English rock outfit Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs (or “PIGSx7” for short) combine acid rock, psych metal, and stoner influences into a thick sludge of riffs and menacing bellows. Suggesting a meeting of the minds between Black Sabbath and Hawkwind under the influence of especially nasty hallucinogens, PIGSx7 generate a burly, hard-hitting sound that makes room for sonic experimentation and gargantuan guitar riffs, though the overwhelming heaviness of their sound is what rules the day. On their debut album, 2107’s Feed the Rats, the group built their music around lengthy performances (two of the album’s three tracks run over 15 minutes). By the time they cut 2020’s Viscerals, the songs were more compact, but the aggressive stomp of the band was still as brutal as fans could wish.

Hailing from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs were formed by vocalist Matt Baty, guitarists Sam Grant and Adam Ian Sykes, bassist John-Michael Hedley, and drummer Ewan Mackenzie. Influenced by Black Sabbath and Monster Magnet , the band shares a similar love for noise as contemporaries Part Chimp and Hey Colossus . They issued a split release with Glasgow band the Cosmic Dead in 2013, but their contribution, “The Wizard and the Seven Swines,” would be their only official output until four years later. Their debut LP, Feed the Rats ( Rocket Recordings ), arrived in 2017 and featured just three songs that clocked in at over 40 minutes. In May of the same year, Mackenzie parted ways with Pigs and was replaced by Christopher Morley. The band hit the road in support of the release, delivering their visceral, Sabbathian blast of noise-rock to audiences across Europe and the U.K. In their downtime, the group focused on outside projects, with Baty running Box Records — home to Terminal Cheesecake , Lower Slaughter , and Luminous Bodies — and joining Hedley as part of Richard Dawson ‘s live band, while Grant built his own recording facilities, Blank Studios. 2018 saw the group enter Blank Studios to record what would become their sophomore album. Recorded by John Martindale and Grant, King of Cowards — which once again delivered a hefty blast of gargantuan noise — was issued by Rocket Recordings .

With Pigsx7 becoming a familiar name in the rock media, the band rose from the underground scene, playing larger venues and selling out shows across the U.K. 2019 saw them channel their live energy once again in the recording studio. Setting a tight deadline, Pigsx7 emerged with the tighter, yet abrasive and mammoth-sounding Viscerals. Released on Rocket Recordings , the album saw the light of day in April 2020. ~ Neil Z. Yeung & Rich Wilson

Evoking the spirit and sound of space rock pioneers like Hawkwind , White Hills capture the expansive rock sound of the ’70s with their brand of trippy, synth-heavy rock & roll. Formed in New York City as the brainchild of singer and guitarist Dave W., the band also consisted of bassist Ego Sensation and drummer Lee Hinshaw; they got their first break when Julian Cope released their album They’ve Got Blood Like We’ve Got Blood on his own label in 2005. This kicked off a prolific string of releases, starting in 2007 with Abstractions & Mutations, released on Drug Space , and the self-released Glitter Glamour Atrocity (which was reissued by Thrill Jockey in 2014).

Keeping the albums coming, the band self-released Little Bliss Forever in 2009, as well as Dead and Heads on Fire, both released by Thrill Jockey . In 2010, the expansive trio hooked up with Manchester-based psychedelic drone collective Gnod for Gnod Drop Out with White Hills II. The collaborations continued with the self-titled White Hills, which featured fellow New Yorker and Oneida drummer Kid Million on drums. Keeping the Oneida connection strong, the band returned to its Ocropolis studio to work on their next album with Shahin Motia, resulting in 2011’s H-P1. Not wasting any time, the band went back into the studio later that year, bringing synth player (and Julian Cope drummer) Antronhy and touring drummer Nick Name into the studio with them to record the spacy and more refined Frying on This Rock, which was released in 2012.

A fair amount of touring and smaller releases filled 2012, with several live recordings and split releases leading up to 2013’s bludgeoning full-length So You Are…So You’ll Be. A startling change in direction marked 2015’s Walks for Motorists. Gone were the band’s guitar-heavy meltdowns, replaced by a far more groove-oriented set of songs, many lacking guitar altogether and focusing on burning, repetitive basslines or Krautrock-inspired synthesizer patterns. Following a few limited split releases and a short break in order to work on personal projects, White Hills returned in 2017 with the politically charged Stop Mute Defeat. This was followed in 2018 by Desire, a collaboration with Der Blutharsch and the Infinite Church of the Leading Hand . ~ Gregory Heaney, Rovi