Sheavy Albums (3)
What The Critics Say
Here it comes again: that inimitable drunken warble which could only originate from...Sheavy's Steve Hennessy -- arguably the greatest Ozzy Osbourne impersonator alive (actually, he sounds more like early-days Ozzy than the man himself these days). Eerie and disconcerting, the similarity has fueled this Newfoundland-based band's detractors over the years, serving as an unfair excuse to overlook their very accomplished brand of driving hard rock and metal. But Sheavy, though clearly identifiable as a doom/stoner rock act, is anything but a Black Sabbath tribute act, and each successive release seems to gain them a little more respect thanks to some quality tunes. And their fourth album, 2002's Synchronized, is no exception, with outstanding riff excursions such as "Firebird 350," "Last of the V8 Interceptors," and "Next Exit to Vertigo" picking up right where previous efforts left off and setting the aggressive tone early on. But the band eventually finds room to break with convention; the synth-enhanced, "Junior's Eyes"-sound-alike title track and the oddball "Invasion of the Micronauts," complete with reverse percussion effects à la "Come Together," beg the question: Has Sheavy arrived at their Technical Ecstasy a few albums too soon? The answer is a resounding "not exactly," since such experiments are mostly successful, far from radical, and soon left behind for more traditional stoner/doom fare, including the lengthy jam "Ultraglide" and the pounding "Set Phasers to Stun." And then, Sheavy pulls out all the stops with awesome closer, "The Time Machine," a possible candidate for Metal Single of the Year and arguably the best pure song of their career. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia, All Music Guide
'Celestial Hi-Fi'
Release Date 3/27/2000
Tracks 11
Label Music For Nations
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Newfoundland's Sheavy loves Black Sabbath. Their singer, Steve Hennessy, sounds like -- no, virtually impersonates -- Ozzy Osbourne. Get the picture? With that bit of trivia out of the way, let it be known that their third effort, 2000's Celestial Hi-Fi, makes no apologies for the band's obvious source of inspiration. Album highlights like "Hyperfaster," "What's up, Mr. Zero?," and "Solarsphere" resemble sonic snapshots of prime-era Black Sabbath, simply updated with modern recording technology and augmented with a elements of space rock (see "At the Mountains of Madness," the title track, etc.). Understandably, some purists will take issue to what often sounds like the best Sabbath karaoke or tribute act ever assembled, but these should consider themselves forewarned right here and now. And if placed in a historical vacuum, Celestial Hi-fi qualifies as a pretty good psychedelic doom album. For those interested in the latter category, this is a recommended release. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Sheavy's second album, and first for The Music Cartel is another diverse set mixing heavy metal, stoner and space rock in equal measures, with an extra set of bones thrown at psychedelic and folk music as well. The band's songwriting skills were still in their developmental stage at this time, however, resulting in ups and downs not always predicated by the actual stylistic shifts, but rather the uneven nature of each separate song. Excellent opener "Virtual Machine" pretty much stands alone in qualitative terms, feeding its gargantuan rotating riff (and everything else, for that matter) through a virtual tunnel of processed distortion that serves as perfect fodder for extended head-nodding bliss. The Sabbath-styled ballad "Savanna" and energetic rockers like "Automaton" and "Saving Me" show momentary flashes of inspiration, but exceedingly average offerings like the title track, the needlessly nine-minute "Stardust," and the folky "Velvet" never really go anywhere. Other than serving to highlight vocalist Steve Hennesy's disturbingly clone-like Ozzy Osbourne impression, these cuts mostly just trudge along unconvincingly. In short, Electric Sleep was essentially a holding pattern for the Canadian quartet, but they'd take corrective matters on the next year's quite improved Celestial Hi-Fi. ~ Ed Rivadavia, All Music Guide
