The Well

A heavy psych rock/proto-metal power trio based out of Austin, Texas, the Well’s lethal blend of knotty prog, punk, and bluesy doom rock invokes names like Black Sabbath, Electric Wizard, Sleep, and Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats. Citing a desire “to blend different musical styles as diversified as Joy Division to Blue Cheer”, the band, which consists of Ian Graham, Lisa Alley, and Jason Sullivan, came together in 2012 out of a shared love for extreme music, cult horror films, and dark mysticism. That same year they released their limited-edition debut 7″ “Seven.” The band’s 2013 EP, First Trip, caught the attention of Riding Easy Records, who quickly signed the trio, leading to the release of their full-length debut, Samsara, in 2014, a sophomore effort, Pagan Science, followed in 2016, and Death and Consolation in 2019, again via Riding Easy. -Bio from Allmusic.com

WO FAT

After over 10 years of slinging their Texas-sized psychedelic blues doom, Wo Fat is going stronger and rocking harder than ever, promising to continue their swampadelic visionquest of overdriven, fuzz-laden riffage and jazz-minded jam explorations with the next chapter, entitled Midnight Cometh, looming on the horizon. Through five studio albums, a live album, and a couple splits, starting with The Gathering Dark in 2006, they have stayed true to the deep, dark blues that wails from within and have forged their riffs with a primal grooviness, giving them a consistency of style, even while they have progressed and matured as a band, with their musical forays getting heavier but also trippier at times. 2009’s Psychedelonaut really began to solidify the Wo Fat name, garnering them wider critical recognition, leading to releases with Nasoni and Totem Cat records and then on to their two most critically acclaimed releases to date, The Black Code (2013) and The Conjuring (2014,) both released on the iconic stoner rock label, Small Stone Records, with The Conjuring landing on NPR’s “Top Ten Metal Albums of 2014” list, among numerous other “best of” lists. One reviewer (yourlastrites.com) aptly described the album this way: “It’s hard to know where to place The Conjuring along the stoner spectrum because it’s metal heavy, but it rolls like rock.” During these last few years, Wo Fat has made appearances at the legendary Roadburn Festival, Desertfest, Freak Valley Festival, Psycho California Festival and Sylak Open Air Festival as parts of a number of successful international tours.

In May and June of 2016, coinciding with another European tour that included appearances at Desertfest Berlin, Desertfest London and one of the largest metal festivals in Europe, the famed Hellfest in France, where they made Metal Hammer’s “Nine Best Bands of Friday at Hellfest” list Wo Fat teamed up with a label on the rise, Ripple Records, to release Midnight Cometh, the newest slab of riffage that is possibly their most daring psychotropic exploration of heaviness to date. With voodoo drums beating and molten blues-tempered waves of guitar riffery, they are carrying on the Wo Fat tradition of keeping things heavy and fuzzy, but also groovy, which, all too often, is a missing element in much modern heavy music. You can hear the echoes of field hollers and that oft forgotten “way back yonder funk” that fuel the fire that burns deep in the swamp at the witching hour. You can feel the rush of living on the edge and glimpse a phantasmal Coltrane in your peripheral vision as they careen through improvisational jams. And all this with an unrelenting metal heaviness underscoring apocalyptic lyrics that conjure visions of the end of an age, (our age?) and black midnight bargains and the consequences reaped. While Wo Fat may be speaking a familiar language to the apostles of the riff, there isn’t anyone that sounds quite like them.

Midnight Cometh has been welcomed by loads of great reviews and Wo Fat has had a full page interview feature in Classic Rock Magazine.

Rumor has it that incantations and conjurings of the Riff have begun for the next album…

BLACK ROAD

Black Road is a four-piece sultry stoner/doom band from Chicago, IL. Founding members Tim M. and Suzi Uzi write the riffs and lyrics, with new member Trey Wedgeworth (bass) and newest member Danny Garcia (drums) creating a heavy and harmonious rhythm as the backbone. Formed in the summer of 2015, Black Road has had lineup changes that have pushed the band to become stronger and more focused. Just before acquiring then-new members Robert and Casey in fall of 2016, Black Road signed with DHU Records (Netherlands) for a vinyl and cassette deal. In early 2017, they signed with BloodRock Records (Italy) for the CD release. After almost one full year of gaining their new bassist and drummer, Black Road was finally ready to reveal their self-titled debut Black Road – EP (10/6/2017). One year later, a digital single with a runtime of over ten minutes was released: Witch of the Future. The single album release with two tracks is titled “Blood On The Blade” (4/5/2019), and the 7” vinyl sold out in 20 minutes in the US and overseas at DHU Records. “Witch of the Future”, the debut full-length attempt, was released on Halloween 2019 with the same two killer labels. It features a completely new recording of the song “Witch of the Future”, and a brand new mix for “Blood on the Blade”. A repress on “Witch of the Future” was released in September 2020, with a limited edition translucent red vinyl via DHU Records and The Company. This second pressing (sold out) featured new artwork.

BIONIC CAVEMEN

The Bionic Cavemen are vintage heavy. And they’ve come to destroy the future. They began when the guitarist and the bassist met in high school. They were the only two who fit in, and they bonded over pep rallies and bake sales. The drummer met the guitarist in the woods and asked what he was doing with his life. They jammed and eventually brought on the singer because he is the guitarist’s brother, and the only person they knew to have a credit card. Over a series of car crashes and smoke-filled garages, they honed their sound, embracing the loud blues rock that allowed for the occasional psychedelic trip, while still maintaining their meat-eating, whiskey-drinking roots.

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