Slower, Heavier, Stoner

Some name Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, others add Deep Purple and Hawkwind, those with more experience also recall Blue Cheer and Sir Lord Baltimore. Just as all other genres, stoner rock has many forefathers, but the main inspiration for the slow, heavy sounds centred around distorted guitar and bass sounds and grooves were illegal substances. Although some bands have since sworn off weed or psychedelics, their influence on the music cannot be underestimated. Once stoner rock took on a shape of its own, it started intertwining with other styles such as doom and sludge metal. Founders of the Soulstone Gathering Festival embrace all the labels with great enthusiasm. On 9 and 10 November, ZetPeTe welcomes representatives of the genres from Poland, Germany, Russia, Belgium, France, Finland and the US. And if that’s still not enough, the Afterburner on 29 November at Alchemia features Deaf Radio from Greece and Black Tundra from Warsaw. (Bartosz Suchecki, „Karnet”)