The Devil's Church (All-day Show) Bradford, July 2011

Great gig in Bradford yesterday. Shame there weren't more people there!

Sigiriya - Return to Earth (Patchie Review)

Claw favourites Sigiriya have given us an exclusive listen to their eagerly awaited long player Return to Earth...and it's amazing.
Remember that film where Kyuss build a mountain out of Black Sabbath albums and Thin Lizzy chased them up it, throwing early nineties Sub Pop albums at them which they deflected with a copy of Confessor's Condemned? No? Well this will give you an idea of the soundtrack to it.

Sounding completely effortless, and really quite accessible, this seven track monster rocks and gallops along, with more drawn out, jam-style introspective moments that build to a crescendo of fuzz leaving you absolutely floored.
Recorded in Mwnci studios with Gethin Woolcock and mixed by Billy God Damn Anderson, this low-slung fuzzfest has to go down as one of the releases of the year and we're only halfway through it.
Dark Fires is a galloping, heads down, fists in the air rocker, and on this release, vocalist Dorian Walters really lets rip on songs like Death Trip to Eyriri with a quite unique blend of soaring vocals with just a tiny tiny hint of that old, underground Sub Pop-esque sound. People who were disappointed with the recent Kyuss Lives reunion could do a lot worse than checking them out.
My favourite is the stomping Robot Funeral, where drummer Darren Ivey holds together some drawn out riffs and chugging, rolling parts with equal ease, with awesome leads from Stu O'Hara floating over the top whilst Mead's Geezer Butler-esque bass work lollops all over the fretboard in the background.
Absolutely awesome, and I can see why SJW has been raving about them since he saw them back in March last year and now I can't wait to see them.
Return To Earth is out on The Church Within records from Germany.

In a nutshell? Makes me feel ten feet tall walking around listening to it on headphones, Metal as Fuck listening to it loud on the stereo. Rifftastic. Wait, then buy.

Ears and Eyes here.

Sigiriya: Return To Earth

New record soon to be made available from SIGIRYA (ex-Acrimony), all round great guys. Thee Claw looks forward to getting hold of a copy of this new offering to give you guys a full-on review very soon!

As written on the Sigiriya Facebook page:

NEWS!!!! Our Debut album will be released on The Church Within Records Germany. Stoked!

In the meantime, if you’d like a sneaky taste of the tracks:

Soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/sigiriya
MYSPACE: http://www.myspace.com/sigiriyawales
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_108700382523395

- Sigiriya

SIGIRYA - 2 tracks

New album release date please guys!

New tracks by SIGIRIYA now available

Remember I mentioned to you a while back about the amazing Welsh band SIGIRIYA? No? Well you really should do. Saw them some time back at a gig in Bradford (where they played alongside Claw favourites ASOMVEL) and I was quite literally a fan for life within half a song.

Anyway, they've been in the studio, recorded some stuff and had it mastered. This is the resulting track.

Hope you take a moment (or 10) to click the play button and enrich your life!

7. DEATHTRIP by Sigiriya

SIGIRIYA - One To Watch In 2010

Went along to an all-day festival in Bradford last weekend, lots of great bands played the show (THIRTEENTH SIGN, LAZARUS BLACKSTAR, ASOMVEL to mention just 3) and I had a fine time indeed.

Just wanted to tell you all about one band in particular who played, a 4-piece from Wales called SIGIRIYA. I'd never heard of them before this (I doubt many people who were there had, aside from the promoter Rich!), but you might know them by their former name of ACRIMONY who did a split with Church Of Misery about 7 years ago (amongst other things). When they played their set I was totally gobsmacked by the energy and the power of the band, but most of all the apparently-relaxed manner that they played this AMAZING sounding stoner rock. Don't let the lack of info about these guys fool you - this is NOT some new band who are doing the rounds!

I know you hear all of the time about "These guys are the next big thing!", blah blah blah, but I must get on my soapbox here for a quick minute and let you guys know about this band. Don't bother doing a google search for them (yet) because I tried that and all you get is a whole bunch of links for some place in Sri Lanka. They have a Myspace page (see below) but right now, March 2010, there's no music on there for you to check out either!

Anyway, as soon as I can get my hands on something by them, a demo or a video of them in concert or something, I'll link to it on this page. In the meantime maybe try getting yourself a copy of the 1997 Peaceville LP "Tumuli Shroomaroom" or even the CoM split from 2003. That'll maybe give you some idea of what to expect from SIGIRIYA's sound.

Blurb lifted from their Myspace page:

"About Sigiriya

Beneath the soil of a Welsh valley a heavy metal life-force regains strength: rising from the ashes of stoner doom merchants Acrimony, Sigiriya is born. Eight years after the demise of Acrimony, guitarist Stu O’Hara, bassist Mead, drummer Darren Ivey and vocalist Dorian Walters have reconvened. Not wanting the limitations of reforming a project long dead to them, Sigiriya brings a fresh take on their trademark monolithic heavy groove. While Acrimony hailed from the temples of deepest space, Sigiriya come from the earthy depths, bringing hefty, tremor-inducing sonics that pay homage to the riff. Time served in the likes of Iron Monkey, Helvis, Dukes Of Nothing, Black Eye Riot, The Nine and Yeti have only added to their thick output, giving the foursome a more dynamic, meaner, leaner, earthier approach, which has developed an intense dirty sound with elements of boogie, classic rock and even crust. Taking their name from the mystic ‘throat of the lion’ rock in Sri Lanka, their rumble has been moving the Black Mountains of their homeland and will soon be moving the tectonic plates of the earth. To borrow a phrase from their former outfit: ‘Bong On, Live Long…’"

Again, I can't recommend SIGIRIYA to you enough. Totally floored by their show at the afore-mentioned festival!

http://www.myspace.com/sigiriyawales

EDIT: Video from the Dragonfest gig (I shot this):