The legend beneath the words Desert Psychlist on our beautifully painted banner (courtesy of artist Kyrre Bjurling) states our intentions of covering music from the genres of "Stoner, Desert, Doom & Psych" and although we endeavor to adhere to this policy it seems that the last of those genres has gotten a little overlooked lately. Today we intend to redress that by pointing your ears in the direction of a superb little combo from Oviedo, Spain going by the name Acid Mess, Miguel Ruiz (guitars and vocals); Borja Vázquez (bass and vocals); Antonio Tamargo (drums/backing vocals) and Juan Villamil (synth and keys), whose third album "Sangre De Otros Mundos" (Spinda Records) definitely falls into the category of "psych" but also so much more.
"
El Reflejo De Su Piel" is first out of the blocks, it's initial opening bars, of gentle guitar arpeggios underscored by eerie keyboard textures, gives the feel of something, were it not for its mellow vocals, that film director
John Carpenter might have used as the counterbalance to one of his more violent movie scenes. The song progresses in much the same vein for around fifty percent of its duration but then suddenly takes off into a groove that is part heavy psych, part stoner rock and part
Spanish flamenco with keyboards swirling around crunching guitar refrains while female vocals harmonize over stamping feet and clapping hands. "
Fuego Al Templo" follows and this time we find the band hitting an acid tinged stoner groove that segues into a proggish middle-section before signing out much the same way it began. "
Hechicera" is up next and has a strong latin jazz fusion vibe that reminded
Desert Psychlist very much of
Chick Corea's early work with
Return To Forever. "
Futuro Sin Color" begins it life languid and chilled with tasteful guitar motifs soaring over a backdrop of booming bass and militaristic percussion but then abruptly explodes into a strident up-tempo groove with punkish overtones both musically and vocally. "
Salvaje historia" and "
Hijos Del Sol" follow in quick succession the former a mix of Jamaican reggae beats and Moorish motifs, the latter a post-punk/new wave rocker decorated with quirky keyboard textures. The band close things out with "
Infierno Gris" an undulating acid drenched workout enhanced by reverberating chord progressions, whooshing keyboard flourishes. liquid bass lines and a mix of
Caribbean and
Latin percussion.
There is a joyous feel to the grooves that populate "
Sangre De Otros Mundos" that is hard to ignore,
Desert Psychlist does not speak
Spanish so we really don't know if the albums lyrical content wrestles with weighty issues (a quick
Google translation of the albums song titles suggest they do) but it doesn't really matter because the vibe the listener gets, from this stunning release, is upbeat and, in places, even dance inducing.
Check it out .....
© 2020 Frazer Jones
No comments:
Post a Comment