Yeah Man, It's Bloody Heavy!! Volume 1 by Various Artists
Release date: March 21, 2025Label: Rise Above Relics
In the original liner notes from the 2-LP 1972 compilation of the Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the first Psychedelic Era, Lenny Kaye who envisioned uncovering hidden gems that were different from the Beatles, Stones and the Kinks was “By the time the smoke would clear, some four years later, FM-oriented progressive rock would be in full sway of the pop vanguard, opening up new vistas in stylistic content, lyrics, and even lifestyle. As rock and roll had been born, so it would be born again, by casually nudging the old off the side of the road, making way for a semi-headed, decked, and stroked, highly combustible juggernaut of the new”.
That’s the same whenever I would discover obscure gems that were beyond the Sabbath’s, Floyd’s, Purple’s, and Zeppelin’s, they never got the recognition they deserve. Why do you think back in late 2007, early 2008 when I was in College discovering the Esoteric label ranging through gems such as; Rare Bird, Marsupilami, Julian’s Treatment, Egg, Web, and Mellow Candle? Because they were way ahead of the game in the progressive rock genre.
Well, the good folks from Lee Dorrian’s Rise Above Relics have uncovered bands that were often ahead of their time. Coming from Birmingham, Surrey, Scotland, Dorset, Stoke-On-Trent, and Nottingham, these were un-buried treasures that Dorrian had to dig through to find. So, in other words, he’s basically the Sherlock Holmes of finding these unearthed gems.
The first volume of Yeah Man, It’s Bloody Heavy!! Which is a kick-ass title ladies and gentlemen, gives you an in-depth look on how they were often under the radar when it comes to the proto-metal genre. Despite the conditions and its rough quality on most of the tracks, you get these sudden vibrations of pure heaviness, pure stoner rock, pure garage rock, and pure in your face hard rock.
From the moment Heavyboots begin with its rumbling nod to Gustav Holtz’s ‘Mars, the Bringer of War’ on ‘Who Knows, Who Cares’ you know that the game has just begun. It reminded me of a fellow Scottish rock band that came out of the late ‘60s, early ‘70s of a group called Writing on the Wall who unleashed their only debut album, The Power of the Picts back in 1969.
The riffs, loud solos, and getting down to business, Heavyboots pull no punches to start the compilation off with a volcanic eruption while Nottingham’s own B.O.M.B (Band of Mental Breakdown) walk into Edgar Broughton’s territory with a Beefheart sludge of heavy, bluesy groove behind ‘Won’t You Take Me’. But once the motorcycle revs off into the Acetate night, you feel as if you’re inside a dream with chutes and ladder guitar texture which is evidential behind Macbeth Periscope’s ‘Witchcraft’.
There are the climbing riffs, loud vocals, rising arrangements, mid-to-late ‘60s attack of a proto-punk attitude that would have given the Stones and Mick Jagger, a chance to shit their pants on, 24/7 before Agatha’s Moment goes into this ‘Bad Trip’ with a psychedelic occult, waiting upon the listeners to see what they’ve been missing. But its Coventry’s own Jessica’s Theme that walks into an earlier approach of Sabbath in its rough quality on the ‘Witchcraft’, waiting to begin.
It almost reminded me of a darker version of the 13th Floor Elevators and The Electric Prunes, collaborating together to create something ominous, edgier, and heavier to make you hypnotised, even more. When I think of Greenfly’s ‘Satan’s Daughter’ with its prog-like ‘60s organ, Iommi-sque guitar structure, it’s almost as if this was recorded during Ramases’ Glass Top Coffin-era, as if the band had continued on the title-track as if they expanded the piece to give it a perfect send-off into outer space.
Then, we’re back into the heaviness once more with Clemen Pull taking us into the action of the war that’s unfolding with its disturbing themes as the guitar makes it sound like a pilot going on this killing course for the ‘Kamikaze Pilot’ to raise hell like a motherfucker! But what’s this?
Do I hear sounds of Amon Duul II’s ‘Between the Eyes’ from the Yeti years, Leaf Hound, and the swirling Vertigo years throw into the mixture? Oh, hell yeah! We head into the worlds of the Living Dead unleashing this mighty axe, reigning terror in the city with massive amounts of sludge-like riffs as they gain total forces of power on ‘Chasing Shadows’.
Finally, we close it out of a live recording of Zacariah performing ‘Destroyer in Life’ nearly 50 years ago on March 21st at the Boat Club in Nottingham. It’s almost a work-in-progress of this band which featured Malcolm Pepper on guitar, bassist Colin Ellington, vocalist Edd Dowling, and Steve Musgrove on drums. Despite the conditions the recording is in, this was a band that could’ve been bigger, but called it a day the same year.
With compilations tackling obscure gems from the Nuggets and the Brown Acid’s that have been making you want to discover the unknown bands, Rise Above have scored a home run with Yeah Man, It’s Bloody Heavy to delve into the proto-sounds of early metal and hard rock that deserves to see what you’ve been missing. And believe me, I imagine there’s more from where that’s coming from.
