"Minimalist" is not how Desert Psychlist would describe Skulldozer's music but that is the legend sitting beneath the bands photo on their Bandcamp page, to be fair though they do follow that up with the sentence "loud riffs" and they are definitely words we at The Psychlist can get on board with. You would probably have to ask the band themselves why they decided to describe their music as "minimalist" but we are not going to do that instead we are going to just give you our thoughts on the bands new album "High Tide" and let you decide the rest.
Friday, 4 July 2025
SKULLDOZER ~ HIGH TIDE .... review
Friday, 27 June 2025
BUSHFIRE ~ SNAKES BITE TALES .... review
© 2025 Frazer Jones
Thursday, 26 June 2025
PILOTOS DEL TIEMPO ~ ECOS DE UN AMBIENTE DEVASTADO .... review
Been a while since Desert Psychlist dipped our toes into the Argentine underground scene so let's make up for that right now by introducing you to Pilotos Del Tiempo, a power trio from Neuquen consisting of Santiago Veiga (drums); Rodolfo Velazquez (bass/vocals) and Martin Walter (guitar/vocals) who have just released their debut album "Ecos de un Ambiente Devastado". If you like your distortion devastating, your fuzz heavy and your psych even heavier we think you are going to love these guys.
The durability of your speakers/headphones get tested right from the very off with swaggering opener "Detrás" not only do they have to contend with thunderous swinging drumming, growling heavily distorted bass and fuzzed to the max guitar riffage they also have to deal with vocal lead and dual harmonies pitched at the raw, loud and throaty end of clean. Those speakers do not get much respite with following instrumental "Queena" either, this tune comes at you lathered in distortion so filthy it will stain your ears, and don't expect to hear some swirling lead work cutting through all the delicious nastiness because even the solos are coated in grimy dissonance. Next up.is "Say My Name" the albums only song with English lyrics, here we find the band offsetting their full on stoner metal attack with elements of heavy psych beneath slightly cleaner but no less gritty vocals, the swirling guitar solos do cut through a little more here but are still far from anything close to being pristine. "Labertino" follows and begins with a mix of whispering and throat singing accompanied by a low bass motif and some weird crackling effects before the song explodes into desert/stoner groove drenched in close to breaking up fuzz, vocals here are a little more melodic and a tad mellower but not what you would call exactly harmonious. Doom makes its presence felt on the slightly schizophrenic "Esclavitud de la Razón" but it is a quirky doom with a hard to explain off centred feel, a feel made even more off-centred thanks to its semi narrated vocal dynamics. The doom sticks around for the blackened and sludgy "Invertido" this song boasting crunching reverberating riffs and pounding steady percussion supporting thick guttural vocal tones, the song also features some cool Iommi-esque shredding in its last quarter. Final number "Vagabundo" brings back the speaker shredding fuzz and distortion and twins it with a vocal harmonies that are a strange mix of stoner rock rawness and clipped goth like cleanliness, even stranger is that those vocals work really well against the wall of noise that is surrounding them.
MARY THE ELEPHANT ~ JUMBLE .... review
Heavy(ish) grooves that lean towards the more grungy bluesy end of the underground rock spectrum are what Sweden's Mary The Elephant, Hami Malek (vocals); Isaac Ingelsbo (guitar); Johan Fogelberg (bass); Doe (drums) and Patrik Gardberg (lead guitar), deliver with their latest EP "Jumble" a sound very much in keeping with that which could be found on their previous self-titled EP "Mary The Elephant", grooves that could be argued owe as much a debt to bands like Alice In Chains and Stone Temple Pilots as they do the likes of fellow Swedish outfits like Graveyard, Kamchatka and Horisont.
A chunky guitar motif accompanied by a thunderous drum tattoo kicks off opening number "Chemical Funeral" which is soon joined by the bass in a grungy side of stoner/hard rock groove over which a powerfully delivered vocal rails against the world in tones that possess a throaty gruff soulfulness. Next song "Malady" boasts a less in your face and somewhat more classic rock flavoured vocal melody than its predecessor but do not let that fool you into thinking that this song lacks heaviness or bite as there are plenty of crunching power chords, growling bass and big punchy rhythms to get your teeth into on this one as well as some very impressive bluesy guitar shredding. There is a strong doomic feel to following song "Curse-Breaker" the band musically edging pretty close to low slow and heavy stoner doom territory around an impressively pitched vocal that is delivered just a tad mournful and wearied. After having to deal with an annoying and persistently bothersome wasp/hornet while writing this review the last thing Desert Psychlist needed was a song titled "Swarm" that contains the lyric "I can hear them buzzing all around me" and begins and ends with the sound of swarming insects, that aside this is a superb, if somewhat quirky little number boasting plenty of twists and turns that although may not be immediately evident on a first listen will reveal themselves with repeated spins. Penultimate number "Birth Of A Giant" is a nice if rather brief fusion like instrumental that leads us nicely into closing number "Shadows" a slow building grungy classic rock flavoured tome decorated with a lilting vocal melody and featuring some beautiful Gilmour-esque guitar textures, it maybe not the barnburner some might be expecting as a closer but it is nevertheless still a great song.
© 2025 Frazer Jones
Wednesday, 18 June 2025
RIFFCHILD ~ SUN WILL FOLLOW ..... review
Riffs, (repeated musical phrases/motifs) can be performed on most instruments and are present in variety of musical forms and genres, though they are predominantly associated with guitars and rock music. In the underground music scene a well crafted riff can be as crucial as a strong vocal melody, if not more so. Bearing this in mind, one can imagine the significant pressure placed on a band that incorporates the word "riff" into their name. Such a choice not only requires them to overcome the same challenges faced by any emerging band trying to gain some recognition but also demands they meet the expectations of their listeners regarding the quality of said riffs and refrains. Quebec's Riffchild, Louis Vaillancourt (vocals/bass), Enzo Chassé (drums), and Léo Duffard (guitar), are one such band whose chosen name is bound to create such expectations but they justify their name choice by delivering some of the grimiest, most distorted, and fuzz-laden riffs one could hope to find this side of an impending apocalypse, as you will no doubt discover for yourselves when giving their debut release, "Sun Will Follow." a spin.
Saturday, 14 June 2025
SLEEPING MOUNTAIN ~ SLEEPING MOUNTAIN .... review
Sleeping Mountain may be a name that'll ring bells with regular visitors to Desert Psychlist and the reason those bells will be ringing is due to the fact that we reviewed the bands 2023 self titled debut EP "Sleeping Mountain" on these very pages, a review in which we described the bands sound has having the "complexities and intricacies of 70's prog" mixed with "some of the more melodic and heavier aspects of todays heavy rock, metal and psych scene". Sleeping Mountain were operating as a five piece at the time we wrote those words but have since slimmed down to a trio, consisting of Aitor Mendez (guitar, keyboards and vocals), David Saunders (bass) and Alexis Humanes (drums and vocals), a move that doesn't seem to have effected the intensity and power of their musical attack one iota, if anything the band sound tighter and even more focused, something which will be come even more apparent when giving their, again self-titled but this time full length, album "Sleeping Mountain" a spin.
Drummer Humanes counts in opening track "Humans" and is quickly joined by Saunders bass in a rolling stoner-like groove over which Mendez, when not filling any gaps with crunching power chords, applies swirly guitar motifs and swooping lead work. The song is basically an instrumental but thanks to some cleverly placed sampled narrative in its final quarter, and the fact it segues straight into its following track, it does not feel like one. That following track, "Walls of Shadows" begins quite quaint and otherworldly with waif-like wordless harmonies intoned over a musical backdrop that bears lysergic post-metal qualities, however things soon take a doomic turn when Mendez's vocals come in, his powerful slightly accented vocals the catalyst for a long passage off heavy guitar and bass riffing supported by thunderous pounding percussion, a passage that in turn makes way for a period of hazy swirling lysergic bluesiness. "Wildfire" sees Sleeping Mountain still wading in the bluesy waters that informed the final stages of the previous song but this time with dynamics that veer a little less to lysergic and more to heavy and Zeppelin-esque. Next up is "In The Land of Burning Witches" an absolute bangin' tune that wraps a mix of stoner-ish and proto metallic groove around a superbly delivered wending and winding vocal melody, the songs only fault being that at only three minutes plus it finishes far too quickly. "Alibi" initially sits somewhere between a lament and torch song with wearied soulful vocals referencing "reapers" and "souls" but then takes off into harder and heavier territories, all chugging riffage, insistent rhythms and screaming lead work. "The Door" boasts grooves that sway between strident and circular and bluesy and psychedelic over which an impassioned vocal pleads for the portal in the songs title to be opened or at least left ajar while "Tennessee Walking Horse" blends elements of Americana and southern metal with stoner rock and heavy psych to create a groove that musically incorporates not only the grace and elegance associated with the breed of horse its title refers to but also elements of that particular breeds renowned four-beat running gait. Penultimate song "Akelarre" has an occult/doom feel about it which given that "akelarre", in the Basque language, translates to "witches sabbath" makes sense. Musically the song has a dank and doomic feel but cleverly brings into play subtle elements of a more post metallic flavour to add texture and colour, vocally the song boasts a Sabbath-esque melody, albeit with a bit more power in the upper registers and minus Ozzy's distinctive nasal whine. Final track "Medusa" kicks off with thrumming stoner-ish bass and guitar riffage supported by hard and thunderous drumming over which a gritty but clean melodic vocal holds sway however just before the halfway mark, and after a brief passage of post-metal ambience, things take on a darker and heavier dynamic which sees the band swimming in waters probably more used to hosting bands like Poland's Dopelord and Greece's Acid Mammoth. Having plummeted into the depths the song then resurfaces in a wave of blistering crunchy hard edged rock over which searing guitar solos blaze and burn.