Here’s a band whose motto is “we take our time.” I like that. It’s an implicit nod to the slow ‘n’ low style of music we’ve covered in these pages since 2013. MARGARITA hail from Paris, France, a trio of Karen Verdier-Désérable (guitar, vox), Julie Appéré (bass, synth, vox), and Julie Picard (drums, SPD) who conjure Burning Witch, Blackwater Holylight, and Messa vibes, with bare bones instrumentation that eschews overproduced atmosphere for something much more primal and visceral.

You feel it immediately on opening track “Blood Incantation” with its ominous strumming. “Melting Days” is a fuzzy firestorm of blackened riffage, featuring haunting rhythmic vocal accents. “Swamp Lullaby” slings the kind of bass you can feel right in your gut. You may be at a loss to describe precisely what it is you’re feeling, but perhaps will relate it as I did to grief, loss, shock, and frustration. This deserves big speakers for full effect, and a strangely beautiful choir of voices converges in the moonlight to end the song. “Not A Mother” is an expansive 10 minute meditation of solemnity and rage, while album closer “Better Off Alone” is a calming balm of contented resignation.

There are six tracks in all, and today Doomed & Stoned is bringing you the fifth, “Abyssal Pain” which presents a punkish face to Margarita’s music, with dank motorific rhythms, distortion galore, lumbering heavy riffs, and witchy vocals.

Look for Margarita’s upcoming album Abysses of Melancholia, coming out on Electric Valley Records in vinyl and digital formats on October 9th (pre-orders begin July 15th right here).

Give ear…

SOME BUZZ

Electric Valley Records presents French prog/stoner quartet Margarita’s upcoming debut full-length, Abysses of Melancholia, scheduled for October 09th on vinyl and across digital/streaming platforms.

Margarita is a Paris-based trio, formed in 2022 by Julie, Julie, and Karen — the first band project for some of its members. They play heavy doom steeped in distortion and deep melancholy. Their songs talk about inconsolable loss, disenchantment, unreachable redemption, and a visceral rejection of toxic masculinity. After releasing their self-titled EP in 2023, they played across France, Belgium, and Switzerland.

At its core, Margarita shares the impulse to expose inner chaos, to embrace going off track, and to turn vulnerability into something loud, raw, and unapologetic. Driven by a relentless need to follow darkness, the trio follows one rule: to Black Sabbath themselves into oblivion.

Margarita’s debut album, Abysses of Melancholia, follows a slow descent shaped by memory, anger, and loss. Throughout the record, the trio explores aching bodies, fractured identities, and a past that never really goes away. The record drifts through disappearing selves, lingering absences, and the emotional aftermath of loss, examining how pain can both imprison and redefine those left to carry it.

Blending doom, sludge, heavy psych, and shoegaze, Margarita builds dense, slow-burning tracks where brute force and fragility coexist. Heavy riffs meet layers of reverb and texture, creating a sound that is both crushing and introspective. For this album, the band added synth layers and electronic percussion to their usual guitar, bass, and drums setup, bringing more depth and a strong sense of melancholy to the songs.

Everything about this production bleeds real to me. The tone struck by the opening tremolo of the guitar is stark and alarming, as though referencing something troubling we all sense in the backdrop, the terrifying hum of our age. With wondrous skill, a whole soundscape is created about it, buttressed by deep bass picking, brave drumming, and a second guitar that really brings the doom.

This is France’s DDENT, and if you’re not familiar with them, the team of four are far from newcomers to the scene. Drawing roots from 2013, the band’s fruits include three prior full-length records and three EPs added to that, a deft stylistic blend of doom and post-metal.

‘Feeding the Void’s Luster’ (2026) is their latest five-track juggernaut, and today Doomed & Stoned is bringing you the official premiere of the intriguingly titled single, “Dis à la lune qu’elle vienne,” which translates to English as “Tell the moon to come.” You don’t really need to worry about the language barrier (should one exist) to feel the full weight of its sentiment. The line is sourced from a poem by Frederico Garcia Lorca (1898-1936), which mourns the death of a dear friend gored to death in the bullfighting arena. In this moment of terrifying tragedy, the poet shouts for the moon to appear to wash out the blood-soaked sand with its pale light.

As you can tell, this music is utterly human and its emotion becomes even more apparent as one breaks into the lyrical underpinnings. Out in the heat of mid-summer, DDENT’s new record promises something “heavier, louder, more towering, more cathartic” to top their existing opus. A seventh record at the cusp of a strange new era that feels as foggy as the stage they play on. The sound is wide awake, terrifying, surreal, poetic, and ultimately transcendant. Look for the release on July 24th on the Chien Noir label (get it here).

Give ear…

SOME BUZZ

DDENT formed in the early 2010s as the instrumental brainchild of guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Louis Lambert and drummer Marc Le Saux. First EP Chien Noir was released in 2014, which quickly led to the addition of live musicians to the project. This milestone laid the foundations for a dark post-rock sound that induces a gripping spiritual and sensory journey. While 2017 debut LP آكتئاب narrated the introspective journey of a poet, their sophomore album TORO (2018) dealt with the search for truth through creation. It is safe to say that literature and philosophy have always been a centerpiece of DDENT’s music.

In 2019, DDENT performed at Europe’s largest metal festival Hellfest, tantalizing both the audience and critics with their bewitching performance. As a result, Louis Lambert started working on the follow-up album Couvre-sang — a massive and poetic post-metal 11-track awash with dark, elegant atmospheres and intriguing thematics, described as “pure instrumental industrial bliss, a living breathing beast, crafted superbly, with real emotional levels” by The Sleeping Shaman. In 2021, Lambert kept working as a solo act and released a cinematic single and video entitled “VOLEMOI”. 2023 saw the talented songwriter’s return with the Ex Auditu 2xEP on Chien Noir, then entering hiatus… until now.

DDENT returns this summer with a new lineup and a new album: “Feeding the Void’s Luster”. Captured in two takes, with no metronome or samples, this volcanic five-tracker finds the quartet pulling from older material, twisting and rearranging it until they become a completely different beast. Heavier, louder, more towering, more cathartic.

To embody this renewal, DDENT welcomes new drummer Alain Minot (ex-20 Seconds Falling Man), whose hardcore and punk style infuses the tracks with some new tension. Blackened vocals from bassist Nicolas Zivkovich (Les Tigres du Futur, Fiend, Krv) also make an appearance on most tracks for the first time, without ever overshadowing the instrumental part — the cornerstone of their hypnotic post-metal.

Whereas band founder Louis Lambert used to write the bulk of the material, DDENT now operates as a full-blown collective. This record marks the first step in a new process, a way to reunite the band through playing together. Next up: an album consisting entirely of new material, work on which will begin in the fall.

This debut LP by WITCHORIOUS is without doubt one of the finest doom metal offerings the year has given us. Antoine Auclair (guitar/vocals), Lucie Gaget (bass/vocals), and Paul Gaget (drums) have assembled a thoughtful collection of 10 tracks that draw upon the themes of classic horror and traditional doom metal, with prolific drumming, sinister guitar, and surreal atmosphere.

We begin with the ominous “Monster,” which is surely the musical equivalent to a brooding stormfront. Each instrument brings its unique powers to the whole, generating a menacing sound that got me slow headbanging immediately. Vocals have the same Medieval gruff as classic Morgoth, full of prophetic dread.

The roars of “Catharsis” approach Domkraft levels of fierceness. With male and female vocals in the chorus, the effect is mesmerizing. The track following this is deeply atmospheric, with its fuzz-filled intro and repeated arpeggios forming a thick haze that bedazzles the listener into a strange, trancelike state. Appropriate considering this is “The Witch.”

“Blood” is deliriously good. Again the riffs are on point! You’d have to go back to BelzebonG’s Sonic Scapes & Weedy Grooves to find riffs this pure. The beat never lets up; it’s a steady driver all the way through, keeping the narrative moving forward. Verses feature another lusty vocal performance and the chorus has tons of heart. I was happy there was room for a guitar solo.

“Eternal Night” has an unsettling vibe akin to the band Demon Lung. When the solo erupts towards the end, it sounds like something between a siren and a sax, but it could be a guitar effect or synthesizer. Whatever it is, it’s effective in bringing a chilling climax to the moment.

Once again, it’s the vocals that make a song like “Sanctuaire” so convincing – and this is to say nothing of the incredible drumming, subtle basswork, and atmospheric guitar play. Even the sequence of “heys” at 4:31 were dripping with the angst of instability, making me think of Kurt Cobain and Mark Arm.

After a brief interlude (“Amnesia”) we’re ushered into the album’s final three songs. The vocal attack on “Watch Me Die” is just savage, utterly convincing, and the doomy guitar chords match the mood. “To The Grave” is chill by contrast, with acoustic strumming that allow Antoine and Lucy to vary their vocal delivery and range, as they’re not competing with loud instruments.

Finally, comes “Why” (the longest track after “Sanctuaire” at 7:20). This one has a grooving bassline, bittersweet riffmaking, slappin’ drums, and clear, sincere singing with a certain Ozzyesque mystique. The guitar solo is soulful and grungy with plenty of stoner sway.

Witchorious drops Friday, February 16th on vinyl, CD, and digital via Argonauta Records (get it here). Don’t pass this one by! Stick it on a playlist with Amen-Ra, Beastmaker, Lord Vicar, Famyne, and Purple Hill Witch.

Give ear…

SOME BUZZ

Witchorious is a doom metal band from Paris, France. Founded in 2019, the trio is composed of Antoine Auclair (guitar/vocals), and brother and sister Paul (drums) and Lucie (bass/vocals) Gaget. Their first two singles “3 AM” and “Evil Creature” came out of darkness in 2020.

Their music blends bluesy riffs inherited from Black Sabbath, aggressive sounds supported by fuzzy bass lines in the likes of Electric Wizard, and intense atmospheres inspired by bands like Amenra and Mastodon. All this led by adventurous and solid drums, spawning modern chaotic doom metal songs with enraged vocals. Between screams and whispers, Antoine and Lucie’s voices have us travel from incantations to outpouring of despair. Each track will immerse you in the darkness of your mind, where you will keep looking for answers.

Dying to meet their audience, Witchorious played more and more gigs and opened for The Wytches in Paris and Westill Fest in November 2023. Witchorious’s debut album will be released in February 2024 through Italian label Argonauta Records. The album was recorded in Paris at Studio Sainte-Marthe by Francis Caste and contains 10 tracks that address psychic duality, human vice, and the inevitable fate of the world along with hellish fuzzy riffs.

Says the band:

“Initially, after the release of our double single, we were thinking of releasing a first 5-track EP. However, the health crisis dragged on and writing, like most bands, became our main activity. The writing of the album took around two years, with numerous arrangements on the tracks. The initiative for a track usually comes from a guitar riff and the vocals, and then we get together and each of us adds its own touch. We transform the song, the rhythm, its structure, until it sounds ‘Witchorious’. We wanted to create more modern sound and structures to avoid doing doom that we’ve all heard before.

"In the lyrics, we express our frustrations and self-awareness. The album deals with mental conflicts and psychological distress, the influence of human beings on their environment and on others… We were also keen to develop the character of the witch, who for us is a figure that represents oppressed minorities, whatever they may be. The witch frightens, disturbs and revolts, but at the same time fascinates and survives through the ages. We’ve had a lot of fun with the clichés of the genre, particularly around everything religious and satanic, because it creates an occult atmosphere that we love.

"This album is a concentration of our influences, a first step towards showing who we are, what our sound identity is, and what we have to say. By the time the album was recorded, the songs had really matured, and we fully focused on sound and ambiance. Francis helped us emphasize the evil aspect of the compositions, to make the whole thing sound really haunted.”

You won’t encounter many rock ‘n’ roll acts with the exuberance and ferocity of RED SUN ATACAMA. The Paris-based heavy psych trio brings incredible energy to the songs on their latest spin, 'DARWIN’ (2022). It’s like garage rock for the arena: a big, sweeping sound with Fraggle Rock vibes. However, it’s neither Balsam the Minstrel on drums nor Gobo on guitar, but the crew of Clément Marquez (bass, vox), Vincent Hospital (guitar, keyboard), and Robin Caillon (drums). We last encountered them in these pages when the band released their 2018 full-length debut, Licancabur. We were impressed then, but holy hell this new record is a real stand-out among its peers.

Winds sweep stealthy along the floor of the Atacama Desert as “11-CH” begins, bleeding into “Furies” which finds the drums in hearty gambol ( captured beautifully by sound engineer Amaury Sauvé). Then the full band erupts with joie de vivre. The devil-may-care woo! at 3:35 brought a smile to my face. Just a minute later the mood shifts to a moon lit expanse, where bass rules the night. Meanwhile, the guitar is absolutely seering. Not only am I digging the tone, but also the quirky effects (they seem to speak for the creatures of these wilds). Listen to those fingers fly the final minutes!

“Antares” is a cosmic meditation on the red supergiant and is a welcome moment of chill after the insane gusto of that last track. Three minutes in, a change of pace and suddenly things get heated. Arpegios take flight as Hospital’s axe swings, then it’s Marquez’s turn to let the bass strut its stuff. When the two streams intertwine, we find ourselves jettisoning towards Earth saddled to a beam of light. Unexpectedly, though, the earlier tempo returns and we’re floating weightlessly in the timelessness of space. Then suddenly, a headbanging mosh to the finish!

“Echoes” is another rebel-rousing number like “Furies.” Those nasty-sounding vocals feel twice as gritty when joined by fuzz-soaked guitar and the rolicking rhythm of the drums. Like its predecessor, “Echoes” is not a track you can quickly size up and then put into a categorical box. It’s all over the place, and I love it for being just.

You never got the reason
Where it all begun
The rust before the treason
We slowly lose the fun

“Revvelator” rushes right out of the gate towards us with a stampede of bass and drums. Marquez’s pipes snarl as they share “the reminiscent of a former life…a loss you never grieved.” The guitar is on fire here, with some really stinging moments. Don’t miss the damning downtuned devastation that comes when those dank chords lumber down stairs of awesomeness at 3:30.

The band closes the album in rhapsodic fashion with “Ribbons.” The track vaults into action with a series of tumbling, colossal chords. Two minutes in, the guitar once again takes off rapturously, with Caillon’s drums moving frantically like a lizard across hot pavement. Strumming acoustic guitar takes us into the fade, accompanied by the sounds of beachfront waves.

DARWIN is a livewire for sure. Look for it this weekend on vinyl, CD, and in digital format on the Mrs Red Sound label (pre-order here), which so far has been batting a thousand with bands like Red Sun Atacama, Witchfinder, Little Jimi, and of course the inimitable Mars Red Sky. This is the Doomed & Stoned world premiere.

Give ear…

SOME BUZZ

Born in 2014 in Paris, Red Sun Atacama combine desert rock psychedelia and punk fury. Volcanic and wild, Chilean Atacama Desert mesmerizes the band as much as it inspires them. Their sound is driven by its beyond compare magnetism. They autoproduced their first EP 'Part 1’ in 2015, and released a bubbling debut album 'Licancabur’ in 2018 via More Fuzz Records. The record definitely establishes the trio’s unique, raw and insolent style.

On stage, Red Sun Atacama fully manage to share the same hypnotic outburst than on their studio efforts: they already performed in various European countries alongside international heavyweights such as Uncle Acid and the deadbeats, Mars Red Sky, Planet of Zeus, Steak, Slift, etc.

In 2022, Red Sun Atacama signed to Mrs Red Sound (Mars Red Sky’s imprint) for the release of their sophomore studio album. They chose to work with hard core producer Amaury Sauvé at The Apiary studio (Laval, France). The record is coming out on June 17th on Mrs Red Sound Records.

Spread through the impetuous fuzz of Californian legends Fu Manchu, Kyuss or Brant Bjork, Red Sun Atacama praise the burning sound of the desert and the Holy Groove with irresistible slashing riffs. Their explosive new album 'DARWIN’ is driven by an overflowing desert rock, stoner and punk energy, and inspired by the Andean magic.

It was recorded and mixed by Amaury Sauvé (Birds In Row, Bison Bisou) at The Apiary studio (Laval, France). Sauvé also gives them a hand with additional percussion. Mastering work by Thibault Chaumont.

Hailing from Paris, Dead Acid People was formed in 2014 by guitarist Stéphane and drummer Guillaume, joined a few months later by bassist Alain and singer Mathieu. They prefer to be on a first name basis with us. None of this “Mr. Last Name” business. This is, after all, stoner rock we’re talking about! Dead Acid People are among the fuzziest that France has to offer, with an potent concoction of ‘70s psychedelic flourishes, '80s new wave accents, and '90s grunge sensibilities.

First came the band’s debut, 'Mocker Fuzzers’ (2016), and today Doomed & Stoned is bringing you the premiere of the band’s sophomore spin, 'Earth, Weed & Fire’ (2019). The first thing I noticed about these guys is they aren’t afraid to rock a bass – I mean really rock it. No muted, tapered tones on this recording. On Earth, Weed & Fire the bass is prince. This makes the contrast with the desert atmosphere and jaded vocals all the more appealing.

If there’s one thing Earth, Weed & Fire has, it’s atmosphere. I can envision listening to this record over the long stretch of a desert’s day and night, with each track matching the mood of the hour. There’s the flurry of morning activity in “Fuzz You,” the baking fury of a noontime sun in “Never Ending,” the crimson-orange sunset of “Beyond The Path” (one of my favs for its strange interplay of organ and space-age synth), and the relief of the wide open starlit night in “Cosmic Trails.” As the record closes, we bear witness to the dancing flame of “Light A Fire,” one of the most accessible songs of the album for its groovy verse and chorus (I had it on repeat for a while).

The song I wasn’t prepared for was the album closer, “Wrong Faith,” a very dark, emotive number (and the longest track of the lot at nine minutes).

These are the rules you’re living for
This is your choice, not everyone’s

Hand in hand, you pray
Hand in hand, you fight
Hand in hand, in the end you die.

This song would make a good companion with “In The Asylum” by Saint Vitus. It also bears strong influence of Joy Division, something the band’s been hinting at here and there throughout the record with its deadpan, Ian Curtis-like vocals. The song finishes as the album began, with a down 'n’ dirty bass riff that would make even Kyuss blush.

Look for Dead Acid People’s Earth, Weed & Fire this Friday, May 24th – out on CD, vinyl, and digital formats (pre-order here). Between now and then, you can hear it all from edge to center this exclusive worldwide debut!

Give ear…

An Interview with Dead Acid People

This is quite the rambunctious record! Tell us how the album came together for you, creatively speaking.

Well, the riffs and the initial structure of the songs mostly came from Stéphane’s brains, except for the title track, which has been mainly composed by Alain. Once we get the main idea, we played the songs in our rehearsal local, discussing, trying different ideas & arrangements raised by anyone of us, until we all agreed on a structure. Then came the lyrics, all written by Mathieu. Most of the lyrics were directly inspired by the music itself.

Interesting. And the recording?

The whole album was recorded live over the course of four days at Poptones Studio in Paris. We really wanted it to sounds more “organic” than our first album, which was recorded in a more “traditional” way. It has been mixed by Jean-Charles Versari, the owner of the said studio. Then mastered by Brad Boatright, at Audiosiege Studio from Portland, Oregon, because we love his work!

Right on! Yeah, Brad’s a good dude. Would you mind indulging me in giving our readers a walk-through of the new album, track by track?

ACID DEAD PEOPLE

This intro has been composed by Alain, after all the album was written. It may help to get where the name of the band come from.

EARTH, WEED & FIRE

This title track has been built around Alain’s ideas, and – funny thing – kept its “temporary name,” meaning that the lyrics are based on the title, which is quite unusual for us. We could say that it speaks about ecology, for dummies. The song could definitely not have been too serious, with such a name. The keyboards were added during the recording, and are played by Mathieu. We bought a small synthesizer since, so that we could reproduce the ambience on stage.

NEVER ENDING

This one was composed two years ago and has already been played many times live. The lyrics refer to what happened in Le Bataclan, in November 2015. “Will all this shit ever end, not just only in our dreams? Will we wake up or be dead, will this nightmare ever cease?”

FUZZ YOU

This is the oldest song of the album, composed years ago by Stéphane. We thought about including it in our previous record, but we have never been really satisfied by how it sounded, until we decided to review it, only a few weeks before recording it for this new album. This version is shorter, speeder, and “works” lot more than it ever did. Even the singing line has been reviewed. And in the end we feel like it was worth giving this song its second chance!

COSMIC TRAILS

Strange thing about this song: Stéphane had composed a version which was in the end really close from the final version, except that he sent us two versions: an instrumental one and another one with lyrics. Mathieu first listened to the instrumental one and the chorus immediately came to him. So he wrote his lyrics, but we kept Stéphane’s song name – which is quite “funny,” in a way, because the original lyrics were lot more “cosmic” than mine. They’re all about this strange feeling you have when you’re waking up after dreaming about someone you’ve lost forever.

BEYOND THE PATH

This “interlude” has been composed by both Alain and Stéphane. The original version was instrumental, but we tried to add some words on it during the recording, with a lot of chorus & reverb. The lyrics are directly linked to the previous song:

You’re not so far from me
I know you can see me
We’re in this together

LIGHT A FIRE

This is the last song which has been composed for this album. Only a few months before the recording. We all agreed that it would have to be the first single, as it gives a really good idea of what we want to sound like nowadays. The first part is our “riot song” – a bit political – then it comes to a psychedelic part, which could never end.

WRONG FAITH

Probably our favorite song of the album, and definitely the most challenging one. The first part is doomy, more than any of our songs. And the mix is a bit different, especially for the drums, which creates a specific atmosphere. As you can guess, it’s all about religions, how it changes people mind, not always in a good way, and how it often leads to fight and wars, in the end.

Last but not least, what’s going on with that cover art?

All the artwork was made by Alain, based on original photos taken by Anne-GaHell, across the United States. Road tripping with UFO’s is kind of a nice hobby, isn’t it?

Brace for liftoff. We’re going beyond the sky’s limit. From outer space to inner space, as far as the mind’s eye can see – which, trust me, is farther than you ever imagined. We’re going all the way to RED SUN ATACAMA. The dank, fuzz-addicted stoner rockers from Paris are debuting a track from their long awaited ‘Licancabur’ (2018 - More Fuzz Records) this weekend. I mean this record shakes, it shimmies, it moves and grooves, makes you want to dance on the tail of a comet as you trip balls through the sonicsphere!

We’ve known the French trio had it in them since we sampled their wares back in 2015, when they dropped an impressive demo. Clément Màrquez (bass, vox), Vincent Hospital (guitar), and Robin Caillon (drums) describe Red Sun Atacama as “sand, cactus and sun melted into a desert psych band.” And, just like the famed Atacama Desert of South America, this band really does take you right smack dab into the middle of an unforgettable atmospheric landscape. Once these guys get busy doing their thing, they just don’t let up and we benefit from a nice, long, sustained, kaleidoscopic trip, as a result.

Licancabur proves one thing definitively: Red Sun Atacama really know how to jam, man! At the same time, they’re doing much more than riffing on familiar territory – this band is creating a soundscape of sophistication, vast imagination, and striking color. If “Empire” doesn’t bring a smile to your face, you really need to check your pulse. This is no slam bam thank you ma'am quickie. It takes its time making love, appreciating every curve and crevice of its craft. You can expect more of that and then some on this rumbling rambler of a record.

For you vinyl freaks, you can pre-order Red Sun Atacama’s Licancabur on hazy gold and classic black vinyl via More Fuzz Records right here (though I wouldn’t sit on it long). Until the fateful release date of June 29th, you can savor the taste of “Empire” right here, right now, on our bitchin’ lil blog!

Give ear…

Some Buzz

Red Sun Atacama is a smoking hot trio of fuzzheads based in Paris, France. Formed in 2015, they spent three years working hard on the road, playing numerous shows in France, Belgium and Spain. During that time preaching their high-octane sound, the band shared the stage with acts such as Mars Red Sky, Steak, Glowsun, Black Rainbows and Planet of Zeus.

The French power trio’s soundscape is a tight combination of the organic warmth and peyote induced psychedelia coming straight from the old school Desert-Rock, brilliantly mixed with the modern Stoner-Rock’s incendiary rumble and thickness, and an always latent aggressive punk vibe.

This first album, also the band’s first release, will consist of brand new recordings of old demo tracks as well as completely new killer material. Licancabur is the sacred volcano of the Atacameño, the indigenous people of the Atacama Desert, who used to carry out religious ceremonies to worship their sun god Inti. Kind of an equivalent of the Olympus for the Greeks, except this mountain was breathing fire, molten lava and smoke.

Make sure your tank is full of gasoline, for the only thing you’ll wanna do once you entered Red Sun Atacama’s territory is put your foot to the floor, banging your head at full-throttle!   (More Fuzz Records)

Mars Red Sky

• Julien Pras (vocals, guitar)
• Jimmy Kinast (vocals, bass)
• Mathieu Gazeau (drums)

Mars Red Sky formed in 2007, released your first album in 2011, and have been in the fast lane of the heavy music scene ever since. How do you account for your speedy rise to success?

Julien: This was a great surprise for us, too! We started the band a bit randomly. When we started working on the first album, we recorded some demos, and by working on it and remixing it, it became a proper album. We added a few tracks that we recorded at home. We casually put the album online, then played a few gigs in Bordeaux. The subsequent feedback we received was overwhelming! Same thing happened following the album’s formal release: we got tons of good feedback from European blogs – out of Germany and Poland, especially. Several tours followed and we started grabbing up opportunities left and right, without much talk of success. From that day, however, enthusiasm for Mars Red Sky started to grow very quickly.

Was this something you were ready for?

Julien: No! We didn’t have anything planned, because we didn’t have any expectations at the time. But with the boost we got from those early experiences, we definitely rode the momentum. We were having a lot of fun! And yes, from the beginning it’s been one good surprise after another.

Mathieu: I don’t really know how to answer this question, because I wasn’t there when the band started. I joined in 2012. I’ve known Julien and Jimmy for a long time, especially Julien, as he was playing in Calc (an indie rock band) and I was playing in another old band from the ‘90s. And so it’s following the departure of Benoit, the previous drummer, that Julien thought about me and got in touch. I joined the band just in time to do some great tours! I was really happy to come on board as all this was picking up, it was perfect. And we’re still having fun!

Mars Red Sky was named after some lyrics by Sleep, I understand. Have you always been connected with the stoner rock genre?

Julien: Personally, I wasn’t familiar with a lot of stoner bands at the time. I knew some Queens of the Stone Age and bands like Nebula and Fu Manchu, who I admired for their production and guitar sound, but that’s the extent of it. It wasn’t really so much this genre, the new '70s, that we identified with as it was the slower bands, like Sleep, Electric Wizard, and Witch, for example. I’m a massive Dinosaur Jr. fan, too, and when J Mascis started his band Witch, it got me digging into my CDs rediscovering his other ands. I also started listening to a lot of stuff on the Tee Pee Records label, more in that genre. The connection of our name with Sleep was more of a nod, not necessarily a declaration nor a tag, you see. We were actively looking for a name for the band at that time and it was while reading the lyrics to “Dragonaut” that we stumbled upon it (“Flap the wings under Mars’ red sky”). We thought Mars Red Sky sounded really good, and still do!

When I listen to the lyrics of your songs, I sense that a journey of some kind is taking place. I this in keeping with the spirit in which you write them?

Julien: Indeed, sometimes there are certain tracks with themes that we elaborate on. Often, these are lyrics containing two or three layers of interpretation, but in fact, it depends on which tracks. On the latest album, in particular, all of us threw in some ideas for the first song, “Apex III.” Jimmy suggested a few things and we tried to follow the idea of this journey that we all wrote together. At the same time, there often are double meanings.

Mathieu: Yes, indeed, it is a journey. There is a connection between albums, both musically and production-wise, that creates a logical continuity. This is especially true between the second and third albums.

(At this point, Jimmy arrives)

For me, there was quite a characteristic sound in the previous productions that I find a little bit hard to trace or recapture in your newest record, 'Myramyd’ (2017).

Jimmy: I think this is what sidetracked you a little in the beginning: it’s simply the production, you see? I’m talking about the sound, because it was handcrafted. It’s not a production designed to sound heavy. This is what sidetracked you, because with the very meaning of the song, apart from the fact that there aren’t lots of vocals, this is everything you can get from the band. It’s a bit like what we were doing at the beginning. The tracks are quite minimalist, with a sound that builds little by little.

You all come from different backgrounds, so what are your musical influences?

Julien: My very first band was a bit like My Bloody Valentine meets Dinosaur Jr. When I was younger, I liked Guns 'n’ Roses a lot, Metallica, and stuff like that, but also Leonard Cohen. In fact, I listened to quite varied stuff: The Beach Boys, The Beatles – my parent’s records – and Nirvana. Anything that brought about new discoveries.

Jimmy: As for me, in relation to Mars Red Sky, we listened in the beginning quite a lot to a band called Dead Meadow. It’s a band from California that does something quite psych, quite trippy, with a heavy side. They’ve been around for about 20 years. Then, of course, there are bands like Sleep. And when Matt started in the band, he made us discover other stuff – more metal or sometimes something completely different. At the end of the day, we don’t listen to stoner much. Let’s just say that we listen to all kinds, really. We’re good customers for anything.

Mathieu: For me, it’s more the punk rock thing from the '90s, like Fugazi and Melvins, amongst others. And these days, I’m a fan of Tigan Hamasyan, a pianist. He’s one of my favorite musicians and, yes, he’s an influence on me!

You already played Hellfest in 2014, for you it’s something…

Jimmy: (jumping in) …very special. It’s truly very special. In fact, we realized that when we played three years ago, lots of people were in the queue because they couldn’t get in on time to see us and they heard our music, as the queue was on the side of the stage where we were playing and lots of people spoke to us about this. We understood after Hellfest the impact that it had. It’s a bit like when we played Roadburn or when we played Duna Jam, but much bigger. This means it’s the kind of festival that, once you’ve played it, you’re kind of wearing a tag and it takes you further, and it’s true that it gets you in inside a court and this brings you a lot, in terms of how the band is perceived. Plus, we were lucky to receive a good welcome last time and, then, to be playing there again this year, now that was brilliant. It was really good!

Your new vinyl-only EP 'Myramyd’ (2017) released in July as a limited edition 12". Is this a “taster” for something coming up afterwards?

Julien: I don’t know, really, what it is. A short diversion before our next album.

Matt: Yes, that’s it: a short diversion.

Jimmy: Precisely. It’s something we wanted to do fast, to change the habit of making albums the way we had done, it was to break the process a bit and also to do something special for Hellfest, and we really wanted to record this with Michel Toledo, and record it as if it was live, we produced it very quickly and it enabled us to refocus on the music, because in fact, it’s silly but, we may indeed play lots of gigs, so all we do is music, but once your album is out, that you’re a band a bit pro and that you tour a lot, we almost never repeat ourselves, and that helps us to fully focus on something creative. It was great doing this, that’s it!

Julien: And so yes, we have a few tracks in the making that we can develop for next year, because we have solo projects or collaborations with other musicians. Personally, I’m releasing a solo album in October!

And how do you approach composing for such projects?

Matt: So, there’s a carpenter, a builder… (laughter)

Jimmy: Usually it’s Julien. He comes up with riffs and, from time to time, he comes up with complete tracks, two or three per album. Then some stuff is a lot more composed. He comes up with a riff – in fact, the idea is especially to be pulling on the string to develop the structure. Matt comes up with a rhythm. As for me, I work with one or two tracks where I sing and write lyrics. But otherwise, it’s Julien’s territory, really. He reads in English a lot and classic American authors have a big influence on him.

A Doomed & Stoned World Premiere

Doomed & Stoned is proud to bring you an advance stream of the brand new album by FRANK SABBATH, follow-up to 2015’s breathtaking debut. Who is this is Frank Sabbath - and how does he have the gumption to wear the coveted title of our most glorious Lord and Master? Hopefully you sense the irony in my tone. This is a psychedelic-progressive doom rock band with a spirited sense of humor to match their exuberant sound.

Formed in Paris in 2013, Frank Sabbath is Guillaume Jankowski (bass), Baptiste Reig (drums, vocals) and Jude Mas (guitar, vocals). The initial goal of the band was to blend various elements from their musical heritage - a Black Sabbath doom-stoner vibe coupled with the experimental daring of Frank Zappa’s jazz rock - into a coherent whole. All this they accomplish admirably in the new album and something more: the translation of their own spiritual, psychedelic experiences to recorded sound.

After that admirable DIY self-released album (recorded in 2014 and delivered in 2015), the band labored to expand into a heftier sound, one that would bear even more distinctively the heavy influence of progressive rock and doom metal. To bring this vision to light, Frank Sabbath isolated themselves in a small village in Aveyron, in southern France, where they could allow their intoxicating brand of psychedelia to ferment into full flavor. Thus began the recording their second album, Telluric Wanderers with their much trusted sound engineer Léo Minart.

The brilliant new LP releases on Argonauta Records on July 1st, but you can hear it right here, right now on our bitchin’ lil blog!

One question remains: where can you get this gem of a record? Look for distribution via the following labels: Ripple Music (USA), PHD (UK/Europe), Goodfellas (Italy), Cargo (Germany), Bertus (Benelux) and Differ-Ant (France).