voila_la_scorie It was while I was searching for heavy metal bands from Newfoundland and Labrador that I discovered Sheavy. One listen from "The Electric Sleep" and I was sure this was a band worthy of shelling out for a couple of discs at least. The problem was that actually buying CDs meant going to Discogs and looking for near mint if not mint. And hey, I found some!

According to the Wikipedia article about this band, this, their second album, saw a big improvement from the debut, and the band went over to Europe (not so far from St. John's, actually) to play and promote their music. Critics who heard the album were divided, with some claiming that this was a long lost Sabbath album and others putting down Sheavy as Sabbath clones at best. Now, I recently started to become of the opinion that nearly every stoner and doom metal band had to have Black Sabbath's "Master of Reality" played on daily rotation several hours at a time from their day of birth until they were teens just to ensure total and absolute indoctrination into how to create stoner and doom metal. However, I do contend that Sheavy's music is largely not Sabbath-like. Yes, there are a few riffs on this album the have the Tony Iommi call of doom feeling, but many other riffs seem to go a different route. I think the drumming and bass work is also more like what you'd hear from a band experimenting with the sounds and music rather than emulating it.

So we've got some really cool, heavy riffs and a band that sounds very comfortable in their own corner of the stoner rock arena. But those vocals! Man, if Ozzy just put his vocals through a filter that made them more scratchy - like Greg Lake's vocals in "21st Century Schizoid Man" - well then he'd sound just like Steve Hennessy. It's really uncanny how similar Steve sounds like classic Ozzy. On the second track, "Velvet", his voice is a little different because it's an acoustic track with a retro electric guitar sound and bass guitar that make the song sound like it's from 1969. But the rest of the album, man, Steve really could be mistaken for Ozzy.

One unusual thing is in the track "Oracle" which features a didgeridoo throughout the song. I've heard didgeridoos on other albums as an intro instrument (I think Cryptopsy has a song like that) but never used for an entire track, in this case 6:50 long!

This album is really for people who dig that slow and heavy atmosphere of stoner metal bands, but it doesn't feature any of those really low-toned, dragged out, over-distorted guitars like some bands have. Sheavy keeps the riffs moving. Some songs are a little less exciting. I mean, they start off cool and easy and bring in a bit of tension, but then they take time to really go anywhere. When they do, it's a sweet killer riff and sometimes a contrasting change of tempo. But then the song soon ends. That and the dense production sound are my only real criticisms of the album. Basically, it's a great 1990's, stoner metal album for when you're in the mood. But as I understand it, the band's sound evolved over the years and so I had to check out at least one more album...

Kingcrimsonprog The Canadian Stoner Rock/Metal band Sheavy are perhaps best known for their status as the band with Black Sabbath Inspired riffs and Ozzy-sounding vocals. If you like Ozzy era Sabbath then you may either find the band too similar to be able to enjoy seriously or else to be just what you want to hear.

One thing is clear though, however intentionally similar their sound may be to Black Sabbath, Sheavy are very talented as a band and an underrated contributor to the whole Stoner/Desert subgenre of Rock and Metal. Their songs are indeed heavily Black Sabbath inspired yet feature a distinct Sheavy personality of their own too.

Blue Sky Mind was the band’s debut studio album, released in 1996 and remastered with superior audio in 2007. This album features some of the band’s earliest work and has a much more psychedelic and space rock sound in places than the heavier and more straight-forward albums of their most recent albums. While the band finds the band’s sound mostly fully formed there are still moments here that you wouldn’t find on their later work, this combined with the production style ends up giving the album a distinct character amongst their body of work, making Blue Sky Mind definitely one to try out if you want more than one Sheavy record.

Highlights include the quite/loud shifting ‘Domelight,’ as well as ‘Supahero’ despite its unfortunate comedy intro and the eight-minute eastern tinged ‘Gun-It Jam,’ which is still one of the finest tracks in the bands whole career. The track ‘Sea Of Tomorow’ is also absolutely mandatory listening for Sheavy fans, to hear what the band would sound like if they’d never heard of Sabbath or Ozzy, with its brilliant attitude filled strumming and high pitched vocal stylings. Overall, Blue Sky Mind is a great early Sheavy record and it seems unfortunate that the band have never been able to fulfil their true potential and become as successful as they seem to deserve. Sheavy will never be as well known as some of the bigger American Stoner Bands, perhaps because they are Canadian, perhaps because the Sabbath comparisons are as much of a hindrance as they are a help. Regardless, Sheavy are a great band to check out should you happen to enjoy bands like Monster Magnet, Kyuss and Fu Manchu.

Kingcrimsonprog Sheavy are an absolutely solid and consistent Stoner Rock/Metal band from Canada who have been releasing a stream of very strong albums since the 1990’s with arguably no drop in quality.

The band have a formula, laying big Sabbath influenced Stoner Rock riffs over rock 1990’s sounding rock songs that range from the laid back fun of Fu Manchu territory to sounding like an actual track off a 1970s Black Sabbath album. This similarity is helped as always by the uncanny vocal similarity for which Sheavy are most famous.

While the band’s first two or three records were a little more psychedelic, 2007’s The Machine That Won The War (the band’s sixth full-length studio album) continues the trend of their albums getting heavier, faster and more direct on the one hand, and yet incorporating a few Doom Metal influences into their Stoner sound on the other hand. It is ironic that a band most famous for their similarity with Ozzy era Sabbath have started to sound musically like Dio era Sabbath, in terms of riffs and speed at least.

If you like Sheavy, you will like this album, it definitely contains all the vital elements that made their other albums good. As usual, the standard of production, performance and songwriting is very high and there are plenty of big riffs and catchy songs to wrap your head around.

The only possible flaws you will find are that it is similar to existing Sheavy albums, and too similar to Black Sabbath so maybe you can give it a miss if you have grown sick of Sheavy or aren’t a fan in the first place, otherwise however this is a very strong and enjoyable album from Sheavy and one that I’d highly recommend.

Kingcrimsonprog Sheavy are talented and underrated Canadian Stoner Rock/Metal band from who have been producing a string of enjoyable and well made albums since the early Nineties. They write songs that are heavily Black Sabbath inspired yet feature a personality of their own too, which also evolves as the band mature over time. While the band’s earliest work was psychedelic and space rock in places, this album, Republic? Finds the band at their heaviest and most straight-forward.

Sheavy have never become as successful as they deserve and aren’t as well known as some of the bigger American Stoner Bands but are a great band to check out should you happen to enjoy that particular Subgenre or have an urge to hear a rough approximation of what it would possibly be like if Ozzy Osbourne were still a member of Black Sabbath in the 1990s and the band had moved to the desert to spend time touring with Kyuss and Fu Manchu.

Republic? was the band’s fifth full-length studio album and was released in 2005. It was one of the last albums to feature the now classic line-up of Steve Hennessey, Dan Moore, Keith Foley and Ren Squires. While the album is slightly harder, darker, heavier and more straight-forward than the albums which preceded it, the album still hold’s true to the band’s core sound of interesting and well written guitar solos, Iommi influenced riffs melding into pleasant modern songs and singer Steve’s remarkably Ozzy-a-like vocals for which the band arguably are best known.

While the band unquestionably owe a debt to Sabbath they will also appeal to fans of all sorts of Desert/Stoner/Slightly Retro Rock and Metal bands such as the aforementioned Fu Manchu and Kyuss as well as the likes of Sleep, Dozer, Bison BC, Karma To Burn, Clutch, Five Horse Johnson etc as the band’s chosen production style, tonal choices and overall ‘feel’ share something in common with those sorts of artists.

Highlights include `Standing At The Edge Of The World,' `Spy VS. Spy,' and the album closer `Last Chance (Gremlin X)' but of course Sheavy are always good at creating consistent records that stay strong throughout.

At the end of the day; Republic? is yet another enjoyable collection of Stoner Rock/Metal tracks from Sheavy, with a slightly heavier and more direct approach than their earlier work. If you like the band then you will still definitely like this album and I recommend that you try it out if you usually like this sort of music.

Kingcrimsonprog Sheavy are Stoner Rock/Metal band from Canada who have been going since the early Nineties, producing a string of enjoyable and well made Sabbath inspired albums with a personality all of their own. Sometimes, as is the case on this particular album's artwork, their name is typeset as `sHeavy,' to emphasise the word `heavy.'

Sheavy have never become as successful as some of their American peers and are extremely underrated, but are still a very interesting proposition to check out should you happen to enjoy this type of music. When judged on their actual musical merits its pretty difficult to imagine why this bands aren't as well known as the most famous bands in the Stoner subgenre.

Synchronized was their fourth full-length studio album and was released in 2002. It features the classic line-up of Steve Hennessey, Dan Moore, Keith Foley and Ren Squires and the eleven track, forty-eight minute record is a vastly enjoyable collection of interesting and well written material, full of killer guitar solos, good riffs and of course the band's trademark and oft talked about Ozzy-a-like vocal stylings.

Steve Hennessey's vocals sometimes specifically mimic Ozzy Osbourne's exact and specific vocal nuances, so much so that Black Sabbath themselves allegedly considered hiring him just before Ozzy agreed to a reunion.

If you like creative and interesting Desert/Stoner/Slightly Retro Rock and Metal bands bands like Fu Manchu, Dozer, Kyuss, Karma To Burn, Clutch, Five Horse Johnson or even C.O.C then Sheavy are definitely a prospect that you may wish to discover and explore. The production style, tonal choices, mix and overall attitude and feel of the album is perfect suited to fans of the connecting link between the aforementioned bands.

Synchronized is pretty much business as usual for Sheavy; gone are the slightly more Psychedelic leanings of their earliest work, but otherwise the record is a prime example of the band's style and finds them making another album of what they do best. Big Tony Iommi style riffs one minute, slightly skateboards-in-the-music-video 1990s riffs another minute, copious provision of lead guitar and memorable vocal patterns.

Highlights include `Set Phasers To Stun,' `Last Of The V8 Interceptors,' and the particularly strong and characterful album closer `The Time Machine,' but that being said, the whole album is very strong and consistent throughout.

Overall Synchronized is another enjoyable collection of warm, analogue sounding Stoner Rock/Metal tracks from Sheavy, which is all a fan could realistically ask for. If you like the band then you will like this album, as simple as that! I highly recommend the album and by extension the band to fans of the aforementioned list of bands and indeed of the subgenre as a whole.