ACRIMONY – HYMNS TO THE STONE – 1994 (UK) space doom/stoner rock

Formed in the early '90s, Acrimony was one of the first British exponents of American-bred stoner rock. While bands like Cathedral and Paradise Lost displayed an obsessive fondness for the monolithic down-tuned riffs of Black Sabbath, Acrimony borrowed liberally from the more groove-oriented classic rock stylings of American groups like Monster Magnet and especially Kyuss. And by the time the Welsh quintet finally released its first album Hymns to the Stone in 1994, the band had had plenty of time to fine-tune its songwriting skills, making this a remarkably consistent debut. As one would expect from song titles like "Leaves of Mellow Grace" and "Herb," the consumption, discussion, and general obsession with smoking weed serves as the predominant lyrical inspiration for much of the band's material. And when they're not getting high and dropping out, the guys in Acrimony like to launch into extended space rock jams like "Whatever" and the excellent "Spaced Cat #6." All things considered, Hymns to the Stone won't disappoint committed stoners, but the band would still find room for improvement (punchier mix, even better songs) on its subsequent and best effort, the stoner masterpiece Tumuli Shroomaroom.

Dorian Walters (vocals)
Lee Davies (guitar)
Stuart O'Hara (guitar)
Paul "Mead" Bidmead (bass)
Darren Ivey (drums)
1 Leaves of Mellow Grace 5:48
2 The Inn 4:34
3 Second Wind 5:36
4 Spaced Cat #6 6:37
5 Urabalaboom 4:23
6 Herb 3:21
7 Magical Mystical Man 3:08
8 Whatever 7:02
9 Cosmic A.W.O.L. 4:33

Like the aforementioned, Acrimony's riffs have a definite Iommi/Butler-esque quality, though Dorian Walters doesn't have Ozzy's pipes and he doesn't try to sound much like Osbourne at all.
The playing is good, and the production astonishingly close to the original fuzzy Sabbath sound. That took some real work.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!
Rip from CD 256@ (full artwork included)
Download link
http://link-protector.com/260969/