Melvins
Stoner Witch

Originally released in October 1994 through Atlantic Records, “Stoner Witch” is the seventh studio album by the Montesano, WA based heavy-rockin’ legend MELVINS. It was performed and recorded by three-piece unit: Buzz Osborne (vocal, guitar), Dale Crover (drums), and Mark Deutrom (bass, guitar, back vocal). The album showcases the band at the peak of their wide-ranging creative abilities melting together elements of Grunge, Stoner, Sludge, Psychedelia, Trash, Punk, Experimental, Noise, and other subgenres. Arguably, this is Melvins’ the most diverse work of the 90’s, and at times it sounds like a compilation of both radio-friendly heavy hitting songs (like “Queen”, “Sweet Willy Rollbar”, “Revolve”, or “Roadbull”) and just oddly soundscaping experiments. The most of the songs on this album (11 tracks clocking in at about 50 minutes) show flashes of real greatness, but unfortunately the most mundane and pointless cuts are dragged out the longest (like “Lividity” which features just feedback drone, occasional scratches and knocks, as well as a mumbling bass). I don’t mean to say it’s exactly boring recording – moreover, the more you listen to the album, the more substance it reveals to you… I think that the album in its entirety will perhaps appeal to lovers of weirdness, strangeness, and avant-gardeness in modern heavy rock music… but it’s not everyone’s cup of tea for sure (though it’s curiously named by many prestigious magazines among the most important and influential albums of “Grunge music”).