Bluesy stoner/hard rock is not something new in fact a high percentage of what is released within the underground rock scene these days has its roots set , one way or another, in the blues. What is maybe not so much new but is kind of unique is a band who blend those fuzz drenched bluesy grooves with music of a more indie nature as is the case with Scotland's Earthcaster. Earthcaster are a four piece band whose sonic attack, which they have dubbed "Druidic Rock", possess more than a touch of psychedelic jangle, a sound that informed much of the post-punk grooves that were coming out of Liverpool, UK in the late 70's, a sound that Earthcaster has rejigged, re-imagined and spiced up with some stonerized fuzz for todays audiences and released under the cryptically titled banner of "Samhain Wheel of the Year Vol.1"
That comparison to Liverpool's indie psych scene of the late 70's, made in the intro to this review, is never more evident than on this EP's first track "Samhain" it's reverberating fractured guitar motifs and slightly echoed vocal tones are reminiscent of those once employed by the likes of The Teardrop Explodes, The Mighty WAH and Echo and the Bunnymen, however the advent of a scorching blues tinted guitar solo shifts the songs whole dynamic and we find ourselves being carried to the fade on wave of tasteful bluesy hard rock. "Blood Red Sky" follows and boasts a riff that could easily be mistaken for something Bedford folk/psych rockers Wolf People might have attempted on their debut album but also carries a little proto metal bluster in its musical canon. For third track "Burn" the band mix up their indie/psych leanings with Burundi style drumming and early U2 (ish) guitar texturing to create a groove that compels you to get off your arse and just dance! For the EP's final track the band go full circle with "Samhain (Reprise)" the band eschewing the indie/psych textures and subtleties that they employed in the songs previous form and just going no holds barred, hell for leather for the finishing line.
Not noted in review: Burn is actually a cover of The Cure (c. 1995).
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