Spinaloga records comes with an all Greek bands compilation that carries the strange name “Miss Fortune was a Henhouse Manager”. This compilation sums up pretty much what is going on lately in the underground doom Greek scene. Spinaloga is a small Greek island where lepers were forced to go, so I guess they did a nice job gathering all the “outcast” extreme sound of the music industry! The 16 bands contained in this double CD compilation, cover a wide variety of styles close to what you can listen in a Roadburn festival. Stoner, Doom, Sludge, Post Metal etc. One thing to say about this compilation is that all songs are above average and there are no bad songs. Since it’s not possible to make a track-by-track review for the 19 songs in it, I will stand to the songs that impressed me the most.
“Dead End Nights and Bright Mornings” by Sun of Nothing is probably the one track that impressed me the most. I have heard only half of their upcoming album and I have to say that these guys are the next big thing in the extreme/black avant-garde genre. This track is closer to their upcoming album as the production is clearer. Slow, dark and catatonic with excellent work on the barking vocals.
“Liquidator” by Korsikov presents a solid track in the vein of Church of Misery or perhaps something like Earthride meats Wo Fat. Groovy dual guitar work, heavy riffs, a classic stoner bomb. I am not a huge fan of the latest trend in stoner that is to put dialogs from movies but I enjoyed the intro from Scarface also. Definitely convinced me for keeping an eye open for their upcoming work.
“The Harvest” by Stonenrow is the only classic doom track. This particular track reminds Electric Wizard, Witchcult Today era, but at its best. Slow but heavy as a mammoth. Classic weed worshiping themes on the lyrics. One of these cases where a more vintage approach in production benefits the overall outcome (still there is room for improvement in that part). Easily the best track I heard from them and a good reason to have an evil smile on my face for the rest of the week.
“God Mode” by Bad Trip (no, not Acid). Being a Neurosis fan their EP “What does Not Evolve Must Burn” totally blew me away last year. This track continues in the same direction and packs many nice evil twists. A nihilistic, dark trip. Thumbs up! Again, the rest of the songs are more than descent.
Before I close with this review I have two final notes. 1000mods (no their not a pop band) made an excellent cover for EyeHateGod’s Sister f**ker, but did they change their singer? If not, I am 100% with band on the change of vocals style to more extreme! Universe 217 is a band incapable of making bad songs! Really! But somehow they always manage to ruin their songs in the production! The bass is buried the guitars are polished to match more commercial norms and the vocals are put to front in a way that reminds a gothic band. If these guys decide to make a record similar to how they sound live the doom scene will speak their name for quite some time…
The compilation will be available for orders soon so keep an eye on Spinaloga Records site for further detail.
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