HEAVY METAL MINDBENDERS

I have to say that I really don't know what the term Heavy Metal refers to anymore. But I am sure that the two platters of sonic assault that I'm about to discuss certainly fit the bill. Buckle up, we're about to hit warp drive.

SLEEP - SLEEP'S HOLY MOUNT IAN (EARACHE)

If you told me that this was a lost Black Sabbath record from around '73 I'd probably believe it. The music is a dead ringer and really the only difference is the vocals of Al Cisneros, and even that has a certain Ozzy like quality. This sound is big, earthshaking, like the footsteps of some giant Lovecraftian creature loose upon the planet. The riffs on this album don't stomp you, they crush you under the earth. The lyrics are kind of what you would expect; mythic, apocalyptic, and filled with solar seas and atomic skies. Wallpaper your bedroom with black light posters, put this disc on the stereo, and pass the bong brother.

MAINLINER - MAINLINER SONIC (CHARNEL MUSIC)

This super group from Japan are the ticket when you want loud, distorted, fuzz, and feedback drenched rock n roll. This group is comprised of members from High Rise, Acid Mothers Temple, and Ruins. If you are familiar with those bands then you pretty much know what your in store for with this. Set the controls for the heart of a star going supernova. This may be what it sounds like to have a building come down around your head. These guys know how to make noise and man does it satisfy. The drums sound like chunks of metal being beat on by iron bars, the bass hits with an atomic nightmare ferocity, and the guitar is a flurry of solar storm chaos that hits all the right spots. Velvet Underground's "Sister Ray" aesthetics taken to some extreme cosmic levels? I don't know, but this sonic nerve blast will leave the weaklings brain dead in the dirt.