Riding the riffs with LungBurner, Crystal Spiders, HolyRoller and Hot Ram
By Scott “Keeps on Burning” Belzer
Have you ever wished the music you’re listening to was just a smidge… slower? Just to take in every millisecond of every note? Have you ever found yourself wishing those basslines and riffs that make your face grimace, feet curl and fists ball lasted for around, say, 30 seconds? How about 30 minutes?
Good. That’s good. I don’t think you’d be here if you didn’t.
Do you enjoy ..burning your lungs? Have an insatiable need to roll… but in a holy way? What’s your stance on HOT sexy rams? How about crystal spiders?
It’s important we find out, because LUNGBURNER—a note-slingin, bass bongin’, downtuned trio from right here in the hometown hoedown-lovin’ capital of Atlanta, Georgia—will be smokin’ spliffs and slingin’ riffs at Boggs Social & Supply on Sunday, September 14. And just in case that wasn’t enough of a head rush, they’re bringing hometown heroes—HOT RAM—to welcome some North Carolina doom-ridden rockers, HOLYROLLER and CRYSTAL SPIDERS. Shove that into your chevy chase and chew.
LUNGBURNER’s latest LP, Natura Duale, plays like the unholy offspring of genre giants and doom-tinged projects in other realms of metal. Think YOB and Conan, sure, but work in vocals/atmosphere/structure from Cult of Luna, hard stylings from Innumerable Forms and a doomy ethos from Dream Unending. There’s a lot going on for just three amigos here, and it all creates a groovy, doomy, stoner metal dream machine wall of sound.
Every mammoth melody drips with style. There’s samples galore, slow builds, vocals that seem to be born of smoke itself, and perhaps most importantly, wave after wave of lightning-riding riffs. These things may change tempo once or twice throughout an eight-minute song, but they come back fatter and fatter each time, adding ooze, grime, distortion, even clarity. By the time a song’s peak arrives—and trust me, you’ll know when it happens—drool will be spilling out of your gourd, and you’ll find your entire body halving while you headbang. LungBurner is here for a good time AND a long time.
Don’t believe me? Bask in the expert use of the Hereditary sample throughout “Requiem.” Or true crime samples in “(Prey)Job”. Each one does more to create atmosphere than an autumn-themed scented candle.
Try not to dance while those drums and down-tuned bass smack your candy ass in “The Hidden Hand.” Get sucked into the bluesy basslines and guitar solos that wait atop every mountain of sound in “Barren” and “Astral Projection.” Congrats, that’s every track on Natura Duale. But don’t worry, the album is thicker than the Vortex’s triple bypass burger—and just as deadly.
HOLYROLLER takes that same ethos, but dips it into a vat of acid. Not the corrosive liquid that will eat away any surface (gnarly), but the acid of Hendrix, Brian Wilson, and Charles Manson: HolyRoller’s brand of stoner doom is every bit as psychedelic as it is pummeling. There’s much more focus on melody, including clean vocals, higher-tuned guitars, and calamitous, crushing song structure. This brand of stoner doom makes me want to steal the closest ‘70s Cadillac, break the windows with a crowbar, and blast through a desert until the tires pop off from sheer exhaustion – all while blazing a trail of the mind with the fattest fat fatty imaginable burnin’ my lungs. There’s something hauntingly hypnotic about Adam Cody’s vocal stylings, which are expertly layered in effects that suit the music, that just makes me crave more (see: “Forbidden Things,” “Rat King,” and more). Take the head trip with HolyRoller’s latest LP, Rat King, y’all, and you’ll know exactly what I mean.
CRYSTAL SPIDERS throw the same vibes at you, but dip it into a leather-clad biker bar sheen. In many ways, this elevates the sound to something more in line with the rock and roll forebears of old. But the bluesy riffs and trance-inducing instrumental breaks bring us listeners back down to Earth to roll something up and spark it. Rangy wails from bassist Brenna Leath only add to the hazy-late-night-poker-room ethos, but the tunes being churned out from her other two bandmates percolate it up to something all its own. If that didn’t make sense to you, you’re just not in the right headspace, man. Smoke some Crystal Spiderwebs, amigo, and get on the band’s level.
HOT RAM is exactly that. A sexy goat. A devilish creature on fire. A mountain-climbing behemoth ready to smother you with flames. Just joking—it’s an amp-worshipping stoner metal band from right here in the good ol’ ATL. If you’re uninitiated with Hot Ram’s hot ramming, look no further than their distorted 2021 LP, Electric Medicine, which showcases the band’s penchant for bludgeoning blues alongside smoky growls and cloud-soaring moany vocals. Much like HolyRoller, this trio likes to add a desert-stricken heady haze to their brand of rock and roll, making listeners want to drive a Hemi V8 engine over a sand dune at full tilt. All gas. No brakes. Just HOT RAM.
See these fine artists perform this Sunday, 9/14, in Atlanta at Boggs Social & Supply – Tickets Here
