KAPITAN BONGO ~ ODMȨT ........ review

If Desert Psychlist were to throw you the words "sludgy, prog tinted and metallic" and then ask you a country where you might expect these elements to be found then Poland would possibly come high on your list of suggestions. Poland is fast becoming the go to country for those looking for music of a grainier, grittier and heavier nature and Warszawa four piece Kapitan Bongo's latest release "Odmȩt" is a prime example of why music from  Poland's underground rock scene is currently being held in such high esteem.

With a line up that, along with the usual vocals, guitar, bass and drums, includes the use of synths and West African percussion you might expect Kapitan Bongo's sound to be a little experimental and "out there" and although there are moments when things get a little post-rock and ambient the main body of Kapitan Bongo's groove resides very much at the heavier, sludgier end of progressive metal. Those elements of ambience and post-rock texturing although integral to Kapitan Bongo's overall sound are not always obvious or immediately evident, however. First track "Od mȩt" begins with screeching feedback and synthesised squeaks and swirls before erupting into a grinding heavy mid tempo groove driven by crashing percussion and growling bass around which the guitar lays a mixture of complex chord structures and crunching riffage that, combined with the songs slightly screamo vocal, comes over as technically dazzling yet at the same time vocally disarming. Those screamo vocals are tamped down a notch or two for next track "Klątwa mamuta" and replaced with easier on the ear gruff growling dual harmonies sang over a backdrop of undulating yet still heavy groove that brutalises and soothes in equal measure. "Bezdech" follows and finds Kapitan Bongo in more laid back, considerate mood, clean, mellow yet gritty vocals vying for space with blues tinted guitar motifs and swirling synth/keyboard effects over a foundation of liquid bass lines and shimmering percussion. "Bagno" sees the band mixing post metal textures with those of a more dank doomic nature in a song that never sits still long enough to pin a tag on before finally bringing things to a close with the excellent riff heavy "Czas" a song with a groove so gloriously deep and deliciously dense it almost defies description.

Crushing and complex, considerate and crunching "Odmȩt" delivers everything you could possibly need from a modern underground rock/metal album and more

Check it out ….. 

© 2018 Frazer Jones

ØRESUND SPACE COLLECTIVE ~ LIVE IN BERLIN 2018 ....review

Øresund Space Collective have been making albums and touring their improvised space rock/ heavy psych grooves since 2006, the band an ever changing collection of musicians from across Europe and the United States have to date released twenty nine albums. Strangely, given Desert Psychlist's love for lysergic tinted grooves of a more out there nature and the fact that we own or have heard a good few of those albums, this in the moment  recording, "Live In Berlin 2018", is the first of their releases we have reviewed.

Those familiar with ØSC will already know to expect music that could go in any direction at anytime, a music with a liquid like structure that, like the water running down Jeff Goldblum;s hand when trying to explain Chaos Theory in the first Jurassic Park movie, finds its own path regardless of its original source or expected outcome. Those coming to ØSC for the first time may find the prospect of improvised music that is reliant on the whims and moods of the musicians involved a little daunting and overwhelming but fear not you ØSC virgins as although this collective regularly reach out and touch the outer edges of musical form and structure they never linger there long, dragged back as much by their need to lock into a groove as their need to explore and experiment.

If your already a fan of ØSC then "Live In Berlin 2018" will reaffirm your reasons for loving what these guys do, if your a newbie to the band then this is as good an album as any to start your love affair.
Check it out ….

© 2018 Frazer Jones

WITCHCULT ~ BEWITCHED FOREST ..... review

The name Siberia, to those brought up on cold war stories and historic novels, conjures up images of extreme cold and long hard winters so music from a band hailing from that province might be expected to reflect a certain iciness in their music, wrong! Witchcult, Elena Cherepanova (vocals), Stanislav 'Brudywr' Ambartsumov (guitars), Anton Ryazantsev (bass) and Alexander Dvornikov (drums), hail from Inkutsk, Russia ,on the more temperate edges of Siberia, and their music although imbued with a certain doomic dankness also contains a warmth and charm that belies its place of origins chilly reputation, something their debut album "Bewitched Forest" is more than testament to.

That Witchcult arrive with a list of influences that not only includes the obligatory Black Sabbath and Electric Wizard but also that of the more psychedelic Allah Las and Holy Wave sort of tells its own story. Witchcult are a band whose grooves are as heady as they are heavy, an amalgamation of lysergic trippiness and bluesy swagger blended with a crunching dank core that sonically sits on the more doomic side of what we now call occult rock/metal. That dank core, provided by Ambartsumov's mix of crunching riffage and bluesy Iommic solo's, Ryazantsev's grizzled bass lines and Dvornikov's solid, tight percussion, is the heartbeat driving songs with titles like "Too Dead", "Witch's Potion" and "Amphibian Dawn", a heartbeat offset by Cherepanova's distinctive low key but effective vocals, the singer eschewing the usual ethereal tones associated with music of a doom/occult nature for a deeper, huskier delivery that is part singing, part intoned narrative.

Witchcult, with "Bewitched Forest" straddle the fence dividing doom from its more occult cousin, feet dangling tantalising either side, not quite one or the other yet a little of both.
Check 'em out …..

© 2018 Frazer Jones

OXEN ~ LOW ..... review

Heavy progressive metal music is not always an easy thing to pull off convincingly and when, as in Massachusetts power trio OXEN'S case, you add in to that mix  elements of sludgy brutality and dank doominess well then things get even harder. Thankfully OXEN have no difficulties in marrying these elements, and many more, together as the band prove to great effect on their brand new album "Low".

With a massive 16 tracks dwelling beneath it's cover " Low" delivers plenty of rock for your buck and in these days when cash doesn't go as far as we would like it to, that has got to be a bonus. "Low" starts on high note with "Phantom Limb", a huge sounding opus utilising a mix of clean mellow and gruff growled vocals over a backdrop of gigantic crunching riffage and complex rhythms, and doesn't stop delivering until "Shadow of Substance" fades noisily into silence. Comparisons could be made with both Georgia's Baroness and Florida's Torche but those comparisons would only be due to the fact that both bands toy with the same elements of melody and sludgy brutality that Oxen use to define their grooves, the truth is Oxen are very much their own creation. Scattered amongst their strong powerful harsh and melodic vocalised songs Oxen also manage to sneak in four instrumentals, entitled "I", "II", "III" and "IIII", each has it's own grainy psychedelic charm and heavy stonerized elegance and all four go a long way in showing that this talented trio are not just a one trick riff roaring pony. It is however those songs utilising the differing tonal vocals of each member that really seals the deal on "Low" with the already mentioned "Phantom Limb", the emotive "Strive" and the excellent "Rise of the Apprentice" being among Desert Psychlist's particular favourites.

Oxen are a band who, in Desert Psychlist's humble opinion, deserve to be mentioned in the same respectful breaths as their contemporaries Kylesa, Baroness, Black Tusk, Torche and even The Melvins, "Low" may just be the album to make that happen.
Check it out ….

© 2018 Frazer Jones

SLUG 13 ~ CUT ..... review

Slug 13, a guitar and drum duo from the leafy backwaters of Surrey, England, have had a checkered history, the duo began life in the 90's as trio calling themselves Slug. Slug garnered praise from many quarters and shared stages with some of the period's prime movers and shakers before finally calling it a day in 1993. The band reconvened in 2013 but after losing two bassists in quick succession decided to forge ahead as a duo. Slug 13, Richard (drums) and Nick (guitar/vocals), are an angry band who voice their frustrations and fury through their music, a frustration and fury that is mirrored throughout the six tracks of their latest release "Cut",

Originally born out of the grunge/noise/alt.rock scene of the 90's Slug 13's more recent sonic experiments has seen the band leaning towards a more harder stonerized aesthetic a fact borne out by  the duo sharing stages with many of the stoner/hard rock and metal scenes established and up and coming bands. This is not to say that Slug 13 have gone through some sort of drastic musical change or altered their direction in any way, just that they have subtly tailored their sound so as to remain on top of their game and still be relevant. Anger fuelled much of Slug 13's original sonic attack and that anger remains a huge part of their sound today with the band going for the throat from the very first note of "Cut" to the very last. From the nihilistic jarring, jerking, riff heavy "Exit Stategy" to the fuzz drenched guitar noise and tribal beats of "Twenty Three" Slug 13's ethos seems to be one of attack before being attacked, the band assailing the senses with raging rap/rant metered type vocals served up over an unrelenting wall of furious distortion and fuzz driven hard by pummelling, powerful percussion.

Nihilistic, pessimistic and angry just about sums up the lyrical content of Slug 13's "Cut" yet despite this "Cut" is a highly enjoyable collection of songs that although might have you reaching for the ant-depressants will also have you hitting the repeat button.
Check it out …..

© 2018 Frazer Jones

SHOGUN - INFINITET ..... review

When, in 2016, Wisconsin quartet Shogun released their self titled EP "Shogun EP" Desert Psychlist went a little overboard with, rightly deserved, praise for a release that at the time blew us away and is still doing so to this day, telling the world, via these pages, that their debut release was "something a little special". The band, Max Muenchow (bass guitar and synth), Alvin Vega (drums), Sam Wallman (guitars and synth) and Joe Widen (vocals), return to this year with a new release "Infinitet" so let's see if they can improve on "special"

As the droning intro, decorated with minimal acoustic guitars, synthesised bird calls and thunder, of first track "Ex Nihilo (Genesis)", makes way for an onslaught of filthily fuzzed bass and guitar, driven by thunderous percussion, the omen's for whether Shogun can take things to the next level look and sound very promising indeed. The first thing that becomes apparent, when listening to the four songs that make up "Infinitet", is that the bluesy proto-metal (ish) attack of the debut EP has not so much been replaced but has been given a more grittier and aggressive edge, an edge that is a little more metallic and doomic yet still retains an air of bluesy bluster and proto swagger at its core. Production-wise "Infinitet" is huge with Muenchow's big booming, grizzled bass lines and Wallman's filthy toned guitar riffs and scorching solo's coming out of the speakers like a hurricane especially when pushed by Vega's pounding, punishing percussion. It would take a strong vocalist to compete with the levels of sound Wallman, Muenchow and Vega emanate from their respective instruments and in Joe Widen they have a vocalist who is more than up to the task. Widen's phrasing, tone and emotive vocals sit atop Wallman, Muenchow and Vega's backdrops of grainy groove like cream on a razor blade, the frontman's distinctive tones having a gritty smoothness that belies their power and gives songs like "Rosebud", "Aurora","Metatron" and the afomentioned "Ex Nihilo (Genesis)" a soulful gravitas you might not usually expect from music pitched towards the heavier end of the rock spectrum.

So has "Infintet" delivered on the promise of Shogun's debut EP or has the band taken a backward step with the more aggressive and doomic dynamics of their new album? Well after repeated spins and living with "Infintet" for a while now Desert Psychlist can categorically state that where we described "Shogun EP" as a "little special", "Infinitet" is HUGELY special!
Check it out …..

© 2018 Frazer Jones

APE MACHINE ~ DARKER SEAS ..... review

Back in the late 70's there was a division building up between those that loved their rock bluesy and hard and those that leant towards a more radio friendly commerciality in their grooves. but although battle lines were starting to be drawn up and barricades were slowly being erected one band seemed to galvanise opinion, that band was Bad Company, a group of musicians who successfully bridged the gap between the bluesy bluster of Led Zeppelin and Free and the more easy on the ear AOR meanderings of Journey and Foreigner  . So why ,when writing a piece on a fairly recent band, should we be mentioning one of the UK's finest exponents of mid paced radio acceptable rock?
Well the answer is Portland, OR's Ape Machine are very much a band from that old school of rock where the strength of your songs,melodies and arrangements are just as vitally important as the riffs and rhythms you use to decorate them, something that becomes glaringly obvious when listening to the bands fifth studio album "Darker Seas" (Ripple Music)

"Damned, Their Bones" opens "Darker Seas" account with oodles of bluesy swagger and classic rock bluster, vocalist Caleb Heinze telling us, in tones that sit somewhere between those of Free/Bad Co's Paul Rodgers and that of late Wild Turkey/Rick Wakeman Band frontman Gary Pickford-Hopkins, a cinematic tale of flight and fury over a backdrop of prog tinted swirling guitar (Ian Watts), booming liquid bass (Brian True) and solid punchy percussion (Steve Hanford). Ape Machine, however, are not content to just play the classic/hard rock card and bring into play elements of progressive texturing throughout "Darker Seas", fleshing out their grooves with these elements yet managing to do so without falling into the trap of technical overkill and overcomplication, creating more of a subtle prog colouring than a full blown technical wash. What makes "Darker Seas" really work though is that no song is overworked or overly long the band keeping songs like "Into The Shredder", "The Contract" and the excellent "Bend The Knee" all under the five minute mark with only "Watch What You Say" just creeping over by a second. This brevity of song length works twofold in that the listeners mind remains focused on each song without boredom or distraction getting in the way and that the band themselves are forced into to making their songs more immediate and impactful, something they do to startling effect throughout "Darker Seas" eleven tracks.

Why, you might be asking, are Desert Psychlist reviewing an album from a band whose music leans towards the more mainstream end rock when we could be telling you about the crushing riffs of say the new YOB or Conan opus? The reason dear readers is that good music is good music whether it is dressed in satin and tat or in cargo shorts and sweaty tee's and "Darker Seas" is damn good music!
Check it out …

© 2018 Frazer jones