Fire" - 3:37
3. "Black Saint" - 6:02
4. "Changing" - 6:42
5. "Rip Van Winkle" - 4:43
6. "Hand of Glory" - 5:28
7. "Isadora" - 6:00

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Ronnie & The Redcaps - 1958 Recordings

How old is Ronnie James Dio? Answer: Really fuckin' old. Black Sabbath wasn't Dio's first. Raindbow wasn't Dio's first. Even Elf wasn't Dio's first.

Ronnie & The Redcaps was Dio's very first musical project back in 1958. Most of the album is your standard 50's Pop music. Take a listen to "Conquest," though. There's a cool guitar lick, that you normally wouldn't hear with the more poppy songs of the 50's, mixed with horns. Maybe more so with some blues recordings. An early hint of Ronnie's path?

Anyway, this is, as far as I know, the only recording of Ronnie & The Redcaps in existence. There is no title for it. Just a list of songs:

Ronnie & The Redcaps - 1958 Recordings

1. Lover
2. Conquest
3. An Angel is Missing
4. What I’d Say

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Dr. and the Crippens - Peel Sessions (1988)

God knows what album cover that is and have fun trying to find a wealth of information about Dr. and the Crippens, but apparently John Peel felt they were good enough for his famous Peel Sessions. Rightfully so. Dr. and the Crippens are a buried treasure of the hardcore punk scene. They recorded through the 80's and early 90's.

In 1988, Dr. and the Crippens recorded their Peel Session and here it is in all its skull-punching glory. Check out "Ode to a Slug." Almost a grindcore song there. There's definitely some early stirrings of crossover in there as well.

Now a days, Tom Crippen (guitar) and Max Von Rheinheart (vocals) are now members of Baby Judas.

Dr. and the Crippens - Peel Sessions 1988

1. Pink Machinegun
2. The Ballad of Farmer Vincent
3. Garden Center Murders
4. Peely Backwards
5. Skintight
6. Ode to a Slug
7. Pneumatic Geek
8. Death Squad
9. Jimmy Goes to Egypt
10. Don't Look in the Freezer
11. Mindsurf
12. Experiment Conclusion

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Battle of Mice - A Day of Nights

Battle of Mice is a Neurot records super-group of sorts. I'm a complete fan of banshee-like, tortured female vocalists and Julie Christmas (Made Out of Babies) delivers just that on A Day of Nights. I've read in some places that Christmas showed up for some of the recording sessions without any written lyrics and simply improved the session. Whether this is true or not, Christmas delivers some very haunting and sometimes disturbing lyrics.

Backing her are Josh Graham (Red Sparrowes) on guitars/keyboards; Tony Maimone (Book of Knots) on bass; and Joel Hamilton on drums, who has worked with Sparklehorse, Unsane, Frank Black, Elvis Costello, Talib Kweli, Tom Waits and a host of other projects.

The musical content definitely falls into the realm of post-rock and shoegaze with a mix of ambient soundscapes that only help to increase the haunting charm of Christmas's vocals.

While some listeners may find it hard to wrap their head around Christmas's vocal stylings, give the record a chance before tossing it into the circular file.

Battle of Mice - A Day of Nights (2006)

"The Lamb and the Labrador" (6:56)
"Bones in the Water" (5:21)
"Sleep and Dream" (5:58)
"Salt Bridge" (5:49)
"Wrapped in Plain" (5:32)
"At the Base of the Giant's Throat" (9:10)
"Cave of Spleen" (7:16)

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Granicus - Self-Titled

Granicus was a short-lived band from Cleveland, OH. Their single, official release was this self-titled album which included tracks very reminiscent of another band, Led Zeppelin. Woody Leffel's vocals are haunting and very similar to Plant's. Granicus was signed to RCA records and called it quits after their only release.

Most people I play this record for think it's Zeppelin at first, so I can guarantee that fans of the Led will thoroughly enjoy this.

The tracks "Nightmare" and "Prayer" contain some of the most powerful vocals you'll hear from the 70's era of rock. It's a shame these guys never went on to further recordings. There is, however, a recording of a live performance that the band did in November of 1973. That will be uploaded at a later date.

Woody Leffel - vocals, guitars
Wayne Anderson - lead guitar
Al Pinelli - rhythm guitar
Dale Bedford - bass
Joe Battaglia - drums

Granicus - Self-Titled (1973)
1 - You're In America
2 - Bad Talk
3 - Twilight
4 - Prayer
5 - Cleveland Ohio
6 - Nightmare
7 - When You're Movin
8 - Paradise

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