One of the many perks of writing for Desert Psychlist, and also being involved with The Doom Charts, is that there is not a day goes by when we don't find someone throwing recommendations our way, some of those recommendations may not always float our boat but there are just as many that do. Fellow Doom Charts contributor Adam Walsh is a regular finder of musical gems and he recently threw into Desert Psychlist's bunker a sonic grenade that blew our collective socks off, a self-titled release from a Kansas City trio going by the name Momovudu, Matt Watkins (vocals/guitar); Brent Richards (drums) and Nate Kiersey (bass).Some may know Watkins from his association with underground legends Wo Fat and that association continues here with Wo Fat's Kent Stump stepping up as both engineer and co-producer for this release.
Rolling drums introduce first track "Raising The Falcon" and are soon joined by guitar and bass in an equally rolling stoner/hard rock like groove over which clean vocals are delivered in smooth hazy tones. Now this alone would be enough to float the boats of most underground rock devotees but its the guitar tones here that are the deal breaker. Watkins guitar sounds as though he is playing it through the same razor slashed speaker that the Kinks Dave Davis used to get his fuzz tone for "You Really Got Me", Watkins retaining this crackling overdriven tone even when the song shifts into the Floydian flavoured heavy psych waters that eventually take the song to its close. The following "The Haul" is at its root a blues song but a filthy fuzz drenched blues with a swampy circular feeling groove, Watkins vocal here is delivered slightly clipped and sermon-like but it is again his crackling fizzy guitar tones that, when combined with Kiersey's grizzled sounding bass lines and Richards punchy industrious drumming, take this to the next level of impressive. "Peak Seeker" twins a semi-spoken, semi sung vocal with a throbbing blues tinted stoner groove to create a deliciously distorted feeling of haziness while "Legions of Bast" starts life otherworldly and drone-like then morphs into a bluesy proto-doom riff fest boasting lysergic laced guitar pyrotechnics and angsty vocals. It is Kiersey's heavily distorted bass that is the dominant force behind next song "Teeth Full of Lies", but the bassist does not get it all his own way Watkins routinely challenges him with piercing lead work and crunching chord progressions, Richards meanwhile keeping things in check with a solid tight and busy display of rhythmic punchiness. Next up we have "Forest of Plenty" and here we find Momovudu getting their desert rock groove on, the trio sounding both musically and vocally not unlike a heavier version of Fu Manchu, albeit Fu Manchu with dirtier grittier sounding effects pedals. "Crossing the Valley" finds Momovudu mixing the Fu Manchu/Nebula like vocal approach of the previous song with a more doomic blues musical dynamic, grizzled bass and thunderous drums supporting scorching bluesy guitar solos that are far more feel based than they are technical. Finally we arrive at "Hoya" the albums closing track and probably its most impressive, the song boasting a droning eastern feel and a wholly different vocal approach from that which has gone before, Watkins vocal here is almost shamanic in its delivery and his guitar work jaw-dropping add to that Kielsey's low liquid bass motifs and Richards mix of shimmering and thunderous percussion and what you have, in our humble opinion, is an absolute masterpiece.
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