Coming from Athens, Stonedaze are a relatively new band formed in 2009 by Maddog (guitar) and Dias (drums). After a lot of changes in their line-up, Alex (vocals) and Dimitris (bass) joined the band and Stonedaze were ready to rock...
About a month ago, they released their debut album which is totally self-financed. It features seven tracks with total duration of 30 minutes. Their sound is moving in stoner rock forms, mainly influenced by bands like Down, Black Label Society and Monster Magnet.
Recently they came in touch with me in order to make a post about their release and here we are... Let's all welcome Stonedaze.
First of all, I would like to give my congrats to Stonedaze (and of course to all the bands) for trying and managing to release their work without involving labels. It's a hard thing to do and it definitely shows that their love of putting out music no matter what difficulties stand in their way (I hope you all understand what I'm trying to say here). Obviously it has its downsides, both in recording/producing and promoting it. Some of them are clearly present here. I'm talking about album's production where it lacks of thickness and warmness. The sound is quite "dry" and it doesn't fill me with the groovy pleasure I seek, which they apparently have but it's buried....
Besides that, their songs are moving in classic mid-tempo stoner rock paths. At times they're taking a more laid-back, chilling route... The album kicks in with "Alient Plants" which along with "Hookerville" and "Illusion Machine" are the release's highlights.
The guys here seem to have good ideas. They don't lack of the passion and capabilities needed to make them come true. But they must try to find their own identity in order to stand out. Most of the bands, make their influences clearly present in their music. And honestly I don't have the slightest problem about it. But you have to find "this thing" that's gonna make you "different". Stonedaze have the potentials and the time to succeed it by working on it. I don't want to look judgmental here. It's only my sincere, benevolent opinion after all. As a conclusion, Stonedaze released a decent debut with quite a lot strong moments. Apparently it has weaknesses but it's in their hands to evolve, pump up and "cement" their sound.
Tracklist:
01. Alient Plants
02. Destiny
03. Hookerville
04. Illusion Machine
05. Devil Lives In Netherlands
06. Judas Preferences
07. Ode To Liver
You can download "Stonedaze" for free from Downtuned Magazine's download archive.
For physical needs, contact the band through their facebook page.
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