GODS & PUNKS ~ ENTER THE CEREMONY OF DAMNATION ...... review

Desert Psychlist has been banging the drum for Brazil's Gods & Punks since first hearing their debut EP "The Sounds of Earth" (2016), and with good reason. Gods and Punks are a band who have steadily evolved as a unit both in instrumental prowess and their song writing and arrangement, the band steadily getting better and stronger with every release. The band continue building their reputation and climbing that upward curve with their latest release "Enter The Ceremony of Damnation" and we continue to bang that drum for them

"Enter The Ceremony of Damnation" is the third part of Gods & Punks "Damnation" trilogy and the latest in what the band are calling their "Voyage" series, a series that has taken them from the heat of the desert to the cold darkness of the tomb. As befitting its tomb setting the music on "Enter The Ceremony of Damnation" has dank claustrophobic vibe, dark, yet not brutal, grooves that are doomic yet not exactly doom. This darker element of the band sound is also reflected in the albums lyrics with every glimpse of hope, "A heartbeat, heard from a mountain top, it shows there, might be a way" ("From Sand To Throne"), counterbalanced with despair, "When I look outside I see claws and fangs, cybernetic fiends beasts with many names" ("Transparent Chains"). Don't however even begin to think that "Enter The Ceremony of Damnation" is a joyless, pessimistic affair, far from it. there are gloriously bright shards of light permeating the darkness of this tomb and they manifest themselves in the albums swirling bluesy guitar solo's, funky prog interludes and cool mellow reverb soaked vocal tones, a perfect balance of light and shade that sits easy on the ear and sends shivers of pure delight hurtling up the spine.

There are many fine bands coming out of Brazil of late but there is something a little special, a little magical about Gods & Punks that just inches them above the following pack. If there was one Brazilian band you would put money on gaining international recognition outside of their homeland then Gods & Punks would be odds on favourites.
Check 'em out …..

© 2019 Frazer Jones

TAR PIT ~ TOMB OF DOOM ..... review

With interests that include the occult, pre-historic beasts and extra-terrestrial life plus a musical palette that spans from Blood Ceremony to Conan it is no surprise to find that Portland, Oregon's Tar Pit have a sound that reflects their tastes, a sound that is dank, dark and in places a little disturbing. Tar Pit's Mathew Ortega (vocals), Brandon Martinez-Woodall (guitar), Stephen Hoffman (lead guitar), Hayden Johnson (bass & additional vocals) and Derek Johnson (drums0 combine together to create grooves that, to Desert Psychlist's ears, have a gritty sludge metal edge yet are melodic enough to fall into proto-doom territory, however that's only our take on things you can decide if you agree by giving their latest opus "Tomb of Doom" a spin.

"Tomb of Doom" opens with "Rune" a thunderous doomic tome driven by powerful percussion and heavily distorted guitars coated in clean but grizzled vocal tones that over the course of  its ten minute plus duration switches back and forth between slow low doom and thrash paced sludge, the band further confusing things by throwing in an element of lysergic texturing. "Sauin" follows crawling out of the speakers on a wave of droning feedback behind a plodding doom riff before a heavily blues soaked guitar solo rends the air and the band fall into a throbbing proto-doom groove that intermittently drops back into slow/low mode. A strong powerful vocal with a swinging melody counterbalances the pummelling rhythms,dank riffs and swirling blues infused solo's and in doing so takes everything to whole new plane of doomic excellence. "Capra Nocturnus" finds Tar Pit wallowing in a stoner doomic mire of dankness and despair, heavier and more intense than the previous two songs "Capra Nocturnus" shows Tar Pit have more than one string to their bow and if they really wanted to compete with the Conan's and Yob's of this world then they have the necessary arrows in their quiver to do just that. Next up is "Bruja" and sees Tar Pit once again donning their proto-doomic robes for a song built around an incessant and addictive chugging riff that is taken to another level by cool slightly echoed vocals and swirling lead breaks. Tar Pit round things off nicely with title track "Tomb of Doom" a song that could well have been called "blues by any other name", the band delving deep into their roots to create a doomic blues groove that is as much delta as it is damnation.

To be perfectly honest Desert Psychlist nearly missed this sterling blend of doom, sludge and blues and only become aware of it when it appeared on  this December's "The Doom Charts"(2018), a project we actually contribute to! Thank god it did as Tar Pit's "Tomb of Doom" is easily one of the highlights of what was an extremely good year for underground rock music.
Check it out ….

© 2019 Frazer Jones

WIZARD MUST DIE ~ IN THE LAND OF THE DEAD TURTLES ...... review

Enguerrand Dumas (bass and backing vocals), Florent Michaud (guitar and lead vocal) and Christophe Hogommat (drums) are collective from Lyon, France working beneath the slightly odd name of Wizard Must Die. Who this wizard is and why he must die is not made exactly clear but what is crystal clear is that the music this trio create is something quite special and unique, something listening to their stunning debut album, "In The Land of the Dead Turtles", will more than testify to.

If we were forced to play the genre description game then Desert Psychlist would have to say that Wizard Must Die's musical attack probably falls between that of psych laced stoner rock and prog but even that description doesn't really do justice to the sonic platter Wizard Must Die lay before their listeners. There are times, during "In The Land of the Turtles", that the listener maybe reminded of Steve Wilson's Porcupine Tree and then others where elements of All Them Witches cerebral psych-blues may come to mind however those moments are fleeting and probably just our ears trying to get a familiar handle on a sound  that is refreshingly unique and sonically a little different. From first track  "In The Land", with its gentle dirge-like acoustic folksiness, to the slow building and heavily lysergic "Odyssey", with its eastern tinted motifs ,Wizard Must Die take their listeners on a journey that although dives into a variety of differing waters never stays submerged in one place long enough to get thoroughly soaked, the band cleverly avoiding any musical cul-de-sacs by taking each of the seven songs, that make up "In The Land of the Dead Turtles", off on a myriad of exciting tangents and directions. Add into this heady mix ,of prog- like complexity and swirling psychedelic looseness, mellow lead and backing vocals and you arrive at a sound that is not only intelligent but is also rocking!

Take a stroll "In The Land of the Dead Turtles", an album that maybe lacking in turtles but more than makes up for in musical excellence.

Check it out ….

© 2018 Frazer Jones

LUCIFUNGUS ~ AKUMA KIN ..... review

Just out of interest , and a little boredom, Desert Psychlist decided to Google the definition of "heavy in music" the first answer we got was "a type of rock music characterized by a strong beat and amplified instrumental effects, sometimes with violent or nihilistic lyrics". Now that definition does not exactly cover everything we may consider "heavy" these days but it does perfectly nail the sludgy. doomic grooves currently being laid upon us by Australian duo Lucifungus on their debut release "Akuma Kin".

Citing among their influences such icons of heaviness as Electric Wizard, Sleep and the ever present Black Sabbath it should come as no surprise then that the grooves Lucifungus bring to the table are those of a dark, dank nature. Big thick slabs of distorted riffage combined with incessant pummelling percussion is the order of the day throughout the six songs that make up "Akuma Kin" but this is not to say that Lucifungus are another of those bands content to crush their listeners with their non-stop relentlessness (though they do try).There is plenty of light and shade to be found hiding among all the heaviness on "Akuma Kin", those elements of light and shade presenting themselves not in moments of swirling ambience or folky acoustic interludes but in the form of  ever shifting dynamics, DD (vocals/guitar and bass) and B Rad (vocals/drums) utilising an array of subtle changes in both time and volume to keep the listeners interest and add elements of both  depth and girth to the sonic impact of their tunes. Vocals, throughout "Akuma Kin", are used sparingly and on the most part are shared between the two musicians, gritty clean harmonies that although few and far between nevertheless add an extra level of lyrical authenticity to the thick down tuned dankness of the bands punishingly loud and heavy sludge drenched doomic grooves and certainly add extra credence to that nihilistic element mentioned in Google's definition of "heavy".

Two people should not be able to make music this loud, this heavy and this vital but thankfully Lucifungus, somehow, manage to do just that.

Check 'em out …..

© 2018 Frazer Jones

. ~ 57 DOWN ...... review

Desert Psychlist has always approached bands that execute their grooves without the use of a lead/rhythm guitarist with a little trepidation, we suppose it has something to do with our growing up in an age when the instrument, wielded by the likes of Hendrix, Clapton, and Page was king. Strangely enough, and having made that statement, it was only when we were halfway through ".",the sparkling new album from Lincoln, UK's 57 Down,that we realised, to our surprise, all the string work was being executed on two basses!

The lack of any six string action on 57 Down's "." is more than made up for by the incredible fat stringed prowess of both Matt Chapman and Billy Law-Bregan, the two bassists combining with Daryl Hockings superbly powerful percussion to not only drive this EP's four songs but also to prove that the lack of a guitarist in this day and age is not a disadvantage but can actually be a positive. Factor in the superb mixture of power and grit that Johnny Mittens brings to the table with his vocals and the lack of screaming solo's is almost forgotten. Groove combined with strong song writing are the foundations on which "." is built, from the absolutely enthralling torch like dynamics of "Crown of Thorns" to the prog tinted stonerish attack of  closer "Stockholm Calling" there is, among the grumbling basses and pummelling percussion, an element of swinging melodic swagger to be found that is as refreshing as it is exciting.

Those of you who out there who live for that moment when the bass and drums drop away to allow the lead guitarist to take flight are going to be surprised by 57 Down's "." mainly because those soaring flights are still in place they are just a little deeper and a lot more grizzly!
Check it out ….

© 2018 Frazer Jones

SKUMA ~ VOL, [0] ...... review

There is nothing wrong with a little pop sensibility and an ear for a good tune in rock music as long as the music is delivered with passion and conviction, which is why when Greek stonernauts Skuma asked Desert Psychlist if we would be kind enough to review their latest release we jumped at the chance. Let's get things straight though, when we say pop sensibility we are in no way saying Skuma are a "pop" band, far from it, it is just the fact that although the band have riffs and rhythms to spare they also have melodies and arrangements that could very easily see them crossing over into rocks mainstream. The band, have recently released their first full album "Vol.[0]" so give it a listen and let's see if they are too commercial for the underground or a tad too heavy for the mainstream.

Grunge loud, quiet, loud aesthetics and thick stoner/desert fuzz appear in abundance throughout "Vol.[0]" but then so do things like melody, harmony and song structure. Skuma cleverly combine all these elements, as well as a few that you might otherwise expect coming from artists working in the pop and indie rock fields, to create a quite unique blend of crunching underground rock and easy on the ear groove. Skuma straddle that middle ground between commercial mainstream rock and that of the more raucous underground variety but don't dismiss them for their pop sensibilities these guys know their way around a good riff! . From the self titled opener "Skuma" through to closing track "Null" the listener is treated to a non-stop tsunami of short, sharp and delightful groove that utilises every aspect of rock's rich tapestry yet never once sounds contrived or played by the numbers.

That Skuma are a band with much the same crossover potential as Boss Keloid,  a band who could as easily support Monster Magnet on the live stage as they could say Coldplay or U2, speaks volumes for these Greek riffmeisters and is reason enough to....

Check 'em out …. 

© 2018 Frazer Jones

MISTY GREY ~ CHAPTER II ....... review

That master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock probably scared the pants of more people with his movies than many of today's directors with all their CGI and other special effects, movies that still stand the test of time 28 years after his death. Strange then that more underground bands/artists, who toy with dark edged themes, have not used his movies as inspiration for their grooves.
Spain's Misty Grey redress this unbalance with their latest release "Chapter II" (Topillo Records) an enthralling blend of occult(ish) rock and proto-doom based around seven of Hitchcock's most celebrated films.

Misty Grey divided opinion with their debut "Demon" and follow up "Grey Mist" in that there were many who found the bands Sabbath/Pentagram inspired proto-doomic grooves very much to their liking but just could not get a handle on. original vocalist, Malicia's distinctive witch/crone like tones (personally we quite dug them). Malicia and Misty Grey have since parted ways and with "Chapter II" the band introduce us to their new vocalist Bea and although not too dissimilar to Malicia in tone Bea does bring a wider range and less abrasive edge to the bands sound. Bea's wider vocal range and the bands more mature and focused approach pays huge dividends on the albums first track "Spellbound", its classical tinted intro exploding into a swinging proto-doom groove, enriched by an equally swinging vocal melody, fleshed out by a series of both subtle and drastic time changes.. Next track "Strangers On A Train" mirrors Hitchcock's movie plot, of two men meeting (supposedly) randomly on train and discussing how to commit the perfect murder, in both its chugging riff heavy groove and its lyrical content. "Psycho", probably Hitchcock's most famous movie, is well represented here with thundering percussion pounding beneath slow, heavily distorted, riffage the foundation over which dark tales of a "sinister house rising from above" and "strange shadows moving thru windows lights" are told. Hitchcock's take on Daphne Du Maurier's "Rebecca" had a very fitting gothic vibe and Misty Grey perfectly capture that vibe by going for a more epic doomic feel with their musical adaption.," Frenzy" on the other hand, in keeping with Hitchcock's chosen London location for his film, has a very English feel, its slow atmospheric blues groove owing somewhat of a debt to Led Zeppelin's "Dazed and Confused". "The Wrong Man" finds the band back in more familiar Sabbath/Pentagram territory deviated from only in its swinging melodic chorus. "From Among The Dead", a slow atmospheric dirge that then shifts into a Sabbath-esque mid tempo swagger, closes "Chapter II"  using the English title of Boileau-Narejac's novel "D'entre les morte", around which Hitchcock based his movie "Vertigo".

Misty Grey's "Chapter II" is "old school" without being "retro", an album that celebrates melody as much as it does riffage, an album with a concept that is not overthought or over complex, a tribute to a movie icon but also a damn good listen.
Check it out ….

© 2018 Frazer Jones