OLE ENGLISH ~ OLE ENGLISH ..... review

"Warlock Rock" is not a genre you maybe familiar with but if Lafayette based Louisiana four piece Ole English have their way it will be one you will be actively seeking out in the future. The band, Lynden Segura (vocals/guitar); Nick Harvey (vocals/guitar); Magnolia June (bass) and Austin Wood (drums), describe what they do as "preserving the lineage forged by dynasties such as Black Sabbath, Kyuss, The Sword and Soundgarden", its a bold statement to make and one that could well backfire if it doesn't hold water, let's see if it does.

"Hooks... write them and they will come" could well be the thinking behind the first track to be presented on "Ole English" for here is a song with more "hooks" than a high school cloakroom, curly little guitar licks tagged on to the end of crunching riffs that immediately grab your attention and pull you further into the songs raucous groove and when you ally those hooks with the strong throaty vocals and pulsating rhythms that they decorate well who could blame you for sticking around. "Old Man" is the next track to raise its head and what a wonderfully gnarly head it is full of chugging metallic swagger and bluesy bluster and blessed with a clean powerful voice. "Heel" follows and has a groove pitched at the punkier end of the stoner rock spectrum both vocally and musically, however its not long before Ole English's blues rock credentials begin to show and the band close the song with a high energy stonerized heavy blues jam. Those blues credentials surface again on "Visions of Ghana" a song built around a "Dazed and Confused" type bass line that, much like the Led Zeppelin song, builds and builds until it takes on a life all of  its own and morphs into something completely different from what it started out as, in this case a heavily atmospheric doomic tome. "Holy Roller" closes out "Ole English" with a gritty rocker driven by booming bass and tight, solid percussion around which a mixture of crunching refrains and soaring off kilter solos are lavishly delivered, however that is not the whole story as things take an unexpected turn mid -song, the band taking things to a close on a plodding low slow doomic groove decorated in guitar textures that would not sound out of place gracing a 1960's spaghetti western.

"Ole English" is a great album but one that is slightly schizophrenic, an album where listeners are bombarded with grooves that run the whole gamut of underground rock, one minute you are nodding along to a Sasquatch type proto-metallic groove the next your being blitzed by some heavy blues with stoner doomic undertones, this however is not a criticism but a testimony to the diversity on display here, Ole English do not push boundaries they smash them to pieces.
Check 'em out ....

© 2019 Frazer Jones

ALBATROSS OVERDRIVE ~ ASCENDANT ..... review

Desert Psychlist could probably write a short novel on the various line-ups that have made up California's Albatross Overdrive since their formation in 2004 (they were just Albatross back then), so in order not to send you fast to sleep we will just say there have been a few. The present line up of Art Campos (vocals); Rodney Peralta (drums); Andrew Luddy (guitar); Derek Phillips (guitar) and Mark Abshire (bass) have been fairly stable since 2017 (but with this bands record that could all change before you reach the end of this review) and have just released their third album "Ascendant"

First tracks are an important part of any album, grab your listeners attention with something that is immediate and powerful and you more or less guarantee that he/she will be sticking around for the duration of your opus. Albatross Override begin "Ascendant" with a beauty called "On The Ledge" a full on no holds barred hard rocker with a feel not dissimilar to that of later period Thin Lizzy, albeit flecked with a little southern stonerized grittiness. Of course "On The Ledge" is not the best track on "Ascendant", it would be foolish to send in your elite troops first, but it does show that this is a band who intend to win the battle. "The Sleeper" follows next and dials up the intensity by initially going in harder and heavier but then confuses things by falling back into a hazy, almost lysergic, heavy blues with swirling guitar solo's and soulful grainy vocals underpinned by an intense and thunderous rhythmic groove. Title track "Ascendant" fizzes with vigour and energy and jams a groove that blends the bands already mentioned Thin Lizzy vibe with that of one more akin to that of Australian hard rock merchants Electric Mary which by anyone's book is no bad thing. Earlier we were talking best tracks and for Desert Psychlist "Come Get Some" is the cherry on the cake, the diamond in the rough, a song that is emotional and powerful, a song that in its early stages has a strong Bad Company vibe but then morphs into a humongous guitar screaming hard rock monster as it nears its conclusion. Up next "Live, Love, Laughter" boasts a spluttering heavily fuzzed groove around which vocals tell us to "live for tomorrow" and "love every day" while "Undecided" finds the band hitting a groove that listeners will be inadvertently humming long after the album has finished. "Pity Pie" closes "Ascendant" not, as might be expected, with an all guns blazing sweaty rocker but with a more restrained soulful lament, an emotion racked torch song with a swaggering bluesy undercurrent.

More classic rock than it is stoner, more Bad Company than it is Kyuss "Ascendant" is an album that sits somewhere between mainstream rock and its heavier underground cousin, an album that will appeal to fans of both but also to those whose allegiances may lie further afield..
Check it out ….

© 2019 Frazer Jones

WISEST OF THE MYSTICS ~ COMPASS ..... review

For us at Desert Psychlist one of the greatest thing about discovering a new band is when that band does not conform to the usual tags or labels, a band who intentionally or unintentionally stand a little left of center, a little on the outside, a band who bring something a little different to the table. Wisest of the Mystics are one such band, not only do they bring grooves to the feast that are off-kilter and challenging they also swathe themselves in a veil of mystery and secrecy, posting on their social media pages the legend  "we are immortal travelers through the vast expanse of cosmic dust" and a picture of a pool ball emblazoned with the number 7, a number that in some cultures signifies "divine vibration". There is plenty of "divine vibration" to be found on the bands debut "Compass", a four song opus that has its roots in psychedelic rock but it branches reaching into infinity and beyond.

Tribal percussion, accompanied by deep resonating guitar chords, introduces first track "Swamp Thing Loves You", and then it's all aboard the "Starship Groove" as the band lead you by the ear through soundscapes populated by droning guitar textures, shimmering arpeggios and diverse rhythmic pulses. Desert Psychlist guesses you could describe what Wisest of the Mystics present to their listeners as a sort of "mood music", muscular tones and titanic textures weaved into an atmospheric tapestry of repetitious and hypnotic groove. This vibe and feel of moodiness is no more prevalent than on second track "With the Light of the Moon as Your Guide" a song that blends Floydian lysergic atmospherics with those of a more metallic nature, a song that soars above the earth on gossamer wings one minute then crawls across swampy mires on its scaly stomach the next.  "The Lesser Sun" follows and here we find Wisest of the Mystics once again flexing their Floydian muscles this time adding a little lyrical colouring to the mix, low -key, clean vocals incanted rather than sung delivered over a backdrop of incessant percussion and heavy doomic groove, the band creating an overall vibe that is unsettling yet strangely spiritual.  "Where There's Smoke" brings "Compass" to a close with a song built around a hypnotic throbbing industrial groove anchored by a booming bass line and solid tight percussion, this groove is augmented by some jagged and very fractured guitar work, the guitarist (or guitarists?) utilising an array of techniques and effects to bring an extra level of brooding atmosphere to proceedings.

Industrial and heavy yet at the same time lysergic and experimental Wisest of the Mystics new opus "Compass" is a sometimes challenging but wholly rewarding listen that is well worth checking out..

© 2019 Frazer Jones

MERLIN ~ THE MORTAL ....... review

This could be a tricky review not because Desert Psychlist has issues with "The Mortal",  the new album from Kansas City's innovative and boundary pushing Merlin, but because trying to lay down in words and make readers realise how damn good this album is will probably make Desert Psychlist sound like some sort of slavering collective of  Merlin fanboys (we actually are). So let's start by apologising for the drooling and fawning that may follow this intro piece and hope you will forgive and understand when you hear what "The Mortal" (The Company) has to offer.

Merlin bring to the table not just the usual array of drums, bass guitar and vocals but also sax, flute, various keys and assorted percussion and are joined on "The Mortal" by a trio of guest musicians (Jeremy McClain, Garrett Holm and the oddly titled Bretstradamus) who add to the mayhem with accordions and trumpet. Now with this amount of instrumentation on display you may think that things could get a little chaotic in places and you would be absolutely right, however it is this chaos that is Merlin's greatest asset and the thing they use to their best advantage. Merlin dance a fine line between freedom and form throughout "The Mortal", a line no wider than a razor's edge that sees the band tantalisingly dipping their toes into one discipline only to pull back and dip them, just as tantalisingly, into the other while at the same time managing to precariously balance between the two. Merlin have no peers to be compared against, this is a band who's uniqueness and off centred quirkiness is their signature. a signature sound that no other band out there at the present time comes even remotely close to resembling sonically. From the moody intro "Prologue", with its dissonant drones and classical sounding guitar, through the epic folk/jazz/blues fusion of "Tower Fall", the schizophrenic grooves of "Chaos Blade", the medieval fairground madrigal that is "Metamorphosis"  to the spiralling closer "The Mortal Suite" every song is executed with exceptional aptitude and skill and delivered by a band of musicians who understand that in order to make a music "swing" you need to be tight and loose in equal measure, and believe us when we say "The Mortal" is an album that "swings"

Carter Lewis (guitar/ keys/ organ), Stu Kersting (guitar/ saxophone/ flute), Chase Thayer  (guitar/ additional percussions), Joey Hamm (bass guitar), Jordan Knorr (vocals/ storytelling/ omnichord) and Randall Tripps (drums/ dark magic) are Merlin, remember those names because with "The Mortal" they may well have made the album of the year!
Check it out ….

© 2019 Frazer Jones

MORGANTHUS ~ MORTAL ..... review

In alternative universe somewhere there is church, inside that church a black carpet leads the way, between pews decorated in black leather and purple velvet, to an altar table where a battered Gibson SG lies surrounded by worn down guitar picks and four silver crucifix's. On a nearby wooden bannister surrounding a bat winged shaped font is hung a well worn buckskin jacket with tasseled strips decorating its back and dangling from its sleeves. In one corner of the churches apse broken drumsticks lie atop a small heap of charred facial hair while in the opposite corner, propped against another bannister, a Fender Precision bass guitar stands with dog eared manuscripts scattered beneath it with words like wizard, void and children scrawled across them in spidery handwriting. This is the Church of the Black Sabbath where acolytes come to worship the almighty riff.

Ok there is no such place but if there was (and there should be) then as sure as eggs are eggs Pennsylvanian trio Morganthus would be jostling for a seat in those leather and velvet pews, bowing and nodding their heads in reverent unison to the sounds of Birmingham's finest echoing around the rafters. I guess what Desert Psychlist is trying to say here is that if you are a fan of Ozzy and co's proto-doomic swagger and dark hard rock bluster then your going to fucking love what Colby Neukum (bass); Dustin Ganoe (drums) and Doug Miller (guitars/vocals) bring to the table with their latest album "Mortal".

Like Sheavy, Orchid, Rare Breed, and to some extent The Sword and Freedom Hawk, Morganthus are not going to get away without terms like "sabbathian" and "sabbathesque" being hurled in their direction, in fact only a couple of days after the release of "Mortal" those Sabbath comparisons have been appearing all over the comments/reviews section of the albums Bandcamp page (ours included). To the bands credit this does not to seem to have phased them at all, stating via the same page that they are just jamming "vintage style metal for the like minded".
"Plague Bell" is probably the least "sabbathian" song on "Mortal"and starts with a weathered voice, accompanied by a ringing bell, calling "bring out your dead" before exploding into a dark doomic groove that probably owes more to Egypt than it does Black  Sabbath. Miller's vocals here, and on the rest of the album, do posses similarities to Birmingham's bat biting ambassador but only in that they have a similar whining nasal quality in fact the more you hear them the less Ozzy-ish they seem to get.
"Super Science" starts the Sabbath warning bells ringing despite the fact that the main riff is built around a WAH pedal drenched riff (not something Iommi was famed for), it is the songs vocal melody that gives the song its sabbathesque feel, not so much in tone but in how the melody swings
"Phosphorous" follows and begins with Neukum tearing a Geezer Butler shaped bass solo from his fretboard (not too dissimilar to that which introduces Black Sabbath's "N.I.B"). before being joined by Ganoe's solid and on point drums and Miller's fuzz drenched guitar in an engrossing proto-doom groove that utilises subtle prog shading to enhance its appeal
Title track "Mortal" drops all its sabbathian pretence and goes for the throat with some truly heavy metallic doom attack with distortion its main weapon of mass destruction.
"Devil's Due" finds Morganthus falling back into line with a song that chugs along at a nice healthy pace while at the same time throwing in clever attention catching little hooks before then finally bowing out on a monnolithic stoner doom groove with the singer telling tales of the "devil", "peddling his white roses and snake oil"
"Mosquitos" closese "Mortal" with a song that mixes old school metal with elements of doom and its proto flavoured cousin while at the same time managing to sound fresh and of the now.

"Mortal" is an album that is undeniably Sabbath influenced and has a strong sabbathian feel however it is just a "feel", if you listen harder and dig deeper you start to discover that Morganthus are a band with their own sound and their own identity, a band who although may bear sonic similarities to a certain iconic band are in fact not that band, nor want to be.

Check 'em out ...

© 2019 Frazer Jones

PLANET OF THE 8s ~ TOURIST SEASON ...... review

Although there are large parts of Australia dominated by deserts Melbourne, Victoria is not one of them, however, this has not stopped, sons of Melbourne, Planet of the 8s releasing one of the best examples of sand blasted desert rock to come out of the southern hemisphere this year. Planet of the 8s, Michael 'Sullo' Sullivan (vocals and bass/guitar); Justin 'JC' Cruickshank (guitar/vocals) and Pete Carter (drums) do not try to deny that their sound has a feel and vibe born from a love of the early stoner/desert grooves of bands like Kyuss and Fu Manchu but they are equally vocal in citing Mastodon, Tool and Elder as influences too. The band first brought their heady mixture of desert groove and metallic bluster to Desert Psychlist's attention with their 2017 self titled debut "Planet of the 8s", a scintillating collection of QOTSA-like quirkiness and jerky Palm Desert grooviness that gained them many admirers, the trio return this year with "Tourist Season", an album that picks up pretty much where the previous one left off but this time with a little experimental vavavoom added to the mix.

Those out there who believe that the whole stoner/desert thing has had its day (we've all read these posts on music related social media) and we are just listening to rehashed Kyuss riffs and recycled QOTSA rhythms maybe in for a shock when "Tourist Season" steamrollers its way out of their speakers. Here we have an album that although informed by its influences is in no way defined by them, yes there are times when you are reminded of certain iconic bands from desert rock's golden period but those moments are far outweighed by the band's willingness and need to push the envelope, to take things to the edge and to not opt for safety. On songs with titles like "Christopher Walken In The Jungle With Fkin Animals", You You You" and "Drive Through Jesus" Planet of the 8's drag desert rock into realms and regions it has never been to before and may never go to again, the band spiraling off on cosmic tangents one minute, jamming on heavy twitching dissonant grooves the next, each song a shifting ever evolving amalgamation of grooves and words where dynamics constantly clash and collide in glorious structured chaos. This chaos is further enhanced by a few notable guest appearances, Fu Manchu's Bob Balch, puts his guitar shaped weight behind "Christopher Walken In The Jungle With Fkin Animals" with A Gazillion Angry Mexicans guitarist Dan Smith adding subtle textures to its final third while fellow Angry Mexican Ben Smith gives some six-string colouring to "The Epic Space Adventures of the Intergallactic Guru", the Mexican connection completed by James Coelli helping out, vocally, on "Visions & Runaway S02E07".

A stunning and totally engrossing album "Tourist Season" serves up old school desert values allied to new school attitudes and themes, an album delivered by a band unafraid to occasionally step outside the boundaries of the genre they choose to work in and who sound all the more impressive because of that.
Check it out .....

© 2019 Frazer Jones

SHANKAR ~ UNDER THE HUMAN STATE .... review

This may well be a first for Desert Psychlist, we have travelled around the world bringing you music from Australia to Iceland but today we bring you grooves from the worlds fourth most populated country, a collection of islands that sit between the Indian and Pacific Oceans, a place called Indonesia. The band in question are a four piece from Denpasar, Bali consisting of Adit (guitar/vocals); Gus Adi (guitar); Aditya Baskara (bass) and Yoga Aryawan (drums), who go by the name Shankar and who have just released "Under The Human State" an album that could be, for Desert Psychlist, one of the best albums released outside of Europe and The America's.

Some reading this review will already know that in the fields of traditional and extreme metal Indonesia has slowly been building a reputation, articles have appeared in such respected magazines as Kerrang and Metal Hammer extolling the many virtues of the burgeoning Indonesian metal scene. Indonesian stoner, doom and psych bands however have not faired so well, there are bands out there working in these fields but they don't seem to be getting the same exposure, Shankar could be the band to change that.
Fuzz drenched guitar refrains are of course the meat and potatoes of any band tagging themselves as  "stoner" and Shankar do not disappoint in this department, on songs entitled "Last Stand" "Darkest Haunted", "Savior of the Death" and "Beyond The Light" fuzz pedals are dialed to warm and grainy and are driven by a solid bedrock of deep rumbling bass and pounding, punchy percussion enhanced by a mixture of laid back and screaming blues edged guitar solo's.  As good as the musicianship is, and it is very good, what however will grab your attention more than anything else is the quality of the albums vocals, clean,slightly echoed and with barely a hint of accent they roar and croon in warm powerful tones over and around the doomic stoner grooves laid beneath them and in doing so take "Under The Human State" to a whole other level of aural enjoyment.

"Under The Human State" delivers four must hear to believe tracks of atmospheric heavy stoner groove underscored with elements of the type alt-rock and grunge you might expect to find gracing albums by Alice In Chains and Soundgarden. It's a little too early to start talking about end of year "best of " lists but at this point in time this one  from Shankar has more than a fighting chance of making ours.
Check it out ….. 

© 2019 Frazer Jones

BAD FRANKENHAUSEN ~ ZWE: DIE RACHE ...... review

"A progressive concept album that tells a tale of treacherous magic, vengeance and interdimensional insanity through a heady blend of doom, stoner rock, classic rock and even a little surf rock". is how London, UK trio Bad Frankenhausen describe their second album "Zwei: Die Rache" (English translation; Two: Revenge). The band, Rob Hollinshead (drums, vocals and piano), Paul Commerford (bass and vocals) and Tom Goldman (vocals and guitar) tell tales populated by characters such as The Baron and the Countess Roundabout, characters that dwell in settings very much inspired by such giants of popular fiction as Mary Shelley and Bram Stoker. 

Bad Frankenhausen are at heart an old school heavy metal band but one with its toes dipped in a pool blended from the waters of doom, stoner, classic and hard rock, pick any one song from the ten on offer and in that song you will find elements of all those genres mentioned plus quite a few that were not. Despite the dark themes running through songs like "Whoresradish", and "Shambleman" there is an underlying feeling of playfulness and mischief to what Bad Frankenhausen bring to the table, the albums concept and lyrical subject matter having a comic book feel much like the Penny Dreadful books that become popular during the Victorian era. This feeling is further enhanced by Goldman's unique lead vocal stylings, the guitarist/vocalist giving each song an extra level of macabre gravitas by telling the albums stories of revenge and treachery in lived in tones that are at the hoarser end of husky. The album is bookended by two instrumentals "Serf's Sup" a reverberating slice of surf rock/metal with a Dick Dale meets The Shadows vibe and "Scherben" a haunting  melancholic piano piece, both songs going a long way in proving that there is a far more to this band than just a few crunching riffs and thunderous rhythms.

Bad Frankenhausen are not your run of the mill stoner/metal/hard rock band, there are touches of British music hall/American vaudeville about what they do, there were times during "Zwei: Die Rache" when Desert Psychlist were reminded of the theatrical garage rock musings of early Alice Cooper and in our book that is no bad thing, no bad thing at all.

Check it out .... 

© 2019 Frazer Jones

MORENO ~ NÓMADES ... review

Formed in 2008 Argentina's Moreno, Juan Martín Sosa (drums), Nacho Telleria (bass) and Mariano Morero (vocals/guitar), have been consistently delivering quality stoner/desert rock to the masses via their live gigs and a series of well received albums and EP's (most of which are available as free downloads on their Bandcamp pages). The band return this year with "Nómades" an album, it could be argued, is their best release to date, a mesmerising blend of grainy hard rock and stoner grit decorated in clean punk(ish) vocal textures (Spanish).

An insistent drum pattern, accompanied by a busy, busy bass line introduces first track "Buscar la muerte" and is then joined by a circular six-string motif before then falling into heavy stoner groove over which are delivered strong, slightly untamed but hugely effective vocals punctuated by equally effective guitar fills and solo's, the trio telling you, in just one song, everything you need to know about the rest of the album. Moreno are not a band trying to pretend to be anything else other than what they are and what they are is a kick-ass rock'n'roll band with a penchant for Sabbathesque flavoured riffage played with Motorhead like ferocity. Vocals throughout "Nómades" are sang in Spanish but even if you have no understanding of the language just the feel they convey on songs like "Todos los vientos terminan en el médano","Jabalinas" and "Auroch"  should be enough to have you reaching to press repeat again and again.

Great artwork, great grooves "Nómades" is the complete package, an album that delivers on all levels and one that hopefully may cause those who refuse to listen to anything not sang in English to seriously think again.

Check it out .....

© 2019 Frazer Jones

DREAD FATHER ~ DREAD FATHER ....... review

Dread Father want to make you an offer you cant refuse, four tracks of desolate low, slow doomic splendour for the one time only price of your mortal soul., well a few dollars actually but "your mortal soul" sounded a little more "doom"
Dread Father, a trio from Charlotte, North Carolina, are, despite a (present) lack of social media presence, starting to cause a few  ripples of interest to spread around the underground rock scene thanks in main to the unannounced arrival of their self titled debut album "Dead Father" on the hallowed pages of ye old Bandcamp, If those ripples have not quite reached your end of the pool yet then please read on.....

Dread Father deliver with their debut album four tracks of desolate and distorted doom served up achingly slow and devastatingly low, songs decorated in slightly monotonic but mainly clean vocals with just a hint of a demonic growl thrown in to keep things interesting. Now there are plenty of bands out there (we are not mentioning names) doing the same sort of thing so why should you give these guys a listen we hear you ask, well the answer to that is that many of those bands have been around for a number of years and in that time have lost a little of their raw edge and with access to better studios and well respected producers/engineers their sound has tended to become a little polished, with Dread Father however those edges are still as raw as an open wound. On songs with occult(ish) titles such as  "The Ritual", "The Arrival", "The Revival" and "The Divination" guitar tones are dialled to desolation and thrum menacingly like overloaded power cables while underneath drums crash and pound in slow steady unison. Its not all dank dismal devastation however, there are rare occasions when the band pull back the dark curtains and allow a little sunshine into the room, these moments come in the form of lysergic textures and psychedelic colourings and although brief they do give some welcome respite amidst all the rumbling monolithic mayhem.

Raw, a little naïve in places, but wholly entertaining "Dread Father" is a fine, if not a perfect, debut from a band who if they play their cards right could well find themselves being mentioned alongside those bands we didn't mention earlier
Check 'em out ….

© 2019 Frazer Jones

MOTHRASHIP ~ SMOTHER EARTH ..... review

To describe Mothraship's sonic assault we need to paraphrase Star trek's Bones and say "this is prog Jim but not as we know it", Mothraship are Beau Callies (vocals/guitars); Michael Gonzales (drums), Matt Bugielski (guitars/vocals) and Sam 'Rahldg' Wizer (bass) from Denver Colorado and bring to the table grooves that are complex and intricate yet at the same time are unashamedly feral and wild, a sound that is hard to describe but easy to fall in love with. Take a listen to their latest release "Smother Earth" to see/hear what we mean by that last statement.

A shuddering drone effect followed by ringing arpeggios introduces "My Own Kind (Intro to My Dead Horse)", the song, an introduction in itself for its following track, is filled with little twists and turns, the band shifting up and down through the gears on a song made especially memorable thanks to its hazy vocal melody and recurring guitar motif. As promised "My Dead Horse" follows and expands on the musical themes of its predecessor while at the same time throwing a little grungy vocal dynamics into the mix resulting in, to Desert Psychlist's riff worn ears, an intriguing blend of Tool like angular intensity and Alice In Chains like emotional gravitas. "Cannonball" rolls in next and here we find Mothraship exploring more jazzier territories with slurred vocals expertly crooned over a backdrop of sharded guitar chords, accompanied by deep rumbling bass and sympathetic percussion."Lycabthrope" follows and boasts a chugging garage rock groove matched with sneering almost new wave/punk like vocals, Mothraship however are not a band to stay put in one place for too long and as the song approaches its final quarter things start to get a little bluesy and doomic the band heading off on enthralling musical tangents before bringing things full circle to take the song to its close. A Celtic tinted circular guitar refrain announces " Walmartyr" around which swirling swooping solos are majestically wended and weaved driven by an exceptional tour de force of percussive might and grumbling, thunderous bassitude. The song slowly builds in both volume and intensity, with the vocals reverting from the garage like sneer of the previous track back to the slightly grungy vocal dynamics of the albums first three songs, before suddenly exploding into a wonderous instrumental finale that blends elements of proggish metal with those of cosmic, out there heavy psych, the song taking off  in a hundred directions all at once yet somehow managing to still sound totally focused and on point at all times, breathtaking!

Mothraship made a lot of friends with their debut self titled release "Mothraship" but even those already familiar with the Denver quartets previous work will be surprised and amazed when they hear "Smother Earth", a superb release that deserves to be mentioned on everyone's end of year "best of" lists, it'll definitely be on ours.

Check it out …. 

© 2019 Frazer Jones

SLOWNER ~ SLOWNER .... review

Before regular readers of Desert Psychlist start thinking that we have some sort of monetary deal to feature as many Brazilian bands as possible, we can reassure you that we do not! It's just that there is so much great music coming out of that South American country it would be remiss of us to ignore it.

Slowner, Lucas (guitar/vocals; Issac (guitar); Renata (bass); and Gabriel (drums), hail from Recife, PE and came together to jam grooves inspired by their love of 90's era stoner/desert rock and 70's hard rock and proto-metal/doom, grooves you can hear for yourselves via their self-titled debut "Slowner"

Beneath the rather bleak artwork of abandoned automobiles, rusting and decaying under the shadow of a large mountain range, lies an album of raw and untamed doomic beauty, an album that may not reveal its full charms straight away but with subsequent listens will grow to be a firm favourite. Slowner's grooves dwell somewhere between old school proto and new school stoner doom and when Desert Psychlist says between we really do mean between. Each of the five songs that make up this Brazilian combo's debut mixes and blends aspects from both doomic dynamics, with songs, like "Any Street","Split", Insomnia", "Nightcrawler" and "Witch", switching from Sabbathesque proto doomic gallops to more stonerized lower, slower heavy plods in the blink of a demon's eye and are just as quickly liable to switch back again. These songs come coated in clean vocals, with the occasional growl thrown in for good measure, that although are not overly powerful are nonetheless highly effective and sit nicely against the dank low slung refrains and doomic rhythmic pulses the band frame them with. 

Although not quite the finished article Slowner are a band moving in the right direction, yes there are moments on "Slowner" where things get a little generic and cliched but there are also glimpses of huge potential here too, potential that could make their next release a very interesting prospect indeed.
Check 'em out …..

© 2019 Frazer Jones

COMACOZER ~ MYDRIASIS ..... review

Mydriasis (medical definition); Mydriasis is the dilation of the pupil, usually having a non-physiological cause, or sometimes a physiological pupillary reaction. Non-physiological causes of mydriasis include disease, trauma, or the use of drugs.
Mydriasis (musical definition); "Mydriasis" is the new album by Australian quartet Comacozer, a scintillating collection of instrumental jams drenched in lysergic colours and textures that could cause, even in minor cases, not only dilation of the pupils but also the mind.

Since Comacozer's last full length musical outing "Kalos Eidos Skopeo" there has been a subtle change in personnel with James Heyligers filling, full time, the space temporarily held by, Mother Mars/Frozen Planet 1969's, Frank Attard on synth and effects. Comacozer's spacey instrumental grooves were already pretty cosmic, thanks to Rick Burke's swirling guitar textures, Rich Elliot's mix of grumbling and liquid low end and Andrew Panagopoulos' percussive blend of restraint and power, but Heyligers inclusion seems to have honed things to a fine edge. Where Comacozer's music previously saw them touching at the edges of the known universe with Heyligers, twisting the dials and pushing the keys, the band seem to have pushed out past the Kuyper Belt into infinity and beyond. There is a darker edge to the three songs that make up "Mydriasis", an edge that has always been there but this time around has been pushed further to the front  The bands jams have always been a little like travelling through space while dropping acid but previously the onus has been on the awe and wonder of witnessing a universe wrapped in a kaleidoscope of colours but on the tracks "Mydriasis","Tryptamine" and "Kykeon Journey" those colours get a little darker, a little more intense and a little bit scarier, still a heady vivid trip but one vignetted with shades of a more monochrome hue.

Comacozer have often used eastern themes to enhance their instrumental experimentations and this has often resulted in the bands music having a spiritual almost meditative feel, on "Mydriasis" however the band seem to be approaching that spirituality from a slightly different angle, an intriguing and exciting angle that Desert Psychlist hopes the band explore more on future releases.
Check it out …..

© 2019 Frazer Jones

HIGH MOUNTAIN ~ HIGH MOUNTAIN (EP) ..... review

Atmosphere is an ingredient often not spoken of when talking about music but atmosphere is probably one of the most important factors of any piece of music, be it bright breezy pop or crushing dank metal. Atmosphere is not so much something you can hear as something you feel when listening to music, in pop music it often manifests itself as a brightness, in metal a darker more cloying vibe is often the norm. Psych/desert groovsters High Mountain, a quartet from Metz, France consisting of Frederic Macieri (guitar/vocals), Jeremy Depenoux (drums), Georges Leibfried (keys) and David Omhover (bass), jam grooves that are drenched in atmosphere, grooves that are edged in a bluesy melancholic haziness and rueful moodiness, a vibe and feel that permeates each and every one of the four songs that make up their self-tiled debut EP "High Mountain".

Leibfried's parping keyboards and Omhover's deep rumbling bass introduce "The Dream" then are joined by Depenoux's drums and Macieri's  guitar in a fuzz drenched bluesy desert groove that is dark, dank yet not dismal. Macieri also provides the songs vocals his gruff, slightly accented throaty tones taking the songs sonic attack, which is already quite elevated, to a whole new level.  "Masterpiece" follows and finds the band balancing out their fuzz drenched bluesy swagger with elements of quiet contemplation, Macieri's vocal here is, in places, almost spoken narrative in others a gruff hoarse roar. "Roach" begins with tribalistic percussion crashing and pounding over a deep rumbling bass line around which Leibfried and Marcieri weave textured threads of keyboard and guitar colouring,  the song gradually building in intensity until suddenly exploding into a heavy stonerized blues groove full of screaming guitar solo's and crunching riffs. "Hunt On Payday" brings things to a close and finds the band giving free rein to the more lysergic elements of their sound while still maintaining their heavy rock credentials, shimmering cymbals, liquid bass, textured keys and ringing arpeggios sit side by side with pounding drums, grizzled low end, swirling organ and screaming guitar solos, both dynamics coated in those distinctive gruff, throaty vocal tones.

"High Mountain" is a collection of songs drenched in warm fuzzy guitar tones and driven by a mixture of throbbing and laid back rhythms, songs further enhanced by their clever use of keyboard textures and their warm yet powerful vocals. Atmospheric and moody yet at the same time heavy and rocking "High Mountain" is, to coin the title of one of their songs, a masterpiece

Check it out …. 

© 2019 Frazer Jones

HIPPIE DEATH CULT ~ 111 ..... review

Desert Psychlist first became aware of Portland, Oregon's Hippie Death Cult due to the release of a series of singles via Bandcamp, we loved what we were hearing but were a little miffed that these great songs had to be purchased separately and not part of one EP or full album. Thankfully this all changed recently when the quartet, Eddie Brnabic (guitar), Laura Phillips (bass), Ryan Moore (drums) and Ben Jackson (vocals/keys), finally bit the bullet and released their debut album "111" (Cursed Tongue Records)

"Sanctimonious" kicks off "111" in an explosive mix of crunching heaviness and lysergic trippiness, a forceful barrage of thundering percussion and growling bass, decorated in swathes of hazy psychedelic keyboard textures and swirling guitar solos, over which soulful clean vocals croon and wail with passionate fervour. The song, and for that matter the whole album, has a strong 70's hard rock vibe running through it s veins yet at the same time is very much a child of today's stoner/doom scene, a child birthed as much from the stonerized grooves of Elder and Wo Fat as it is from the bluesy classic sounds of Purple and Zeppelin, don't though start thinking that "111" is some sort of  backward looking "retro" album, there is far more going on here than that. There is a lysergic element to the grooves Hippie Death Cult bring to the table that is only just kept in check by their need to rock out, delve deep into the bands raunchier songs, like "Breeder's Curse", "Unborn","Pigs" and "Black Snake", and underneath all the swirling guitar solos, grizzled bass lines and thunderous percussion you will find subtle shades of psychedelic colouring. These subtle shades comes courtesy of the albums keyboards which swirl and swoop, not so much over proceedings but more in and out of them, adding texture and depth that might not at first be obvious but would be noticeable if absent. The band are also unafraid to throw a few curve balls into the mix as on the beautifully tranquil "Mrtyu", a neo classical acoustic number with medieval leanings, and "Treehugger" , a song that mixes heavy stoner riffage with lashings of good ol' southern swagger.

Hippie Death Cult describe themselves as "Happy Intelligent People Pursuing Infinite Enlightenment through sound and vibration" a statement that not only gives you a clue to the "Hippie" part of their name but also tells you they are a band with a plan, where that plan will  eventually lead them to is too early to tell but if "111" is the first step on that path then future steps are going to be very interesting.

© 2019 Frazer Jones

SLEEPING GIANT ~ SLEEPING GIANT .... review

Steven Hammer (guitar/vocals); James Wright (bass) and Pali Emond-Glenn (drums), three musicians based between Melbourne and Bendigo, Australia, started out there musical journey under the collective banner of Lowpoint but as the band neared the completion of their debut album it was decided that the name was no longer reflective of the music they were creating and so last year announced they were changing their name to Sleeping Giant, a title they felt better represented the direction their music was moving in. That album, "Sleeping Giant", has now been completed and is available on Bandcamp so you can decide for yourselves whether you think Lowpoint's transformation into Sleeping Giant was a justifiable one, we think it was.

There are no clever soundbytes or sampled narrative used as an introduction to Sleeping Giant's debut album just a short sudden burst of dark noise and a headlong dive into the riff heavy waters of first track "Sleep". "Sleep" serves as a great introduction to Sleeping Giant's sonic attack and tells you all you need to know about what Sleeping Giant are about in just over five minutes of proto-doomic splendour. Riffs are the commodity this band deal in, crunching low slung riffs driven by solid tight percussion that are allied to clean, clear vocals, vocals that work as the perfect counterbalance to the heaviness they are surrounded by. Sleeping Giant know the value of a good refrain and on songs like "Temptress", "Empire", "Serpent" and "Gypsy" they use those refrains to devastating effect, Wright and Emond-Glenn laying down a bedrock of heavy grooves that are thick, dank and intense, that dankness and dense intensity only broken by Hammer's strong clear vocals and his searing bluesy guitar solos. There were times during listening to "Sleeping Giant" that Desert Psychlist was reminded of legendary UK proto-metallers Budgie, not so much in sound (although there are some similarities) but in the way the band juxtapose their heavier elements with those of a lighter, more restrained and dare we say gentler dynamic something that informs all three movements of the "Visions" suite that closes the album with parts "I","II" and "III" employing a mix of glistening arpeggios and scorching lead work to give them an almost prog(ish) feel, "II" further muddying the waters by adding an unexpected element of blackish vocal colouring into the mix.

All in all "Sleeping Giant" is a promising debut from a band who, if they remain on the path they are currently following, will garner fans from every faction of the underground rock buying public... and rightly so
Check 'em out ….

© 2019 Frazer Jones