Glow
Gone, But Never Forgotten (CD) 2005 None
It's 1970, and the world is being torn apart. The SDS and Weatherman are throwing bombs, Woodstock and Altamont have come and gone, and drugs and tie-dye rule the day. There's great music everywhere you go: the west coast, with its dark Blue Cheer underbelly and increasingly revolutionary Jefferson Airplane, still rules in the US, while prog rock and metal are on the rise in Europe. Donning your headband and stubbing out a doobie, you venture into the outside world to pick up some new tunes. The new Hendrix isn't out yet, but an album cover by a new band called Black Sabbath calls out to you. That witch in front of some medieval-looking house in the woods....too much! You put that under your arm, and as you go up to pay the clerk, who knows your taste, is talking about Randy Holden from Blue Cheer putting out a solo album, called 'Population' or something like that. It seems to be impossible to get ahold of. Well, the new album by Spain's Glow could easily fit under some record buying music fanatic's arm back in 1970 as well. Its like a time machine; something about their brand of riffing doom takes you back to some hazy golden age in music's history, when longhaired acid heads wound their way through outdoor music festivals while onstage bands of freaks belted out increasingly heavy riffs, plowing new furrows in their listener's consciousness. For starts, Glow's album cover features a slender nude woman posed artfully against a desert hillside. From a distance she looks like an alien. The music within is one of the best demos I've ever heard, Sabbathy goodness leavened with a host of more modern ingredients to create an unbeatable doom sound. This demo joins the ranks of the very few in recent years, such as Starchild, Mindblizz, and Reino Hermitano, who have made music of such high quality that they practically DEMAND to be signed. Glow's tuneage might best be described as psychedelic doom, and is of course first and foremost influenced by Father Sabbath. If you add in favorites old and new such as Pagan Altar, Paul Chain, St. Vitus, Goatsnake, Place of Skulls, and Necromandus, it will give you a better picture yet of what you're in for. The wailing, soulful vocals sound like Randy Holden mixed with (clean) Dax Riggs, though some have compared them to Las Cruces' Mark Zammeron. Whether you agree or not, you get the idea. The guitars are beautifully played, drenched in distortion and wah, while the mid-paced drums are located a bit farther back in the mix than you might be accustomed to, giving the whole thing an authentic early 70s flava. Hawkwind once said they wanted to get their listeners high without drugs. Yeah, right. But I know what they were getting at, because Glow does just that better than any new group since the second Datura album came out. Or Starchild's first demo. Or.....I'm sure you can fill in your own blank. This album will hit you like a ton of dirty psychedelics, flying up your spine and exploding in the back of your brain. You know what to do..... Contact: info@glow.com.es http://www.glow.com.es	1. Stone Circle 2. Frustrated Song 3. Rush 4. Bleeding Hands 5. Godfish 6. Oxigen (sic) 7. Seasons 8. Living Backwards 9. Godfish (Video) Approx. 44 minutes
Reviewed by: Kevin McHugh
Dive Into The Sun (CD) 2006 Alone
Glow's 'Gone, But Never Forgotten' topped my list for 2005. In the world of trad doom, it was a monster out of left field, the best of the best, first among equals. Nobody did bluesy doom better than these Spanish freaks - it was one of the finest interpretations of 70s influenced metal I had ever heard. My fervent prayer at the time was that for the love of all things holy and unholy, some wise label would sign these deserving doomsters and do 'em a proper. As Robert Fripp says, sometimes God smiles. Glow is back, and Alone Records deserves boatloads of good karma for signing them up. The good news is that the group is wise enough to know not to screw around with a very good thing. The other good news is that this is not a simple repeat of 'Gone', but an improvement, giving their distinctive grooving doom sound a more up to date aura without compromising it one iota. The production on 'Dive into the Sun' is better, with finer dynamics, clarity, and tone. There's plenty of distinctive bass drum, always a plus for doom records of the first rank. Perhaps the most noticeable change is in Ralph's vocals. Along with his trademark clean, soulful belting, there's plenty of vocal treatment going on, sometimes to good effect ('The Weatherman') and sometimes less so ('Inside.') I hate to feed the vocalist-as-primadonna-syndrome, but there's no getting around the fact that Ralph is one of the best singers in music. Period. His passionate vocals recall the very best: Henk Armstrong, Paul Rogers, Pete Stahl, Chris Cornell, even Jadd Spiritu. There are few in that top rank, and Ralph's efforts on 'Dive' justify the album's purchase by themselves. But of course Ralph doesn't sing in a vacuum, and the group's musicianship is every bit his equal. Dip into the album with 'Dead Angels,' very probably the album's best tune, and a heavy qua heavy exercise in Sabbathy goodness, melodic and stomping. 'Winter Pain' is a loping, destroying monster, as if the King of the Wargs was holding a private dance for his pet dinosaurs. 'Evil Number' pumps the endorphins, a successful exercise in galloping blues doom, with some tasty cowbell to liven things up. As the title might suggest, 'The Weatherman' is the soundtrack to revolution, 1970 style. Who knows? If the song could be sent back in time, the U.S. might now be run by bomb-throwing anarchists. Pounding, melodic, bluesy doom. That's what Glow is all about. Grooves and rhythmic change-ups, tone and emotion, buttery distortion and a retro Hammond. Glow's got it all, enough to loan to a hundred bands with plenty left over for themselves. These guys recreate Sabbath, Vitus, Trouble, Witchfinder General, Revelation, and other doom masters of the past, blend it with classic rock like Kansas and Rush, and come out somewhere south of Goatsnake, Abdullah, and Spiritu. Simply stunning.	1. Inside 2. Doomdriver 3. Wasted 4. Dead Angels 5. Winter Pain 6. Evil Number 7. Wake Up 8. The Weatherman Approx. 66 minutes
Reviewed by: Kevin McHugh