TIER – Backwoods Blues

by Mark 'Yeti' Richard · May 15, 2025

TIER are three-piece heavy stoner/ blues rock band from Trier, Germany. The band put out their debut Dawner EP in 2022 and just released their debut full length album on May 16th 2025. Entitled Backwoods Blues, the record is a powerful ensemble of eight heavy rocking blues songs fully fuzzed out with some heavy stoner grooves. The band consists of Fabian Kreußler on bass and vocals, Jan Hilken on guitar and vocals, and Jonas Juchem on drums and vocals.

The album opens up with “Long Way Down”, an excellent bluesy rocker! The clean guitars and cymbals splashes begin as the band builds up and then kicks into the main riff. The groove laden rhythm is enhanced with great soulful and powerful vocals. TIER has made a big statement with this opening track and shows us what heavy blues rock is all about. The catchy vocal melodies and sing alongs really accentuate the fantastic music. Together, they are both amazing and throughout this recording, a great combination and collaboration. The bass tone on the beginning of the second track, “Bad Girl” has me slithering with happiness. I love the production on Backwoods Blues. It’s not too polished but has a heavy and rocking tone and a deliberate punch to it. The vocals are jiving nicely on “Bad Girl” with the heavy and driving riffs. There are sprinkles of good progressive rock elements in the jamming components of this song too.

“Hang ‘Em Up” was the first single released from Backwoods Blues. It’s a great choice song because it’s very catchy and has a simple flow to it. The bluesy guitar leads and background vocals have a distinct grab about them and the song is very listener friendly. The fourth track “Entropy” is barrel rocking pounder. The energetic pace of QOTSA with the unchained freedom to let loose and release some heavy psych rock. Great driving song through and through. “Keep Sweet” was another early single which has a crunchy groove and blues laced rhythms. The bass, drums, and vocals run along a smooth verse together that opens up the dynamics of the song. The little musical touches are subtle but also the difference between “that’s cool” to “simply amazing!” The vocals are locked in on this one using clean and powerful singing with a more aggressive and raspy tone. The song definitely has a strong stoner appeal and elevates the band’s ability to craft hard driven, seventies influenced, and heavy riff rock songs. A track like “Bad Blood” is a perfect example of using a more stripped down and softer tone to create a more alluring song. The track does pick up the heaviness and flourishes an interesting performance of gritty guitar leads and noisy psychedelic melodies.

“AEther Ride” is an interesting song that kind of separates itself a little from the rest. It has a funky rock groove that sprays ravishing guitar leads all around it. The music has fragments of nineties grunge protruding out of the riff mountains. The three-piece are tight and smooth with a jazzy essence to their jamming. The eighth and final track on the album is called “Execution Song”. It’s a grandiose classic closer, that brings back the strong blues rock revival-back in the forefront. The song is very ambitious and riff driven with a pounding rhythm of psychedelic blues rock. TIER has an excellent and authentic sound that really hits huge strides on these eight songs. Backwoods Blues is yet another strong contender for debut album of the year.