Self-financed, self-produced and self-released (they also did the art), the semi-self-titled 2010 debut from Greek four-piece Dala Sun does nothing if it doesn’t stand on its own. Imbued with a spirit of hazy psychedelia, the fuzzy riffs of Harris and Byron (the latter who seems to have been replaced since by Hristos, or maybe that’s the other way around; the CD credits Byron with “prana,” the MySpace page lists Hristos on guitar, and the Facebook says they’re a three-piece), lead the way through the eight-plus tracks of engaging stoner fare on Sala Dun, shifting between songs from languid to upbeat pacing but always keeping in mind a simplistic feel, whatever noises and swirls and effects might crop up. The rhythm section of bassist Tolas and drummer Adreas feature prominently, particularly the former’s rich low end, which is rightly weighted in the mix and a big part of what gives Sala Dun their warmth. Song-wise, the material is straightforward enough to have an apparent structure, but loose-feeling and jammed out all the same. Harris handles the vocals and has a throaty but still clean approach that’s well suited to songs like “Fuck it Away” and the bluesier “I Have a Better Way.” He’s shouting, mostly, but with the overwhelming crest of the two guitars and bass behind him and the drums cutting through, his voice never really veers into the abrasive, and when he pulls back a bit into half-spoken proclamations, as on “In Evil,” the effect is a standout.

Sala Dun has several highlights, among them the helpful advice of “Fuck it Away” and the laid back opener, “Black Karmageddon” – which has that perfectly stoned ooze to its tonality – but the album doesn’t reveal its full charm until the sixth track, “Drunk.” With a sound that lives well up to its title, it finds Dala Sun (presumably drunkenly) singing the riff to introduce it before the song actually gets going, backed by Tolas’ bass. It’s a simple thing, and it doesn’t last long – just two measures, really – but the lack of pretense it shows, the willingness on the part of the band to not take what they do too seriously, does a lot of work in driving home the atmosphere and overall feel of Sala Dun, which is casual and fun, but still markedly heavy, like earliest Suplecs slowed down and dirtied up some. They also bring it back at the end of “Drunk” with some breaking-bottle noises for another four measures, to underscore the inevitable end of the good times. Coming off the more winding stonerisms of “Sala Dun Theme” and leading to the soft/heavy tradeoffs of “My Girl My Time,” “Drunk” is just right for its place on Sala Dun. The album has a few such moments, despite some songs being more memorable than others ultimately. The closer, “Electric Magician” hits six minutes in length thanks to a sample at the end and is the only song on Sala Dun to do so, so although they leave plenty of room in their material for an open feel, Dala Sun never completely fall prey to psychedelic indulgence. Listening back, to the leads that top the ending section of “I Have a Better Way,” I almost wish they would. Maybe just once.

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They formed in 2000 and released their self-titled debut full-length earlier this year through Spinalonga Records, but if you told me that Athens four-piece The Dive spent the whole of those 11 years working on the cover art for their album, I’d believe it. The 11-plus-track CD comes in a gorgeous fold-out digi-sleeve, six panels on each side, to unveil the full picture of which the running wildebeest cover art turns out to be only one-twelfth. The artwork is a narrative in itself, and with it, the band immediately sets a high bar for creativity. It’s not every album that has to live up to its cover, but The Dive’s The Dive is clearly working to attain a standard, and for the most part it does. The band specializes in a kind of progressive desert rock, at times inflected with a grown-up punk feel, as on the perhaps misplaced Social Distortion-esque opener “Fresh Blue Coffee,” and rounded out through the fuzz tones and interplay between guitarists Titos and Monkey J. – the latter also vocals – and the sometimes Toolish rhythmic churn of bassist Livy and drummer Taz. If it’s taken The Dive 11 years to put a record together, they’ve got a complex creative range to show for it. I don’t know the disparity in how old some of these songs are versus others, but despite a few missteps here and there, they by and large remain consistent atmospherically and in terms of quality.

The reason I say “Fresh Blue Coffee” is potentially misplaced because it works outside the tone of much of the rest of the album, which is more rock-driven than punk-based. Certainly those elements show up again later on “Plan 9 From Outer Space,” but even there, the effect is more like Totimoshi taking on Fatso Jetson than trying to shirk off the desert aesthetic as much as the opener does. Right from “Lockjaw,” The Dive takes a different turn, Monkey J. adopting a different hue for his melodic vocals – he stays clean for the most, though a few choice screams in “Fabio, Fabio…” to well to play up the dynamics – to better match the darker and more cerebral overall vibe of the music. His and Titos’ guitars complement each other well, and rarely get locked into the same riff or break when they don’t want to be. Noodling abounds on “Lockjaw” and continues through “Billie Jean” (not a Michael Jackson cover) and most of the record, adding to the prog feel. At times, they come off like a sped up Kyuss, and “Lockjaw” definitely has a ‘90s atmosphere, but particularly after “Fresh Blue Coffee,” it’s hard to get a handle on where The Dive are headed next stylistically. Maybe that’s the point. Either way, “Lydia and the Pigheads” finds Livy stepping to the fore as the guitars drop out, and his Justin Chancellor-style runs prove a solid foundation for the song, Taz filling the space creatively on his toms. The earthy tones of The Dive’s artwork suit well the deep atmosphere and the dark but by no means bleak vibes of the music, and though “Desden” is one of the more forgettable tracks on the album, that might be due in part to its being situated next to the standout “Fabio, Fabio…”

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Fuzz abounds on the Billy Anderson-produced full-length debut by Greek trad stoner rockers 1000mods. The Chiliomodi four-piece made a splash late in 2009 with the well-riffed Liquid Sleep 7”, and they follow much the same course on the 10-track Super Van Vacation, nodding at desert rock while keeping a looseness in the material that speaks to a love of jamming. Released by SuiSound/Catch the Soap Productions, Super Van Vacation is long at 65 minutes, but mostly immersive, and 1000mods do well within the rigid parameters of genre they’ve set for themselves, launching the album with the nod-fodder groove of “Road to Burn” (a call-out to Roadburn, perhaps?), one of several extended cuts reaching well over the eight-minute mark. The Orange-amped guitars of Giannis and George are expectedly thick and lay down solid riffs throughout for drummer Labros and bassist/vocalist Dani to follow. Their choice of producer couldn’t have been better, as Anderson is among those who set the standard for recording this kind of music in the first place in his work with the Melvins, Sleep, Acid King and Weedeater (among others), and sure enough, the balance of sounds on Super Van Vacation is near perfect. Tones are dialed in thick and full, and Dani’s vocals cut through well but never dominate the guitars, which are clearly intended as the focus.

The groove of “Road to Burn” – or at least the delivery of the chorus – reminds a bit of Alabama Thunderpussy’s “6 Shooter” from 2000’s Constellation, and that’s one of several moments on Super Van Vacation where 1000mods make their influences explicitly known. Fourth track “Set You Free” seems to find its roots in a combination of Dozer and Astrosoniq, and the ringing guitar notes in the more subdued parts of “Vidage” seem to be calling out to the same sandy gods as did those of Elvis Deluxe’s “Take it Slow” from their stellar 2011 album, Favourite State of Mind. That’s doubtless coincidental and the result of a common Kyuss/Josh Homme influence in both bands, but worthy of note anyway, as it speaks to how much of Super Van Vacation is going to be immediately familiar to experienced heavy rock listeners. Ultimately, it works to 1000mods’ benefit, as it makes them seem like fans of the music they’re playing, and I’ll take nothing away from Dani’s bass runs, which are pushed to the fore of the mix in the second half of “Vidage” before the guitar solo kicks in. They’re a genre band, definitely, playing largely off the characteristics that have emerged over the past several years of stoner rock revivalism in Europe – the emphasis on jamming one finds in the second half of Super Van Vacation only speaks further to that – but damned if they don’t do it well on these tracks and earn their place at the head of the Greek stoner scene along with the stalwart likes of Nightstalker, who themselves lifted a great deal from Monster Magnet along the way.

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They’re part of the burgeoning scene in and around Athens, Greece, and true to form, double-guitar four-piece rockers The Dive inject their heavy rock with a ’90s-style alternative feel. The band formed in 2000 — that’s about all the biographical info they’re willing to give — and their self-titled album (released on Spinalonga Records), is available for listening in full via their Soundcloud page.

Their influences are pretty well in order, and The Dive runs a gamut from Tool-style riffy churn to Monster Magnet‘s “how are they coming back from this one?” spacing out, never seeming to totally lose track of the rhythms driving the songs. Finale “Fresh Blue Coffee” even works in a little garage rock, reminding of Baby Woodrose or one of Eurostoner’s many like-minded acts. “Iguana”‘s cadence makes it something of a misstep, but the bassline in “Floating” makes up for a lot.

You can find The Dive on Thee Facebooks here, but I basically just wanted to post the tracks for anyone who might be into checking them out, so here you go:

It’s with a keen ear for the avant and toward representing the individuality in its native scene that Greek imprint Spinalonga Records presents the two-disc Miss Fortune was a Henhouse Manager compilation. I know I’ve said before that I’m not a fan of reviewing comps – and I hold to that, as with most various artists releases, you get neither an album flow nor much of a sense of what each band has to offer stylistically – but taken on the level of ambassadorship, Miss Fortune was a Henhouse Manager’s total 19 tracks do an excellent job highlighting the variety Greece has to offer the international heavy underground. There’s some horrific noise and drone, scathing ambient metal, booze-fueled sludge and even a bit of experimentalism from where one might not expect. And with intros and outros on each disc handled by Athens black metal outfit Yassa – sort of a SunnO)))-esque terrifying drone – there’s even some measure of continuity between them, and it’s obvious that despite the wide variety of creative avenues included, Miss Fortune was a Henhouse Manager was conceived as a whole.

That said, my usual reservations with comps apply. It’s a collection of tracks, not an album – despite the gorgeous and appropriately disturbing artwork, the total four Yassa lead-ins and –outs, and how many of these songs start with feedback – and should be read as such. The discs are labeled Side A and Side B on the packaging, though in truth each would actually two full vinyl sides, and each has its high and low points. Sun of Nothing kicks off Side A with the 13-plus-minute “Dead End Nights and Bright Mornings (and the Things Between ‘em),” which is a monstrous slab of molasses riffage topped with far away screams, and without a second thought, National Pornographik launch next into mathy prog noise with a vocalist who sounds like a self-harmonizing Julie Christmas from Made Out of Babies fronting. Clearly diversity is going to be the name of the game as Miss Fortune was a Henhouse Manager progresses, and that turns out to be precisely the case. Speaking of appropriate names, Drunk Motherfuckers give a firm mission statement on the charmingly titled “Ain’t Give No Shit about Sobers,” sounding like a mix of Eyehategod – who 1000mods cover on the second disc – and Entombed. I don’t know if I’d let them drive my car, but they sure sound good coming out of the speakers. On blanket appeal alone, that song is a highlight, but the 10-minute instrumental “Stoner City Dub” which follows from Nechayevschina isn’t without its own dreamily psychedelic appeal. A jazzy bassline underscores Last Rizla’s “Battles: Sinatra,” Korsikov sample Scarface on their way to answering what Weedeater might sound like with Matt Pike singing on “Liqweedator,” and before “B.I.I.D.” holds more horrors from Yassa, Stonenrow bust out 8:34 of solid and, relative to its surroundings, straightforward, doom on “The Harvest.” Even among the strange and furious, a heady doom groove isn’t out of place.

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Part of the expanding and unabashedly stoner-fied Greek scene, Athens trio Brotherhood of Sleep – who are not to be confused with Down’s moniker for their fans, “The Brotherhood of Eternal Sleep” – follow a 2009 self-titled with their second LP, Dark as Light (Catch the Soap Productions). The album, entirely instrumental, is comprised of four massive slabs of Orange-hued, mostly-fuzzed, riff-led heavy psych, semi-progressive in its sometimes-displayed angularity, and not given to the extensive jamming of some of the European psychedelic scene. Each of the four pieces, “Afterlife Unearthed,” “Naze,” “Aranian Gates” and “Dark as Light,” has a plotted construction, somewhere it’s on the way to being, and that greatly helps keep the listener hooked as Dark as Light progresses. Liner notes as heady as the music the three-piece concocts help to guide a narrative that plays out in the music but aren’t essential to the listening experience. As all of the songs top 11 minutes, there’s plenty of room for the audience to make up their own mind concerning themes and storyline.

There’s an element of Om-style spirituality in some of what Brotherhood of Sleep do within the time and volume shifts of “Afterlife Unearthed” and the subsequent material on Dark as Light, but ultimately the band probably has more in common with the likes of a vocal-less Sungrazer or their peers among the next generation’s Colour Haze-inspired ilk. As the title suggests, there’s a lot of playing off the contradicting dark and light atmospheres, perhaps mostly on “Naze,” which tops 14 minutes as the longest track on the album and begins slow, led by bassist Danis A. Throughout both that song and the record as a whole, though, the standout performance is by drummer Serafim G., whose bright, popping snare is like a call to attention across “Afterlife Unearthed,” and whose fills make all the difference selling the material. There are a couple points where I wish he’d open up a groove and really lock in with the riffs, settle into the song instead of seem so busy (8:17 into “Naze,” if you want a specific example), as he does late into the closer, but by and large he’s a good demonstration of the difference a drummer can really make in a band, as without his stylized play anchoring the rhythm section, Dark as Light would inevitably fall flat.

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Not to be confused with the purposefully-weird California outfit, Bad Acid Trip, who got some exposure in the middle part of the last decade when System of a Down’s Serj Tankian got behind them for an album release, the Greek four-piece Bad Trip specialize in a noisy brand of instrumental post-metal. Their first self-released EP, What Does Not Evolve Must Burn, follows a demo and a split with fellow Thessaloniki natives 63High, and boasts four songs across three tracks spanning 23 minutes in a hand-stamped black and white digibook that makes it an immediate curiosity. I opened the package it came in and had to put the disc on right away, which almost never happens.

What Does Not Evolve Must Burn has sonic intensity to match its fervent title. The double guitars of Alex and George (first names only) are heavy tone-wise, but gain further weight from the quick changes they make and their ability to fluidly tie the music together. The rhythm section of Fots (bass) and Sakis (drums) does a more than capable job keeping up, Fots adding character to the third cut, “My Homeland is Not Land but People.” The titles all take on a sociopolitical theme, opening with “Oppressed,” and running through “Antination” and the secret cut, “Organized Crime,” which features a lengthy spoken sample from Richard Linklater’s 2001 film Waking Life the text of which is printed on the inside of the packaging. That sample starts, “Our critique began as all critiques begin, with doubt. Doubt became our narrative,” and affects an atmosphere similar to that on Neurosis’ “Takeahnase” from 1992’s Souls at Zero.

What’s perhaps most curious about Bad Trip, though, is why a band who obviously has so much to say would be instrumental. Their discontent is ably conveyed musically, and with the open structures of the songs, it’s not like they’re sitting there waiting for a singer to come along and slap on a chorus, but for a band to offer such thematic passion – political passion, no less, which it seems everyone and anyone can vocalize at will – and not back it up with lyrics feels like an odd choice. Maybe they just couldn’t find anyone and didn’t want to do it themselves. Again, the songs don’t sound like they’re missing vocals – at a constantly shifting 23 minutes, there’s hardly time for them to be – but it’s contrary to expectation and so notable that they’re not there.

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What I like about the Stoned from the Underground festival, aside from the lineup, is the acronym STFU, which I’m told in clever internet-speak means “shut the fuck up.” Certainly I’d never have figured that out on my own, but it’s good to know. The fest is set to take place this July in ol’ Bundesrepublik Deutschland, and will feature a host of European stoner types as well as Garcia Plays Kyuss and a few other American acts thrown in for good measure. MeteorCity, via the PR wire, make it known that Greece‘s Nightstalker will partake:

MeteorCity recording artists, Nightstalker, will play this year’s Stoned from the Underground festival in Germany. It’s the 10th anniversary of this festival and it will be held on July 9th and 10th. Other bands performing include Garcia Plays Kyuss, Yawning Man, Black Cobra, Weedeater, Firebird, Ufomammut and many others! This is clearly a festival that you should not miss!

More info can be found here: http://www.myspace.com/stonedfromtheunderground

Liquid Sleep is the second EP from the curiously-named Greek stoner four-piece 1000mods (following 2006’s Blank Reality). Released through SuiSound, the 7” comes in a full cardboard sleeve cover with rockin’ purple artwork, pressed on foamy green vinyl and is just over 12 minutes of fuzzed-out riff bliss, marked with extended instrumental sections and the occasional bit of Echoplex shenanigans.

We begin with “Burnt Sleep,” the more straightforward and rock and roll of the two tracks here present. Bassist Dani comes in on vocals after a short stretch of riffing from guitarists Giannis and George (first names only), in the meantime starting off the song and providing suitable accompaniment to drummed Lab in the rhythm section. The production is modern but not overdone, though the vocals feel higher placed in the mix than the music warrants — could be my listening apparatus. Nonetheless, the half-decade-old band from Hiliomodi sound engaging in a not-asking-too-much kind of way.

The amps are Orange, the vibes are good, the structures are relatively simple, none of which is a cause for complaint. There are some effects sprinkled throughout on the vocals (and elsewhere) to keep it interesting, but mostly 1000mods traffic in straight up stoner fuzz that will ring familiar in the ears of the already-converted without sounding overly redundant. The jam about four minutes into the song goes a long way toward changing things up, Dani doing an especially notable job steering the course through dual-guitar delay improvisations.

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Greece doesn’t have the stoner scene reputation of Sweden or the Palm Desert in California, but you’d never know it once you got lost in Superfreak, the latest offering (first for MeteorCity) from long-running rockers Nightstalker. The band formed in 1990 and has been going steadily ever since, but even if Superfreak is your first experience with them – as it was mine – the easily accessible songs, catchy choruses and memorable musical hooks will make the band a standout in your mind, especially if you’re a fan of a straightforward approach.

Actually, make that “especially” a double. Though on a couple tracks it can feel like Nightstalker are pounding you over the head with the repeated lines of a chorus – “Baby, God is Dead,” “The Light,” “Superfreak” – these are also some of the record’s strongest moments. Nightstalker have all the tightness in their presentation of a solid but underrated Euro act like Red Aim, but vocalist Argy alternately channels Ozzy Osbourne and Dave Wyndorf, setting the band apart from an otherwise forgettable pack of similarly-minded acts.

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Being scholars themselves, Greek trio Nightstalker would obviously be familiar with the philosophical works of Friedrich Nietzsche. Doubtless when they were composing songs for their MeteorCity debut, Superfreak, they did so with the following quote from The Joyful Wisdom in mind:

“God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we, murderers of all murderers, console ourselves? That which was the holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet possessed has bled to death under our knives. …Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we not ourselves become gods simply to be worthy of it? There has never been a greater deed; and whosoever shall be born after us — for the sake of this deed he shall be part of a higher history than all history hitherto.”

Of course, Nightstalker manage to put it more succinctly, as we can see with the title of the song around which their latest video is based, “Baby, God is Dead.” As audience members, we can be sure the speeding roadster and green-screen antics are meant to serve as an allegory for the falsehoods and distractions man inevitably must conquer on his journey toward embodying the ?bermensch. Kudos to the band on their subtlety of presentation.