Witchwood - Handful Of Stars (2016)

"In 2014, from the ashes of the cult band Buttered Bacon Biscuits (BBB), were born the Witchwood which released in 2010 "From the Solitary Woods", distribuited by "Black Widow Records" and positively reviewed by many italian and foreign music magazines and websites. To support that album BBB played in many gigs around Italy, also supporting important bands like Uriah Heep, Jethro Tull, Bud Spencer Blues Explosion, etc. They also released in 2013 “A National Acrobat” cover for the Black Sabbath tribute “Hands of Doom” for Mag Music Production. After the BBB split, some members of the band, Ricky, Andy, Steve and Sam, have decided, with the entry of new member Luca Celotti on bass, to

Glitter Wizard - Hollow Earth Tour (2016)

As the group enters it's ninth year, Glitter Wizard are set to release their most ambitious album yet. Hollow Earth Tour is a concept album of sorts; chock-full of reptilian overlords, underwater fascists, and inner-earth explorers. This band of California rifflords pillage the best of vintage hard rock while keeping their laser eyes on the future, creating a unique brand of oddball psychedelia. Their onstage performance is a glammed-up force to be reckoned with and they've been taking their act on the road from the West Coast all the way to Europe.

Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell - Keep It Greasy! (2016)

"There seems to be an endless horde of fresh-faced bands that proclaim to be resurrecting the spirit of rock n’ roll these days. They see themselves to grabbing the genre by the scruff of its neck and dragging it back to its supposed glory years. Yet, few bands can say they’ve lived the lifestyle quite like ADMIRAL SIR CLOUDESLEY SHOVELL. These working class grease rock bastards, fuelled by speed, cheap lager and roadside fry-ups, have the scars to prove their worth. The thing is, The Shovell has never claimed to be the biggest or the best around and frankly they don’t care who is. There is no brash egotism at play here, just a rough-and-ready honesty which permeates in what these three guys do.

Asteroid - III (2016)

"Much of Asteroid‘s aptly-titled third album, III, is unassuming. It arrives via Fuzzorama Records with a photo of the band’s gear — artfully shot, but a gear photo — on the front cover, and at seven tracks/36 minutes, it’s quick, almost humble listen. That’s precisely the point. It’s been six years since the Örebro, Sweden, three-piece released II , and while they would’ve been well within their rights to turn III into some grandiose, probably hyper-produced excursion given the occasion, it also would’ve been completely out of character. Asteroid went a much more fitting way, and III benefits from that choice. 

Natural vibe, on every level. That’s what the gear shot represents.

Nightstalker - As Above So Below (2016)

"Greece’s premiere kings of all that is Stoner Rock and Psychedelia, the spectacular Nightstalker, are back with a brand new full-length album “As Above, So Below” just released via Oak Island Records. The latest album from these hard rockin’ mofos finds vocalist Argy, guitarist Tolis Motsios, bassist Andreas Lagios, and drummer Dinos Roulos doing what it is that they do best: Rocking! Their style of hard-hitting acid rock keeps one foot in the retro world while planting the other firmly in the modern age and thus the guys are standing tall in their unwavering pursuit of all that is heavy. Now well over twenty years into their legacy of fantastic vintage-vibed Rock ‘N Roll, Nightstalker have once again outdone

1000mods - Repeated Exposure To... (2016)

"With their third full-length, Repeated Exposure To…, Greece’s 1000mods affirm their place at the head of the pack of European heavy rock and roll. I mean that without qualification. Not just Greek heavy, but Europe as a whole. They were already leaders in their home country after their 2014 offering, Vultures (review here), which followed their 2012 Valley of Sand EP (discussed here), their 2011 debut LP, Super Van Vacation (review here), 2009’s Liquid Sleep EP (review here), and their first short release, Blank Reality, which came out in 2006, but a full decade later, the Chiliomodi four-piece have become bona fide masters of the form.

Released through their own Ouga Booga and the Mighty Oug

Truckfighters - V (2016)

"Truckfighters are one of the more immediate desert/stoner rock bands in a genre very well known for forgetting to get to the point (maybe lay off the weed a little, guys?). The Swedish band has a sound propelled equally from the desert and 70s smoke-filled arenas, but there’s a decided Soundgarden and Tool influence that makes Truckfighters’ music (even the more sparse and barren soundscapes) feel more propulsive than their peers. It helps that their music is certainly at the more melodic and accessible end of the stoner spectrum. These guys are much more focused than many of their peers, and the songs have reflected that over the years. Truckfighters have been known for a riff-fueled good time.

Wight - Love Is Not Only What You Know (2016)

Sometimes, things today are better than they used to be. But that’s not always the case. WIGHT know exactly when to take queues from the modern world and when to go back to the roots. Combining a powerful groove with complexity and extraordinary musicianship, they celebrate their musical journey throughout times past and present. Presenting doom-based psychedelic rock at the beginning of their career, WIGHT these days are Miles (Davis) ahead of that. Their carefully crafted fusion rock sound incorporates influences from artists as diverse as the Beatles, Parliament/Funkadelic and Mahavishnu Orchestra. Throw in some African rhythms and sounds along the lines of Osibisa, and the sun

SVVAMP - s/t (2016)

Swedish trio Svvamp is the real deal. Countless bands today strive to sound genuine — whether faking their way through a ProTools pastiche of carefully assembled takes, painstakingly tarnishing tracks to give them a “live feel” or simply copying the style of their favorite band. And, usually, their posturing is entirely transparent.

Every once in a while though, you find a band without self-conscious pretense that truly echoes the mood and vibe of an era when the rulebooks were burned with the draft cards and the act of playing rock’n’roll was simultaneously defiant and inherently casual. Svvamp is just that type of primordial beauty captured on a perfect 11-song debut.

Kaleidobolt - The Zenith Cracks (2016)

"It would be tempting to say that Kaleidobolt were born 45 years too late, indeed had this album been released in the early seventies it would now be held up as a classic. But they are of the here and now....the ambitious song structures and the sheer heaviness in places make it a contemporary release, but a classic nonetheless. These guys exude class from every pore..."

(Dayz Of Purple And Orange)

 Kaleidobolt‘s The Zenith Cracks provides a play-it-louder response to the potential Kaleidobolt exhibited their first time out. Perhaps most telling is that even as the band’s ambition has grown in terms of aesthetic, they’ve drawn closer together as players as well, and