High Mountain Stoner Rock Returns in Denver Power Trio Luna Sol

They call it stoner rock, but it gives me early Soundgarden and Alice in Chains vibes. Whatever it is, Luna Sol's new LP is a killer groove of blues-based rock in the tradition of the best power rock trios. And if you're in Denver, there's a release this Friday.


From rock's first supergroup, Cream, to grunge pioneer Nirvana and the pop-punk masters in Green Day, the power-rock trio is an undeniable musical force, scaled down to a simple equation of guitar, bass and drums, all amped up for maximum sonic effect. And that tradition is maintained by Denver trio Luna Sol, which comprises Dave Angstrom (guitar and vocals), Doug Tackett (bass) and Zeth Pedulla (drums). Hear for yourself when the band drops its latest album, Vita Mors, with a release show at Bar 404 on Friday, September 20.

Vita Mors showcases the band's "high mountain stoner rock," as Angstrom puts it, and it's the band's first record to include Tackett and Pedulla, musician friends he'd known from their work in the band Horse. "Stoner rock is a big genre of heavy rock," Angstrom says, "but I added the 'high mountain.'"

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11 Incredible Albums Recorded at the Legendary Blasting Room

While the word "iconic" is thrown around far too much, it definitely applies to the Blasting Room, the Fort Collins recording studio founded by Descendents and ALL drummer Bill Stevenson in 1994. Numerous punk-rock heavyweights such as NOFX and Bad Religion have made the trek to the legendary music institution to record, and it has also become the home base to a large number of Colorado bands, including Reno Divorce, Flobots and Teenage Bottlerocket.

Musicians have made some of their best music throughout the history of the Blasting Room, and some might even consider the studio a breakthrough location in their recording career: Rise Against's first Blasting Room album reached the Billboard Top 10 and garnered international acclaim. Others, like Mustard Plug, have realized the Blasting Room is the only place to record: "Every time we don’t go there, we’re slightly disappointed," the band's lead singer told us. "And when we do go there, we’re happy with it.”

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How Metallica Is Helping Front Range Community College Students Get Jobs

“There’s a nationwide talent crisis in skilled labor,” says Chris McGilvray, dean of the manufacturing program at Front Range Community College. Now, support for closing that gap in the workforce is coming from an unlikely source: Metallica, one of the greatest heavy-metal bands in history. Metallica Scholars is a scholarship program supporting education in trades and skilled labor, and it’s entering its second year of funding at Front Range Community College.
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The impetus for supporting education, specifically in the trades, came about when lead singer and guitarist James Hetfield’s kids were in school. Richardson notes that all the bandmembers are on the foundation’s board, and at a meeting, “James stood up and passionately spoke up about how his kids were coming through school and no one was telling them they could have a very successful career working with their hands, as a plumber or carpenter or mechanic.”

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