Earthride

Maryland-based stoner/groove/doom metal outfit Earthride may have garnered attention in their formative years, thanks to singer Dave Sherman's role as bassist in defunct heroes Sprit Caravan, but over the past decade, they've managed to amass a bonafide following of their own. Looking to expand their legions with third full-length Something Wicked, the quartet shun their loose, sloppy drive in favour of something a touch more refined without abandoning their modus operandi. Shoring up the instability, Something Wicked features a vocal drive pulling from Lemmy's throaty grit, as laid down over a mix of Electric Wizard, Roadsaw and Nebula's airy progressions. Rounding out the mixture, aspects of Southern boogie and High On Fire lyrical content about spirits and demons ensure that this stoner rock is complete in its embrace of the genre's most obvious elements. Although it's far from progressively original, Something Wicked is still easily Earthride's most accomplished and tight work to date, ensuring that while they may never lead the groove metal charge, they're certainly holding their own in the hardworking ranks.