Bong - Stoner Rock

(Ritual Productions, 2014)

Newcastle-based stoner rock collective Bong have unleashed their latest alb… oh, wait – let me try that again.

With their audaciously titled fourth album Stoner Rock, drone druids Bong have opened a dialogue on the usefulness and accuracy of broad genre definitions, and taken an opportunity to own and redefine the term “stoner rock” in their own image. As any writer in this field (or punter for that matter) will know, the term “stoner rock” has come to be used as shorthand for any band that appears to espouse the virtues of weed, often regardless of the kind of music they make. Considering that this covers a pretty wide spectrum of heavy metal, whether derivative of Kyuss and Sleep, classic rock, or Southern boogie, one has to ask, how can a band really be labelled “stoner rock” if they don't at least make you feel stoned?

Just as the true sense of “doom” (i.e. impending dread) is largely absent from most “doom metal” these days, “stoner rock” as it is popularly known now has as many negative connotations as good, thanks to countless terrible bands whose names are terrible puns. While I would hesitate to label Bong a stoner rock band, their name certainly has some strong genre connotations which is probably why they’ve often been mistakenly lumped in the genre. However, ironically, Bong are also one of the few current bands that can actually make you feel stoned with their music, and with Stoner Rock they’ve come to take ownership of the term with an almighty, two-pronged, THC-induced drone assault on the senses. 

Stoner Rock is repetitive to the extreme across its sprawling 74 minutes, coaxing you to zone out in the ever growing waves of distortion. Bong take literally one root note and play it out to eternity, without ever veering off their singular, slovenly path. The two tracks here, “Out Of The Aeons” and “Polaris” sound like alternative cuts from Earth’s pioneering drone metal masterpiece Earth 2: Special Low Frequency Version, albeit cuts with even fewer mood shifts or diversions, and, taken as a whole piece, it’s certainly as epic in its scope as the holy grail, Sleep’s Dopesmoker. But don’t come to Stoner Rock expecting Pike-ian riffs or solos – the album is a relentless onslaught of molten guitars, each distorted strum overlapping and consuming the last, while bass rumbles gently and an eastern melody chimes out in the distance to really nail down the hypnotic vibe. If the pace of “Out of the Aeons” is designed to slowly lull you into a fugue state, then “Polaris” finishes you off, putting you into a coma, with drums crawling to the point that you kind of forget that the next snare hit is coming. Eventually time just seems to stand still, leaving you utterly mesmerised.

So, will Stoner Rock come to be seen as the pinnacle of the genre? Probably not, unfortunately. But I would argue that Stoner Rock has done more than any so-called stoner album released in the past few years to approximate the sensation of being under the influence, and thus has come the closest to redefining the term. Ultimately people will either have the patience to kick back and enjoy the long slow ride that Stoner Rock takes them on, or they won’t. But one thing’s for certain – Bong are here to weed out all the fake stoners with drones that will test your mettle.

[Originally published by the Sleeping Shaman, 31/01/2014]
http://www.thesleepingshaman.com/reviews/album-reviews/b/bong-stoner-rock-cd-lp-dd-2014/

Bong - Mana-Yood-Sushai

(Ritual Productions, 2012)

Writing about drone in many ways defeats the object, it undermines the genre’s primary purpose which is to send the listener into a trance-like state, devoid of thought. Anyone who knows of Bong know that they are the absolute masters of tripped out, ego-obliterating doom drone; experiencing one of their live performances you tend to stop thinking of them as a bunch of guys on a stage contributing individual elements to the musical stew but as one ancient entity entrancing captive audiences into a religious fugue state. The effects of marijuana occupying the air in such small confines probably helps to facilitate this phenomenon too but they are, nonetheless, a commanding live band.

Bong have now stepped forth from whatever haze has kept them relatively quiet since last years Beyond Ancient Space, probably a little dazed and confused, with their new album Mana-Yood-Sushai – two tracks of their characteristic one-chord raga drone, each track averaging about 23 minutes.

Inspired by Lord Dunsany’s “The Gods of Pegana” (thanks Wikipedia) ‘Dreams of Mana-Yood-Sushai’ builds a slow groove atop the constant drone of guitar feedback and sitar strums and flourishes while the mantra “Mana Yood Sushai” is chanted over and over. The song is tense, unnerving, a pagan celebration of little-known (or in this case fictional) gods and slowly hauls you into its swirling cacophony and before long you’re converted.

‘Trees Grass and Stones’, while more contemplative and slightly less ominous than the previous track, is no hippy stroll by the river as the song title may have you believe. Far from it, the song evokes a feeling of impending doom with the almost motorik rhythm and a nauseating bending root note that continues for the whole nineteen minute duration of the song.

I suspect that unless you’re witnessing the band’s hypnotic live show then your appreciation of Bong’s recorded work could easily depend on your state of inebriation and choice of intoxicant. On some listens I longed for my stoner days, on others I found the whole affair self-indulgent but I generally just allowed myself to get carried away on Bong’s current of low-frequency waves and acrid smoke. Mana-Yood-Sushai is by no means a revolutionary record but it does an excellent job of taking you to another dimension of consciousness for better or worse. Bong’s name doubles up as a primitive set of instructions – take a hit and you’re in for one hell of a trip.

[Originally published by the Sleeping Shaman, 28/3/2012]
http://www.thesleepingshaman.com/reviews/album-reviews/b/bong-mana-yood-sushai-cd-2012/
[Later reposted on the Roadburn Festival website as their 'Album of the Day', 28/3/2012]
http://www.roadburn.com/2012/03/album-of-the-day-bong-mana-yood-sushai/

Seven Churches Festival, The Fighting Cocks, Kingston - 25/06/11

Seven Churches Festival went ahead on Saturday 25^th June in spite of some high profile cancellations (Jucifer) and even bands breaking up between agreeing to the gig and the event itself (Groan). The Fighting Cocks in Kingston played host to the Terrorizer-endorsed all day event which claimed to be a “sermon to the blackened and the occult,” but in reality was just a bunch of great bands playing some seriously filthy music to an enthusiastic crowd of degenerates.

Dopefight kicked things off in suitable fashon. The first of two gigs for them today (the other being a rather enviable support slot with Church of Misery and Eyehategod in Bristol) the guys were clearly well rehearsed and well up for it. Their sound is similar to Weedeater and Buzzoven; in fact a fellow punter (Tom from Greg(o)rian) described their sound as a “ten-car pile-up of riffs” and I'd be inclined to agree with him. At 4 o'clock in the afternoon it was a bit too early for Dopefight to make the audience do anything but nod their heads in approval but if they'd played later in the evening as originally planned they would no doubt have elicited a far more enthusiastic response. Nonetheless, they were awesome and one of the highlights of the day.

Next up were Rise of the Simians who had some great moments where they evoked the desert scene with some sand-swept grooves but the start of their set was a little uninspired in places. However, things improved three or four songs in when they took their time with an atmospheric, suspenseful intro into a song with interesting dynamics and arguably the best songwriting in their set with hints of Crowbar. By the end of the set they'd won me over and I, like many others, was keen to grab one of the free CDs on their merch table. Good stuff.

Bast are seriously fucking heavy; their guitars are down-tuned so many steps it should probably be discouraged but they sounded amazing. Throughout their set slow, deep grooves gave way to blast beats and moments of hushed exploration. The use of samples added an unexpected exotic ambiance to their set; at times they sounded like they were playing from the bottom of a tropical cavern (seriously) and for a three-piece they made an amazing amount of noise, with a sound similar to Eagle Twin in places. The initially slight crowd grew significantly during the course of their set which is surely a sign that Bast were one of the revelations of the day.

I can't speak for anyone else in attendance, but I really enjoyed playing with my band Undersmile – the crowd was great, the sound was huge and we all concurred that we gave one of our best ever performances. I can safely say that I have never been so thoroughly drenched in my own sweat after a gig. You've got to hand it to the musicians today – The Cock Pit is one of the hottest places on earth and the combined effect of the lighting and a crowded room left even the best of us stewing in our own filth.

The excellently named Bong arrived on stage a good twenty minutes late leaving the two organisers a little flustered. But fortunately the organisers had the good sense to make allowances for such incidents (these are, after all, stoner bands) but even more fortunately Bong were well worth the wait. Given their name it's not surprising what Bong sound like – they played one long jam based around one never-ending groove, with guitar solos and some stellar drum work adding some variety to the hypnotic mix. The zither-like instrument being played by one of the members added an exotic sound and contributed to the mystery of the band and their monolithic groove. With elements of Sunn O))) and Zoroaster (due to the subtle vocal melodies and chanting) Bong sounded like a bad trip at a Grateful Dead concert. Awesome.

Winterfylleth brought some black metal to the thus far stoner and doom-filled event and to their credit they provided a welcome jolt to the system after Bong lulled us into a weed-induced haze. They're not to our tastes in all honesty and rumours of some diva antics and their emphasis on their proud Northern European heritage don’t help endear them to some of us either. On the plus side, their songs rely on a frenetic, driving melody which elevates them beyond many of their contemporaries. That being said, I'd definitely heard enough after two songs. It's hard to please everyone at an all day event like this and I'm clearly missing something as the crowd was singing along to their songs and generally gave Winterfylleth a hero's welcome.

Unfortunately, as an out-of-towner who was relying on a lift from someone who didn't particularly want to hang around till the bitter end, I was unable to stay beyond the opening moments of Black Sun and it would be unfair for me to give an opinion based on a few fleeting moments. Reports from attendees who stayed-on were more than enthusiastic however. I will endeavour to check them out in the future.

And so Seven Churches festival came to a close. Throughout the day the bands and audience were friendly, encouraging and enthusiastic to be together for a celebration of heavy music, a day that displayed the diversity and creativeness within the alternative community. It was a warm evening as we left Kingston and I'm sure I can speak for everyone else when I say that we look forward to the next instalment of Seven Churches festival. Congratulations and thank you to Matt, Josh and all the staff for putting on an excellent event.

[Originally published at The Sleeping Shaman, 06/07/11]

http://www.thesleepingshaman.com/reviews/gig/SevenChurchesFestival-2011.php

[Later published on Doom Mantia, 07/07/11]

http://www.doommantia.com/2011/07/seven-churches-festival-2011-fighting.html