Artist: Alunah
Title: Fall To Earth
Type: Album
Label: Catacomb Records

I don’t care what you rat fuckers say, I like some stoner metal, and all you true doom crusaders can kiss the rims of my fat 70’s van. Back in the mid nineties, it almost seemed that stoner metal was going to manage to penetrate the mainstream, and then like all over exposed sub-genres, the massive faecal tide of mediocre bands drowned the listener, and it seemed to drop from favour all together. Some brave warriors have carried on though, and in this spirit, I commend to you, most valued reader, the work of the West Midlands very own Aluna.

Flared out, wigged out and generally everything out bass-heavy rumbling catchy stoner with female vocals. Luckily the weather in deepest fenshire has been extremely nice the last few days, so I have been able to enjoy this three track EP in its rightful habitat – either blasting from the car while I cruise about in the bright sunshine, or out in the garden while I sit there quietly getting drunk under the rays of Apollo (this scribe is entirely non-narcotic, don’t cha know). The grooves and warm, burbling tempo of the tracks of course aren’t ever going to set the world afire in terms of invention, but then no one really listens to music steeped in the 70’s vibe for fresh approaches to heaviness. No, they come for the groove, the fuzz and the vibe, and they stay for the head nodding and the swing. In terms of the sheer catchiness of these numbers, they’re on a par with the first Acrimony album (especially with the left field quirkiness of second number “Son Et Luminaire”). The female vocals of Sophie are more haunting than many of her contemporaries. Personally, I found this to be at parts an excellent and an infuriating release; as enjoyable though it was, I wanted more! While other doom or stoner bands have travelled the female-fronted doom band road before with mixed results (such as the superb Mourn or the supremely disappointing Serpent Cult), I haven’t yearned for a follow up release from a band in a long time.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to turn it up, crack another cold cider and well and truly fuzz off the neighbours. Wig out, baby!

www.myspace.com/alunatheband