RETRO ROCK RUMINATIONS: YEAR LONG DISASTER, KARMA TO BURN, THE SWORD

November 7th, 2008 at 1:29pm
Vince Neilstein
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A whole bunch of you emailed us yesterday following my review of Northern Ireland’s meat n’ potatoes rockers The Answer; seems you all really like this kind of stuff. So hows about we take a trip in the not-so-waybackmachine to explore some jams from the likes of Year Long Disaster, Karma to Burn and The Sword?

One such email came from MetalSucks Maniac Scott Casey who told us that when it comes to this kind of fare he prefers Year Long Disaster. I checked out YLD on Scott’s recommendation, but I have to say I still prefer The Answer; more balls.

Turns out that the singer/guitarist of Year Long Disaster is actually the son of The Kinks’ Ray Davies, and the bass player was in the instrumental rock band Karma to Burn. Now THIS is the fucking shit! Karma to Burn released 3 albums on Roadrunner and Spitfire from 1997 through 2001 and disbanded shortly thereafter, but they left a helluva legacy. Hell, Roadrunner’s own website describes them as “Weird, heavy post-stoner groove from one of the most underrated bands ever signed to Roadrunner Records.” Touche. For your stony, trippy, Kyuss-influenced desert-rock heavy goodness, listen to the two ripping songs on their MySpace or the two on Roadrunner’s Karma to Burn artist page.

Lastly, Dennis S. emailed us to tell us about The Sword. While we find it highly amusing that Dennis doesn’t think we know about The Sword, maybe it’s high time (pun intended) for an update: The Sword have just posted the track “How Heavy This Axe” from their early-2008 release Gods of the Earth (read Kip’s review) for free download. I’ve never been huge on this band, but there’s definitely some sweet, stony, vintage Sabbathian and Maidenesque riffage going on here, and, despite the unfortunately low production values, even I can appreciate that. Check it below.