Black Pistol - Sins of the Father (New Full Album) Black Pistol hails from Cape Town, South Africa. Formed in 2014, Black Pistol push the boundaries with their don’t give a damn attitude. Roan & Jacques have been playing in the South African scene for more than 10 years. Introducing some fresh new blood with Stiaan on vocals & Daniel on drums, they are definitely a force to be reckoned with. The band’s musical influences ranges from old school rock ‘n roll to more heavy hard rock. From 70’s / 80’s rock & metal such as Black Sabbath, Guns ‘n Roses and Metallica to newer bands like Wolfmother, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Airbourne and Rival Sons helped shaped the sound of the band. Their debut self-titled EP was released in July 2017.

Black Pistol have released their new debut full length album Sins of the Father. The album is testament to the power of driving riffs, pounding drums, rumbling bass and soaring vocals. Constantly pushing the envelope with their zero-fucks-given attitude, Black Pistol just dropped perhaps one of the most wholesome rock ‘n’ roll offerings of the year. Consistently drawing on influence from across the timescale rock map across the ages, Sins of the Father is artfully balanced through gritty, riveting riffage and clarified, narrative vocalism. They don’t falter once – and perhaps the beauty of this album is the expertly thought out balance of each track, hitting home on all levels.

Clashing, dirty drum-work and roaring riffage are splashed across the situation – from the fluent build of “Nowhere to Run”, to the back-to-basics clarified riff angle of “Call to Arms”. Psych aspects thread keenly through “Heaven and Hell”, as well as “Sins of the Father” – whose RHCP-esque tones lends a calmer palate cleanser to the whole thing. That being said, get your necks ready to handle “Devil In Disguise” and “Psycho Maniac” because you wont be going easy on the dance floor with these ones. Honed in on coiled riffage and smooth lyricism, the album finds itself teetering on a knife edge balance which falls together oh so tastily.

Spiral Guru - Void (New Full Album) Quality underground rock music seems to be flowing out of Brazil like the waters of its infamous Amazon River flow into the sea with Pesta, Son Of A Witch and Gods & Punks just some of the bands making their presences felt around the world. One band at the forefront of this Brazilian invasion are Piracicaba quartet Spiral Guru, the band have been drip feeding their brand of spacey occult-ish psych rock on to the international market since 2014 and now the quartet have released their first full length album "Void". You get three exceptional musicians, Samuel Pedrosa (guitars), José Ribeiro Jr. (bass and backing vocals) and Alexandre Garcia (drums), laying down dark, but not foreboding, prog tinted proto-doomic grooves around the slightly folkish and ethereal tones of an equally exceptional vocalist, Andrea Ruocco.

There is a stark and startling contrast between Ruocco's sweet folk tones and the grooves that surround them, a contrast that on paper shouldn't work but sonically ultimately does, and it is this contrast of light and dark that is both the albums biggest selling point and its greatest asset. Ruocco's vocals are crisp, clean and clear. Her haunting sweet tones channel the spirits of such folk rock greats as Sandy Denny (Fairport Convention) and Annie Haslam (Renaissance), her voice floating and soaring above the cacophonies of dark groove laid beneath her like a delicate butterfly flitting majestically over thorny bushes.

This juxtaposition of heaviness and delicacy informs most of "Void" but is most prevalent on songs like "The Curfew At Dusk" and "Time Traveller", Pedrosa, Ribeiro Jr. and Garcia tearing up the ground with thundering percussion, grumbling bass, crunching riffs and swirling solo's while Ruocco wails waif like overhead, it is however when band and vocalist pull things back a little that things get really magical as on the beautiful "Mindfulness" and the exquisite "Showcase of Dreams", the band fusing opposing dynamics together to make one awe-inspiring whole.

Arrowhead - Coven Of The Snake (New Full Album) Australian stoner rockers, Arrowhead offer a unique blend of fuzz rock, with 70’s infused groove and thick doses of down- tuned doom to take you on a psychedelic trip. Playing around Australia since 2008. Arrowhead stand out amongst the crowd with songs full of infectious grooves, catchy riffs, hard hitting drums, thunderous bass lines, and brutally raw and passionate vocal delivery. Arrowhead have honed their song writing craft over the last decade and continue to conjure up new and powerful music. Brett Pearl’s creative vision has synthesised their sound with original visual art to create a true expression of their ethos.

Rising from the underground of Sydney’s stoner rock scene, the Arrowhead brotherhood fire an explosive, all killer/no filler triptych of volume, attitude and down-tuned grooves. Hitting you harder than a Frank Frazetta-airbrushed panel van travelling at 100mph, Arrowhead is very much a band defined by the riffs that raised them. Having paid their dues as a band since late 2009, following on from 2010’s Atomsmasher EP, their self-titled debut and 2016’s Desert Cult Ritual, Coven of the Snake is the latest addition to the quartet’s quiver. Feeding into the vision of hard rock reverie via Hollywood monsters and science fiction cinema, Coven of the Snake is equal parts venom and mysticism, and 100% blood-bound to steal your soul in the name of rock and roll!

1. Coven Of The Snake
2. All Seeing Eye
3. Ceremony Of The Skull
4. Ghost Ship
5. Root Of Evil
6. Dopanaught
7. March Of The Reptiles
8. Golden Thunderhawk

https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/album/coven-of-the-snake
https://www.facebook.com/ArrowheadHeavyRock/