Like a psychedelic frying pan, whacking you repeatedly
10/14/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"To continue the kitchen metaphor: Put Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Blue Cheer, Spacemen 3 and Jimi Hendrix in an 10000 megawatt blender for several decades, serve like molten lava. Will induce euphoria."
Drifting Down Streams
Hand of Doom | The Wonderful World of Colonized Minds | 06/23/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This stuff is indeed a real treat...the kind of sounds that wonderfully accompany a lazy, green, summer day.
Or under a starry night sky while camping.
Very fuzzy, stripped/slowed down, heavy blues psychedelia.
This, their sophomore effort, is considered leaning a bit too much in the metal/stoner rock direction by some, with an occasional lurch and nod to Sleep, but that of course secures it as my favorite Dead Meadow record:)
It's very heavy without sounding broodish and menacing all the time.
Overall, "Howls" is definitely their heaviest material, but anything these guys do is well worth the listen."
More rockin psychedelia from DC's finest
Hand of Doom | 12/08/2001
(4 out of 5 stars)
"A more rustic album than the last. This one is slower and more noisy. Not quite the tour-de-force of heavy phychedelic rock than the first album was. Still, worth every penny for guitar fans. Im still amazed at the quality of the recording. Its perfect."
Through the mist
J. Rossi | Downers Grove, IL | 02/17/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"For the first two minutes of Howls from the Hills you'll think you made a horrible mistake and somehow purchased a CD by some guitar-driven ambient group, as opener "Drifting Down Streams" opens with subtle feedback drones.
Then the drums kick in, Jason Simon wriggles an instantly-classic guitar riff from the haze and Dead Meadow is off again on its second album.
"Drifting Down Streams" sounds just like you think it would, lumbering through the forest alongside a babbling river like some long-lost sloth species thought to be extinct.
"Dusty Nothing" removes the layers of dust from a forgotten Led Zeppelin toss-off and gallops along behind a riff the Black Keys wish they had already written.
Where on its self-titled debut Dead Meadow sounded embryonic, here the band emerges fully formed and stamped as one of the best blues-based rock bands currently performing on earth.
The breakdown on "Jusiamere Farm" will stick with you for years and start 'sending shivers down your spine.' "The White Worm" is simply classic; when Simon bends the strings in the pre-chorus, you'll wish your CD player could repeat those three seconds for about three weeks.
"Everything's Going On" is a sped-up rollicking romp, as compared to the sprawling dirge on 'Shivering King and Others'; "The One I Don't Know" begins DM's daliance with spare acoustic arrangements; "One and Old" howls like the winds surrounding a silver-lined ink-black cloud that portends and impending blizzard, or the apocalypse; "The Breeze Always Blows" is indeed breezy and wouldn't sound out of place in a southern-blues best-of collection.
Simply put, there are no letdowns on this album. If you're in the mood for sprawling, primal, blues-based pentatonic rock, you've come to the right place. The Howls will overcome you."
Even better than self-titled
M. Beebe | Somerville, MA United States | 05/27/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is possibly Dead Meadow's best effort. Every track on here is worth the price of the album. 'Drifting down Streams' starts it out with a long eerie droning that pitches back and forth like a howling wind, then thunders into some amazing percussion and a bluesy wah-ed out riff, which only leads into another brilliant swirling guitar part, along with a meandering bass line- basically forming an overall heavy weather pattern of serious rock that lasts something like 4 short minutes. This song just sets you up for 'Dusty Nothing', which very likely features the best guitar riff ever, along with some really fun falsetto vocals at the end. Every tune here has a similar outstanding quality, all the way up to the last track, 'Breeze always Blows' which just kicks ass. This band is awesome."
Track Listings (8) - Disc #1