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EZRDR 141CD
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$15.00
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 3/31/2023
"Late in 2021, Slow Season announced they'd become Westing, and that Ben McLeod (also of Nashville's All Them Witches) was now in the four-piece on lead guitar alongside guitarist, vocalist and keyboardist Daniel Story Rice, bassist Hayden Doyel and drummer / recording engineer Cody Tarbell. Their new LP (fourth overall for RidingEasy), Future, is not coincidentally titled. Says Rice, 'We wanted to hit the reset button on some things and so we included a new band name to that list. Fresh start, for the psychological effect of it. We first met Ben in 2014 opening for All Them Witches in San Diego, and we did that again in 2016 and he and Cody corresponded about tape machines, music production, and other similar nerd stuff. We started swapping a few ideas early in 2021 and then flew him out for four days in August 2021. We got Future mostly down in that short span and did some remote stuff for overdubs, but nothing major. Obviously, our creative processes jelled pretty well to allow for such an efficiently productive session.' So the story of Westing, and of Future, is about change, but the music makes itself so immediately familiar, it's so welcoming, that it hardly matters. For about ten years, the Visalia, California, outfit wandered the earth representing a new generational interpretation of classic heavy rock. The tones, warm. The melodies, sweet. The boogie, infectious. They went to ground after supporting their 2016 self-titled third album, and clearly it was time for something different. Is Future the future? Hell, we should be so lucky. What Westing manifest in these songs is schooled in the rock of yore and theirs purely, and in that, Future looks forward with the benefit of the lessons learned across three prior full-lengths (and the accompanying tours) while offering the kind of freshness that comes with a debut. No, they're not the same kids who released Mountains in 2014, and the tradeoff is being able to convey maturity, evolving creativity and stage-born dynamic on Future without sacrificing the spirit and passion that has underscored their work all along." --JJ Koczan
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LP
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EZRDR 141LP
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$27.00
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 3/31/2023
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EZRDR 143CD
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$15.00
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 3/17/2023
"Featuring long-lost gems from ultra-rare 45s and private press singles -- plus one previously unreleased banger -- Scrap Metal Vol. 2 maintains a steady NWOBHM course. Packed with infectious outliers and supremely talented one-and-done metal warriors from the crucial British movement of the late '70s and early '80s (and some killer American obscurities inspired by them), this collection delivers all the fist-pumping, riff-mongering and flashy solos of heavy metal's golden age. As always, every track has been officially licensed and every artist gets paid. Some examples include: As a late entry into the NWOBHM sweepstakes, JJ's Powerhouse was formed in Merseyside, England, by guitarist Jon 'J.J.' Cox with members of his previous band, Quad. Much like the opener to the original Scrap Metal comp, one can hear early Metallica coursing through this legendary ripper. Coincidentally, this ultra-rare 45 was released in '83, the same year as Kill 'Em All. Taking their name from a 1978 sci-fi novel by Marion Zimmer Bradley, Welsh super troopers Storm Queen reveled in animal-print clothing and flying Vs. The Motörhead-meets-Priest anthem 'Raising the Roof' is the flipside to their only single, which the band self-released in 1982. Led by guitarist Dave Morse, Storm Queen's earliest lineup included bassist Bryn Merrick (RIP), who would go on to join The Damned. Roaring out of Birmingham, England, in 1975, Jameson Raid palled around with fellow Brummies Black Sabbath and named themselves after a failed 19th century attack that helped kick off South Africa's Second Boer War. Their three-song 1979 debut featured the infectious 'It's a Crime,' which comes across like a deadly hard-glam version of Budgie. Still fronted by vocalist Terry Dark, they're going strong as of 2022. Both sides of Metropolis' sole single bear the legend, 'Unauthorized duplication shall result in getting your ass beat.' This San Jose metal squad released their only single in 1986 and dedicated it to Metallica bassist Cliff Burton, who had recently been killed in a bus accident. 'The Raven' is the serpentine NWOBHM- and Edgar Allan Poe-influenced flipside to 'Time Heals Everything.'"
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LP
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EZRDR 143LP
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$27.00
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 2/17/2023
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CD
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EZRDR 115CD
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$15.00
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 2/10/2023
Delayed... "Standout favorites of Riding Easy Records' Brown Acid compilation series, White Lightning's stellar discography of rare and under-appreciated heavy psych, proto-metal rock gets a vital revival for new generations to learn how swinging, swaggering and often blazingly fast rock'n'roll is done. White Lightning was formed in Minneapolis, MN in 1968 by guitarist Tom 'Zippy' Caplan and bassist Woody Woodrich after leaving garage psych band The Litter (themselves popular standouts from the Nuggets and Pebbles series of garage rock rarities.) Originally a power trio, the band later expanded to a five-piece in 1969 while shortening its name to Lightning. The quintet's brilliant and rare 1970 self-titled album on Pickwick International's P.I.P. imprint provides six of the ten tracks on Thunderbolts Of Fuzz. The original White Lightning trio only released the one 45-rpm single 'Of Paupers And Poets' during their existence (on local Hexagon label in 1968, later reissued by major label ATCO Records in 1969.) A long out-of-print posthumous album released in 1995 gathered unreleased recordings, three of which are found here. This rounds out this collection of recorded highlights from the band's rocky history. Taking their name from a particularly potent type of LSD, White Lightning laid out from the start that it was not cute and cuddly '70s rock. In fact, the band's aggressive tempos are like punk rock way before punk. However, their dirty blues groove and musical prowess shows the band was more than unrefined ne'er-do-wells, they had true versatility."
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EZRDR 146LP
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LP version. "The self-titled full-length debut of Los Angeles quintet Early Moods is a marriage of classic underground doom like Candlemass, Witchfinder General, Pentagram, Trouble and Saint Vitus, paired with traditional 'big box' heavy metal melodies and song structure. These two contrasting aesthetics may seem incongruous, but the skilled musicianship of Early Moods -- some of whom have played music together since their early teens -- manages to find the perfect balance between grit and gloss. 'From the beginning, the purpose for this band was to incorporate our love of traditional doom metal with a heavy metal approach,' guitarist Eddie Andrade says. 'We wanted to show that heavy doom can be complemented with melodies and harmonies. Black Sabbath meets NWOBHM is what we aim for, really.' The band was founded in 2015 by Andrade and vocalist/keyboardist Alberto Alcaraz after a few years of playing in thrash and death metal projects before the two realized that the classic doom that they'd grown up with was what they really wanted to explore. Going through a few lineup changes while delving deeper into the diverging influences that were calling, Early Moods arrived at the sound and lineup that grew their fanbase locally. The band soon captured the attention of German label Dying Victim Productions, who released their debut EP, Spellbound in 2020. Early Moods is Oscar Hernandez on lead guitar, Chris Flores on drums, Elix Felciano on bass, Alcaraz on vocals/synth and Andrade on guitar. Early Moods was recorded at 7th Street Studios in downtown L.A. by Carlos Cruz (Warbringer, Chris Poland, Power Trip) from October to December of 2021. It was mixed by Allen Falcon of Birdcage Studios and mastered by Brad Boatright of Audio Siege who has worked with bands like Sleep, Obituary, and High On Fire."
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EZRDR 146CD
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"The self-titled full-length debut of Los Angeles quintet Early Moods is a marriage of classic underground doom like Candlemass, Witchfinder General, Pentagram, Trouble and Saint Vitus, paired with traditional 'big box' heavy metal melodies and song structure. These two contrasting aesthetics may seem incongruous, but the skilled musicianship of Early Moods -- some of whom have played music together since their early teens -- manages to find the perfect balance between grit and gloss. 'From the beginning, the purpose for this band was to incorporate our love of traditional doom metal with a heavy metal approach,' guitarist Eddie Andrade says. 'We wanted to show that heavy doom can be complemented with melodies and harmonies. Black Sabbath meets NWOBHM is what we aim for, really.' The band was founded in 2015 by Andrade and vocalist/keyboardist Alberto Alcaraz after a few years of playing in thrash and death metal projects before the two realized that the classic doom that they'd grown up with was what they really wanted to explore. Going through a few lineup changes while delving deeper into the diverging influences that were calling, Early Moods arrived at the sound and lineup that grew their fanbase locally. The band soon captured the attention of German label Dying Victim Productions, who released their debut EP, Spellbound in 2020. Early Moods is Oscar Hernandez on lead guitar, Chris Flores on drums, Elix Felciano on bass, Alcaraz on vocals/synth and Andrade on guitar. Early Moods was recorded at 7th Street Studios in downtown L.A. by Carlos Cruz (Warbringer, Chris Poland, Power Trip) from October to December of 2021. It was mixed by Allen Falcon of Birdcage Studios and mastered by Brad Boatright of Audio Siege who has worked with bands like Sleep, Obituary, and High On Fire."
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LP
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EZRDR 139LP
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LP version. "Lo and behold, Brown Acid - The Fifteenth Trip is here, and it's another mind-melting dose of brilliant long-lost, rare, and unreleased hard rock, heavy psych, and proto-metal tracks from the 60s -70s. Riding Easy's crate-digging mining expeditions, and growing network of the original artists keeps on giving with more and more incredible discoveries every time they go back for more. Like they've done throughout this series, all of these tracks were painstakingly licensed legitimately and the artists were paid. Make oneself comfortable and prepare for yet another deep, deep dive into the treasure trove of dank, subterranean, wild-eyed and hairy rock n' roll of yesteryear. Some key examples include: As usual, this Trip opens strong, as 'Take The Time' swaggers along with switchblade stabs of guitar twang and frantic drumming that sounds like Nick Cave's '80s post-punk barbarians The Birthday Party on this 1969 single from the mysterious Boston area band The Looking Glass. Negative Space toil in the dark web of The Seeds, and dwell in the mystic haze of working-class suburbs in Camden, NJ circa 1970. Their angry, nasty guitar sounds and frustration-bogged frontman Rob Russen ensure that the aggro fueled 'Forbidden Fruit' -- in which he confesses his love for his sister-in-law -- will hit one right in the face. Truth & Janey might be familiar from their 45-only 'Midnight Horseman' single heard way back on the Sixth Trip, and/or their incredible 1976 album No Rest For The Wicked. Their super-driven soul leaning cover of 'Under My Thumb' is almost like The Who had penned the track, with relentless drums, jackhammer rhythm guitar and near-falsetto vocals."
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CD
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EZRDR 139CD
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"Lo and behold, Brown Acid - The Fifteenth Trip is here, and it's another mind-melting dose of brilliant long-lost, rare, and unreleased hard rock, heavy psych, and proto-metal tracks from the 60s -70s. Riding Easy's crate-digging mining expeditions, and growing network of the original artists keeps on giving with more and more incredible discoveries every time they go back for more. Like they've done throughout this series, all of these tracks were painstakingly licensed legitimately and the artists were paid. Make oneself comfortable and prepare for yet another deep, deep dive into the treasure trove of dank, subterranean, wild-eyed and hairy rock n' roll of yesteryear. Some key examples include: As usual, this Trip opens strong, as 'Take The Time' swaggers along with switchblade stabs of guitar twang and frantic drumming that sounds like Nick Cave's '80s post-punk barbarians The Birthday Party on this 1969 single from the mysterious Boston area band The Looking Glass. Negative Space toil in the dark web of The Seeds, and dwell in the mystic haze of working-class suburbs in Camden, NJ circa 1970. Their angry, nasty guitar sounds and frustration-bogged frontman Rob Russen ensure that the aggro fueled 'Forbidden Fruit' -- in which he confesses his love for his sister-in-law -- will hit one right in the face. Truth & Janey might be familiar from their 45-only 'Midnight Horseman' single heard way back on the Sixth Trip, and/or their incredible 1976 album No Rest For The Wicked. Their super-driven soul leaning cover of 'Under My Thumb' is almost like The Who had penned the track, with relentless drums, jackhammer rhythm guitar and near-falsetto vocals."
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LP
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EZRDR 145LP
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"In the 1970s era of rock's theatrical excesses, Sorcery delivered next level performances in which a battle ensued on stage between illusionists portraying Merlin versus Satan. While Alice Cooper and KISS brought costumes, gore and flashpots to the mainstream, these Los Angeles hard rockers integrated live magic, theatrical drama and fourth wall breaking performance for new heights in musical storytelling. While Sorcery consists of professional musicians -- the core group being guitarist Richard (Smokey) Taylor, vocalist Greg Magie and bassist Richie King -- two magicians also performed on stage when they played live. The band's nearly immediate local popularity from their debut in 1975 also made them in demand for film and TV. Enter: Stunt Rock. Way before Jackass, before Crocodile Dundee, contemporaneous with Kiss Meets The Phantom Of The Park and as timeless as classic Heavy Metal, there was Stunt Rock. The 1978 low budget, high concept B-movie integrated hard rock, magic, dangerous stunts and an early form of mockumentary filmmaking into an epic feature film about an Australian stunt man reunited with his American cousin (and Sorcery member) in L.A., and all Hell breaks loose. Sorcery composed the soundtrack -- which also served as the band's debut album -- and were shown performing songs throughout the film. The Stunt Rock soundtrack highlights the sweet spot between the playful, campy occult imagery of the '70s before Satanic Panic and the religious right's kayfabe outrage pushed bands to tone things down in favor of glam pomp. What one gets here is pure, knobby occult heavy metal that sounds something like Sin After Sin-era Judas Priest with Robert Plant on vocals, crossed with the melodrama of Alice Cooper and The Who's rock operas. The songs are taut, quickly shifting from part to part, motif to overture. The tunes are infinitely catchy and laden with attention grabbing titles like 'Talking To The Devil', 'Mark of The Beast', 'Stuntrocker' and 'Burned Alive.' On the surface, the film Stunt Rock seems campy and crazy enough to be embraced even if the music weren't all that exciting, but Sorcery proves that their work deserves to be seriously appreciated in the canon of classic rock."
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LP
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EZRDR 140LP
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LP version. "How does one follow up one of the most legendary, yet rarest albums said to signal the birth of doom metal? If you're Randy Holden, you give everyone about fifty years to catch up, then casually drop a tastefully modernized reinterpretation of that sound. Population III picks up where Holden's 1969 solo debut left off, updated with several decades worth of technological advances and personal hindsight. Following his tenure in proto-metal pioneers Blue Cheer in 1969, the guitarist aimed for more control over his next project. Thus, Randy Holden -- Population II was born, the duo naming itself after the astronomical term for a particular star cluster with heavy metals present. Along with drummer/keyboardist Chris Lockheed, Holden created what many say is one of the earliest forms of doom metal. Their six-song debut album Population II delves into leaden sludge, lumbering doom and epic soaring riffs that sound free from all constraints of the era. However, troubles with the album's original 1970 release bankrupted Holden, who subsequently left music for over two decades. For good reason, it's widely hailed as a masterpiece, and until finally getting a proper formal release in 2020 on Riding Easy Records, was a longtime Holy Grail for record collectors. Flash forward forty years to 2010, one finds the guitarist/vocalist quietly coaxed into recording a follow-up album by Holden superfan and Cactus member Randy Pratt. Joined by drummer Bobby Rondinelli (who has played with Black Sabbath, Blue Öyster Cult, Rainbow), the trio cut the six-song collection of leaden future blues, Population III. 'Randy Pratt had written the basic song structures, he understood my music and where I come from quite well,' Holden says. 'He nailed it.' But the recording was ultimately shelved for over a decade. Throughout Population III, Holden effortlessly dishes out squealing, soaring leads and skull-thwacking riffs with his signature low end grit and penchant for Middle Eastern scales. Coupled with Pratt's pocket-locked bass, the slight flanging effect on Rondinelli's drums and his pugilistic beats, the album occasionally brings to mind Presence-era Led Zeppelin. At times, Holden sounds reminiscent of Neil Young leading Crazy Horse's ruptured grunge as his lilting falsetto vocals push and pull his guitar's siren's call. Population III is the real deal -- a powerful continuation of a sound forged fifty years ago, that almost didn't happen. Somehow, Randy Holden's music always finds a way to stand the tests of time."
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LP
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EZRDR 137LP
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LP version. "Sometimes a band grows so exponentially from one record to the next, it's almost jarring. Hell Fire has already established themselves as the preeminent masters of a new hybrid breed of Bay Area thrash and NWOBHM in just a few short years, but their fourth album Reckoning is the type of ascendance that truly sets a band apart. Reckoning is their Master Of Puppets, their Number Of The Beast, their Defenders Of The Faith. From the very first notes of the album opening title track, you can feel a vital new energy and inspiration to their music. To say Hell Fire used the recent global downtime to dig within and fully refine their sound would be an understatement. It truly is a reckoning. 'This album is every aspect of our band amplified to its maximum potential,' says singer/guitarist Jake Nunn. 'This is the record we've always wanted to make, and it feels like we're just getting started,' guitarist Tony Campos adds. 'We wanted to push ourselves musically and capture some of our frustrations, anger, loneliness, and rage over being locked inside and dealing with life during a global pandemic in the days when no one really knew how to navigate,' says drummer Mike Smith. With no touring on the horizon in 2020, the band hunkered down and recorded nearly a full album in preproduction home demos. 'I set up a little studio in my garage to record guitar, bass, and vocal tracks,' Campos says. 'While Mike bought an electronic drum set and we demoed every song so we were more prepared going into the studio.' Each of them found themselves practicing more on their own and ironing out every last detail and nuance before finally being able to once again play in a room together. The band's heightened professionalism also brings in guest bassist Matt Freeman (of Rancid and Operation Ivy fame) on the album after original bassist Herman Bandala departed the band amicably during the initial writing process. New bassist Kai Sun joined Hell Fire in Fall 2021."
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LP
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EZRDR 136LP
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LP version. "Here's just a few of the gems on Brown Acid - The Fourteenth Trip, the much beloved series that is the Nuggets of proto-metal, pre-stoner rock: The Legends' 'Fever Games' is a 1969 fever dream of heavy psych on par with Blue Cheer at their heaviest, featuring an incredible intro with whammy-bar gymnastics through an Echoplex. This Harrisburg, PA power trio, featuring Dan Hartman (Edgar Winter Group, et al) and his brother Dave, also name-checks Jimi Hendrix Experience in the midst of the song's most blatant Hendrix rip. Perhaps that's how Fever Games work? Transfer's velvet smooth groove has an almost proto-punk feel like a mashup of the Velvet Underground and The Flamin' Groovies. But the lyrics referencing tokin' reefer and the twanging surf lead situate them closer to their heavy rock brethren. This very rare 1974 self- released 45 is this lone archive of the band's existence -- assume they just kept right on playin' it cool into oblivion. Cox's Army deploy the grungy rocker 'I'm Tired' which sounds like if Jimi Hendrix fronted Mudhoney. Yes, please! Though they hailed from Aurora, IL, it sounds like there's definitely some Pacific Northwest in their blood. Particularly in the gritty production, which hints at The Sonics' 'bustin' outta lo-fi' style. Not much is known about the enigmatic Columbus, OH musician known as Raven, whose 'Back to Ohio Blues' closes this edition. The mantra-like droning riff of this eight-minute jam is a Black To Comm-style epic, driven by Raven's hostile, no-bullshit diatribe until it all busts open for an insane two-minute long drum solo soaked in odd effects that sounds like it was copped from a Melvins album."
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LP
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EZRDR 115LP
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LP version. "Standout favorites of Riding Easy Records' Brown Acid compilation series, White Lightning's stellar discography of rare and under-appreciated heavy psych, proto-metal rock gets a vital revival for new generations to learn how swinging, swaggering and often blazingly fast rock'n'roll is done. White Lightning was formed in Minneapolis, MN in 1968 by guitarist Tom 'Zippy' Caplan and bassist Woody Woodrich after leaving garage psych band The Litter (themselves popular standouts from the Nuggets and Pebbles series of garage rock rarities.) Originally a power trio, the band later expanded to a five-piece in 1969 while shortening its name to Lightning. The quintet's brilliant and rare 1970 self-titled album on Pickwick International's P.I.P. imprint provides six of the ten tracks on Thunderbolts Of Fuzz. The original White Lightning trio only released the one 45-rpm single 'Of Paupers And Poets' during their existence (on local Hexagon label in 1968, later reissued by major label ATCO Records in 1969.) A long out-of-print posthumous album released in 1995 gathered unreleased recordings, three of which are found here. This rounds out this collection of recorded highlights from the band's rocky history. Taking their name from a particularly potent type of LSD, White Lightning laid out from the start that it was not cute and cuddly '70s rock. In fact, the band's aggressive tempos are like punk rock way before punk. However, their dirty blues groove and musical prowess shows the band was more than unrefined ne'er-do-wells, they had true versatility."
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Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
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CD
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EZRDR 137CD
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"Sometimes a band grows so exponentially from one record to the next, it's almost jarring. Hell Fire has already established themselves as the preeminent masters of a new hybrid breed of Bay Area thrash and NWOBHM in just a few short years, but their fourth album Reckoning is the type of ascendance that truly sets a band apart. Reckoning is their Master Of Puppets, their Number Of The Beast, their Defenders Of The Faith. From the very first notes of the album opening title track, you can feel a vital new energy and inspiration to their music. To say Hell Fire used the recent global downtime to dig within and fully refine their sound would be an understatement. It truly is a reckoning. 'This album is every aspect of our band amplified to its maximum potential,' says singer/guitarist Jake Nunn. 'This is the record we've always wanted to make, and it feels like we're just getting started,' guitarist Tony Campos adds. 'We wanted to push ourselves musically and capture some of our frustrations, anger, loneliness, and rage over being locked inside and dealing with life during a global pandemic in the days when no one really knew how to navigate,' says drummer Mike Smith. With no touring on the horizon in 2020, the band hunkered down and recorded nearly a full album in preproduction home demos. 'I set up a little studio in my garage to record guitar, bass, and vocal tracks,' Campos says. 'While Mike bought an electronic drum set and we demoed every song so we were more prepared going into the studio.' Each of them found themselves practicing more on their own and ironing out every last detail and nuance before finally being able to once again play in a room together. The band's heightened professionalism also brings in guest bassist Matt Freeman (of Rancid and Operation Ivy fame) on the album after original bassist Herman Bandala departed the band amicably during the initial writing process. New bassist Kai Sun joined Hell Fire in Fall 2021."
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Artist |
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Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
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CD
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EZRDR 136CD
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"Here's just a few of the gems on Brown Acid - The Fourteenth Trip, the much beloved series that is the Nuggets of proto-metal, pre-stoner rock: The Legends' 'Fever Games' is a 1969 fever dream of heavy psych on par with Blue Cheer at their heaviest, featuring an incredible intro with whammy-bar gymnastics through an Echoplex. This Harrisburg, PA power trio, featuring Dan Hartman (Edgar Winter Group, et al) and his brother Dave, also name-checks Jimi Hendrix Experience in the midst of the song's most blatant Hendrix rip. Perhaps that's how Fever Games work? Transfer's velvet smooth groove has an almost proto-punk feel like a mashup of the Velvet Underground and The Flamin' Groovies. But the lyrics referencing tokin' reefer and the twanging surf lead situate them closer to their heavy rock brethren. This very rare 1974 self- released 45 is this lone archive of the band's existence -- assume they just kept right on playin' it cool into oblivion. Cox's Army deploy the grungy rocker 'I'm Tired' which sounds like if Jimi Hendrix fronted Mudhoney. Yes, please! Though they hailed from Aurora, IL, it sounds like there's definitely some Pacific Northwest in their blood. Particularly in the gritty production, which hints at The Sonics' 'bustin' outta lo-fi' style. Not much is known about the enigmatic Columbus, OH musician known as Raven, whose 'Back to Ohio Blues' closes this edition. The mantra-like droning riff of this eight-minute jam is a Black To Comm-style epic, driven by Raven's hostile, no-bullshit diatribe until it all busts open for an insane two-minute long drum solo soaked in odd effects that sounds like it was copped from a Melvins album."
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Artist |
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Format |
Label |
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CD
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EZRDR 140CD
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"How does one follow up one of the most legendary, yet rarest albums said to signal the birth of doom metal? If you're Randy Holden, you give everyone about fifty years to catch up, then casually drop a tastefully modernized reinterpretation of that sound. Population III picks up where Holden's 1969 solo debut left off, updated with several decades worth of technological advances and personal hindsight. Following his tenure in proto-metal pioneers Blue Cheer in 1969, the guitarist aimed for more control over his next project. Thus, Randy Holden -- Population II was born, the duo naming itself after the astronomical term for a particular star cluster with heavy metals present. Along with drummer/keyboardist Chris Lockheed, Holden created what many say is one of the earliest forms of doom metal. Their six-song debut album Population II delves into leaden sludge, lumbering doom and epic soaring riffs that sound free from all constraints of the era. However, troubles with the album's original 1970 release bankrupted Holden, who subsequently left music for over two decades. For good reason, it's widely hailed as a masterpiece, and until finally getting a proper formal release in 2020 on Riding Easy Records, was a longtime Holy Grail for record collectors. Flash forward forty years to 2010, one finds the guitarist/vocalist quietly coaxed into recording a follow-up album by Holden superfan and Cactus member Randy Pratt. Joined by drummer Bobby Rondinelli (who has played with Black Sabbath, Blue Öyster Cult, Rainbow), the trio cut the six-song collection of leaden future blues, Population III. 'Randy Pratt had written the basic song structures, he understood my music and where I come from quite well,' Holden says. 'He nailed it.' But the recording was ultimately shelved for over a decade. Throughout Population III, Holden effortlessly dishes out squealing, soaring leads and skull-thwacking riffs with his signature low end grit and penchant for Middle Eastern scales. Coupled with Pratt's pocket-locked bass, the slight flanging effect on Rondinelli's drums and his pugilistic beats, the album occasionally brings to mind Presence-era Led Zeppelin. At times, Holden sounds reminiscent of Neil Young leading Crazy Horse's ruptured grunge as his lilting falsetto vocals push and pull his guitar's siren's call. Population III is the real deal -- a powerful continuation of a sound forged fifty years ago, that almost didn't happen. Somehow, Randy Holden's music always finds a way to stand the tests of time."
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CD
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EZRDR 145CD
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"In the 1970s era of rock's theatrical excesses, Sorcery delivered next level performances in which a battle ensued on stage between illusionists portraying Merlin versus Satan. While Alice Cooper and KISS brought costumes, gore and flashpots to the mainstream, these Los Angeles hard rockers integrated live magic, theatrical drama and fourth wall breaking performance for new heights in musical storytelling. While Sorcery consists of professional musicians -- the core group being guitarist Richard (Smokey) Taylor, vocalist Greg Magie and bassist Richie King -- two magicians also performed on stage when they played live. The band's nearly immediate local popularity from their debut in 1975 also made them in demand for film and TV. Enter: Stunt Rock. Way before Jackass, before Crocodile Dundee, contemporaneous with Kiss Meets The Phantom Of The Park and as timeless as classic Heavy Metal, there was Stunt Rock. The 1978 low budget, high concept B-movie integrated hard rock, magic, dangerous stunts and an early form of mockumentary filmmaking into an epic feature film about an Australian stunt man reunited with his American cousin (and Sorcery member) in L.A., and all Hell breaks loose. Sorcery composed the soundtrack -- which also served as the band's debut album -- and were shown performing songs throughout the film. The Stunt Rock soundtrack highlights the sweet spot between the playful, campy occult imagery of the '70s before Satanic Panic and the religious right's kayfabe outrage pushed bands to tone things down in favor of glam pomp. What one gets here is pure, knobby occult heavy metal that sounds something like Sin After Sin-era Judas Priest with Robert Plant on vocals, crossed with the melodrama of Alice Cooper and The Who's rock operas. The songs are taut, quickly shifting from part to part, motif to overture. The tunes are infinitely catchy and laden with attention grabbing titles like 'Talking To The Devil', 'Mark of The Beast', 'Stuntrocker' and 'Burned Alive.' On the surface, the film Stunt Rock seems campy and crazy enough to be embraced even if the music weren't all that exciting, but Sorcery proves that their work deserves to be seriously appreciated in the canon of classic rock."
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EZRDR 134LP
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LP version. "Here are just some of the gems from this latest edition of the popular compilation series featuring long-lost vintage '60s-70s proto-metal and stoner rock singles, Brown Acid - The Thirteenth Trip: Max, from Montreal, QC -- originally known as Dawn, before Tony Orlando & Dawn forced a name change -- kick things off with 'Run Run' from their lone 1970 single. It's a hard-hitting rocker with scale climbing crunching guitars and powerful Bonham-esque drumming. 'Feelin' Dead' is extremely heavy blues from this also extremely rare 1974 single by Detroit, MI's Master Danse, which was only released as a promo 45. Think Led Zeppelin's 'Since I've Been Loving You.' Gary Del Vecchio is 'Buzzin'' hard, and from what sounds like an in-studio party of yelps and chatter at the start of the song, it seems that the whole band was in on the festivities. The funky blues riff, reminiscent of Led Zeppelin's 'Heartbreaker' and rollicking rhythmic changes certainly keep the buzz a rollin'. Finally, Good Humore's swaggering 1976 rocker 'Detroit' is a slick and smooth paen to the Motor City. It most likely doesn't predate 'Detroit Rock City' by Kiss, also released in 1976, and it has more rock'n'roll swing, but it could fit comfortably alongside the era's arena anthems."
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EZRDR 135CD
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"Gothenburg, Sweden trio Firebreather's 2019 RidingEasy Records debut album Under A Blood Moon was a powerhouse that most certainly established the band's incendiary potential. But no one will be prepared for the suffocating onslaught that is Dwell In The Fog. While that album was in-your-face and raw, Dwell In The Fog rumbles and rages with a fury the band had only previously hinted at. Firebreather has a streamlined focus on driving, symphonic riffs in the vein of High On Fire, Inter Arma and their tour- and label-mates Monolord. The guitar and bass tones are, quite simply, entrancing. Paired with vocalist/guitarist Mattias Nööjd's guttural yet melodic howls and drummer Axel Wittbeck's groove-based rhythms, their entire sound flows like thick, viscous lava. 'The album is a cathartic journey inwards and a musical continuation from Under A Blood Moon, but with more emphasis on groove and feel,' Nööjd says. From the first notes of album opener 'Kiss Of Your Blade' one will know exactly what he means. Like their preceding two albums, Dwell In The Fog was also recorded and mixed by engineer Oskar Karlsson at Elementstudion in Gothenburg. The band is joined by new bassist Nicklas Hellqvist on this album, who seems to have increased the thunder rumble tenfold. From the aforementioned album opener 'Kiss Of Your Blade', with its droning opening chords over a rollicking tom pattern, the band quickly shifts gears into a head-bobbing, serpentine riff with a transcendent melodic hook. Elsewhere, as on the title track and 'Weather The Storm', rapid-fire hummable riffs come and go in an ever-shifting mass of devastating swirling churn. It's like the band has such an endless supply of great hooks that to, ahem, dwell for too long on any one would undo their constantly building momentum: the fact they somehow give each song -- and the album as a whole -- a streamlined and cohesive, monolithic groove is a testament to their skill. And proof that the album must be absorbed in its entirety to experience the overwhelming swaying and lunging low-end growl that drives the band's most captivating work to date."
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EZRDR 135LP
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LP version. "Gothenburg, Sweden trio Firebreather's 2019 RidingEasy Records debut album Under A Blood Moon was a powerhouse that most certainly established the band's incendiary potential. But no one will be prepared for the suffocating onslaught that is Dwell In The Fog. While that album was in-your-face and raw, Dwell In The Fog rumbles and rages with a fury the band had only previously hinted at. Firebreather has a streamlined focus on driving, symphonic riffs in the vein of High On Fire, Inter Arma and their tour- and label-mates Monolord. The guitar and bass tones are, quite simply, entrancing. Paired with vocalist/guitarist Mattias Nööjd's guttural yet melodic howls and drummer Axel Wittbeck's groove-based rhythms, their entire sound flows like thick, viscous lava. 'The album is a cathartic journey inwards and a musical continuation from Under A Blood Moon, but with more emphasis on groove and feel,' Nööjd says. From the first notes of album opener 'Kiss Of Your Blade' one will know exactly what he means. Like their preceding two albums, Dwell In The Fog was also recorded and mixed by engineer Oskar Karlsson at Elementstudion in Gothenburg. The band is joined by new bassist Nicklas Hellqvist on this album, who seems to have increased the thunder rumble tenfold. From the aforementioned album opener 'Kiss Of Your Blade', with its droning opening chords over a rollicking tom pattern, the band quickly shifts gears into a head-bobbing, serpentine riff with a transcendent melodic hook. Elsewhere, as on the title track and 'Weather The Storm', rapid-fire hummable riffs come and go in an ever-shifting mass of devastating swirling churn. It's like the band has such an endless supply of great hooks that to, ahem, dwell for too long on any one would undo their constantly building momentum: the fact they somehow give each song -- and the album as a whole -- a streamlined and cohesive, monolithic groove is a testament to their skill. And proof that the album must be absorbed in its entirety to experience the overwhelming swaying and lunging low-end growl that drives the band's most captivating work to date."
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EZRDR 133LP
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LP version. "'Empty surrounds all of me.' It's a poignant line from the third album by Blackwater Holylight that encapsulates the search for self when suddenly everything has changed. There's a theme of processing vast personal trauma throughout Silence/Motion that eloquently -- both lyrically and musically -- and simultaneously embodies the crushing emptiness, sorrow, strength and rebuilding of recovering from personal devastation. Curiously, considering the dark times in which it was created, this is the band's most melodic and catchy music so far. Blackwater Holylight, as the name suggests, is all about contrasts: it's a fluid convergence of sound that's heavy, psychedelic, melodic, terrifying and beautiful all at once. Silence/Motion finds the band honing those contrasts, letting ideas and moods fully develop from song to song, rather than filling every song with a full range of their capabilities. It allows the band to go fully prog-rock here, and simply stay hushed and intimate there. There's a new confidence to the band in how seamlessly they wield their stylistic amalgam. The band recorded the album as a four piece: Allison 'Sunny' Faris on vocals and guitar (on 'Silence/Motion', 'MDIII', 'Around You' and 'Every Corner') and bass for the remainder, Sarah McKenna on synths, Mikayla Mayhew on guitar (and bass when Faris plays guitar) and drummer Eliese Dorsay. New second guitarist Erika Osterhout will perform the songs with them live. For Silence/Motion the band chose to work with a producer for the first time, bringing in A.L.N. (of Mizmor, Hell) to produce, along with recording engineer Dylan White -- who also helmed their previous album Veils Of Winter (2019) -- at Odessa Recording Studio in Portland, OR. Guest vocals on album opener 'Delusional' are by Bryan Funck (Thou.) Mike Paparo (Inter Arma) and A.LN. (Mizmor, Hell) lend guest vocals to album closer 'Every Corner'."
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EZRDR 132CD
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"By now you're probably familiar with our wildly popular Brown Acid series of rare, lost and unreleased proto-metal and stoner rock singles from the 60s-70s. In the endless pursuit of those glorious gems, we often uncover equally brilliant rarities from the late-70s to late-80s Golden Age of Heavy Metal that also just must be heard, but they don't fit the series' aesthetic. Scrap Metal Volume 1 collects some of the greatest unknown and lost Heavy Metal tracks, long buried beneath the avalanche of the era's classic output. We all know the old adage that history is told by the winners. But sometimes the losers tell the best stories. And while none of these bands found fame and fortune, this artifact and the volumes to come are testament to the enduring power of heavy music. You can hear the blood, sweat and beers that went into each of these singles. The recordings may be low budget, but the inspiration and talent is immutable. Not only are the amps turned up to 11, the boyish sexual innuendo is cranked to 69. You can hear the convergence of influences -- NWOBHM, thrash, glam metal, doom, etc -- colliding at once as the era birthed a wellspring of subgenres. Many of these singles are self-released and were thus limited to a small run of copies. Those that remain are hoarded by collectors and sold for exorbitant amounts. We've collected the best of the best for you here. As with Brown Acid, all of these tracks are licensed legitimately and the artists all get paid. Because it's the right thing to do."
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EZRDR 132LP
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LP version. "By now you're probably familiar with our wildly popular Brown Acid series of rare, lost and unreleased proto-metal and stoner rock singles from the 60s-70s. In the endless pursuit of those glorious gems, we often uncover equally brilliant rarities from the late-70s to late-80s Golden Age of Heavy Metal that also just must be heard, but they don't fit the series' aesthetic. Scrap Metal Volume 1 collects some of the greatest unknown and lost Heavy Metal tracks, long buried beneath the avalanche of the era's classic output. We all know the old adage that history is told by the winners. But sometimes the losers tell the best stories. And while none of these bands found fame and fortune, this artifact and the volumes to come are testament to the enduring power of heavy music. You can hear the blood, sweat and beers that went into each of these singles. The recordings may be low budget, but the inspiration and talent is immutable. Not only are the amps turned up to 11, the boyish sexual innuendo is cranked to 69. You can hear the convergence of influences -- NWOBHM, thrash, glam metal, doom, etc -- colliding at once as the era birthed a wellspring of subgenres. Many of these singles are self-released and were thus limited to a small run of copies. Those that remain are hoarded by collectors and sold for exorbitant amounts. We've collected the best of the best for you here. As with Brown Acid, all of these tracks are licensed legitimately and the artists all get paid. Because it's the right thing to do."
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CD
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EZRDR 133CD
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"'Empty surrounds all of me.' It's a poignant line from the third album by Blackwater Holylight that encapsulates the search for self when suddenly everything has changed. There's a theme of processing vast personal trauma throughout Silence/Motion that eloquently -- both lyrically and musically -- and simultaneously embodies the crushing emptiness, sorrow, strength and rebuilding of recovering from personal devastation. Curiously, considering the dark times in which it was created, this is the band's most melodic and catchy music so far. Blackwater Holylight, as the name suggests, is all about contrasts: it's a fluid convergence of sound that's heavy, psychedelic, melodic, terrifying and beautiful all at once. Silence/Motion finds the band honing those contrasts, letting ideas and moods fully develop from song to song, rather than filling every song with a full range of their capabilities. It allows the band to go fully prog-rock here, and simply stay hushed and intimate there. There's a new confidence to the band in how seamlessly they wield their stylistic amalgam. The band recorded the album as a four piece: Allison 'Sunny' Faris on vocals and guitar (on 'Silence/Motion', 'MDIII', 'Around You' and 'Every Corner') and bass for the remainder, Sarah McKenna on synths, Mikayla Mayhew on guitar (and bass when Faris plays guitar) and drummer Eliese Dorsay. New second guitarist Erika Osterhout will perform the songs with them live. For Silence/Motion the band chose to work with a producer for the first time, bringing in A.L.N. (of Mizmor, Hell) to produce, along with recording engineer Dylan White -- who also helmed their previous album Veils Of Winter (2019) -- at Odessa Recording Studio in Portland, OR. Guest vocals on album opener 'Delusional' are by Bryan Funck (Thou.) Mike Paparo (Inter Arma) and A.LN. (Mizmor, Hell) lend guest vocals to album closer 'Every Corner'."
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