RED SCALP ~ HALLUCINATIONS ..... review

Desert Psychlist remembers back in 2014 stumbling across an EP appropriately titled "EP no,1" by a Polish outfit going by the name of Red Scalp, it was a pretty good collection of stoner rock/heavy psych tunes but was nothing really that out of the ordinary. Two years later this same band released their debut album "Rituals" and it was like listening to a totally different band, the music still existed very much in the same genre pool as its predecessor but there was a polish and depth to this release that had not been there before. Next came "Lost Ghosts" followed two years later by "The Great Chase In The Sky" two albums that pushed the envelope of what could be done within the narrow confines of the genres Red Scalp had chosen to work in. Red Scalp were evolving, release by release, from stoner rock journeymen into real contenders and that evolution continues with new EP "Hallucinations", an EP truly deserving of the praise that will undoubtedly come its way.

A short but effective solo sax piece going by the title "In" kicks things off and is quickly followed by the track "Hallucination" here we find Red Scalp jamming on a groove not too distantly removed from Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" but sounding not unlike something you might hear in a club being danced to by kids wearing lurid t-shirts and shorts. Fear not though you worshippers of the riff this is a tune that rocks hard and rocks especially hard when the guitars come in heavier in accompaniment to the songs vocals which are delivered with deliciously sneery intent, there is a hell of a lot going on in this song and all of it is GOOD! "Now" rears its head next and is another short piece, this time heavy on the synths and very reminiscent of  something UK prog ravers Ozric Tentacles might have dallied with, it is followed by "Paralyzed" a manic rock/rave workout that mixes faintly sounding 60's vocal melodies with sampled narrative to great effect. It has to be said that this song seems to be going in a hundred different directions all at once with synths guitars drums and vocals all fighting each other for dominance yet despite all this mayhem, and probably because of it, is a totally captivating  listen. Final track "Be Gone" is probably a little more straightforward and stoner-ish than what has gone before but don't for one minute think that Red Scalp's take on straightforward and stoner-ish is anything like other bands and artistes version of those terms, oh no Red Scalp's comes with a side order of musical schizophrenia and otherworldly weirdness.

There are not many bands out there blending psychedelic hard rock with elements borrowed from today's dance culture and there will probably be those who, because of reading those words in a review, will avoid this superb release like it is carrying a disease. However those unafraid to bend an ear to music a little outside their comfort zone will discover in "Red Scalp's " Hallucinations" a release that will rock their socks off but might also have them throwing a few shapes.

Check it out ..... 

© 2024 Frazer Jones

SERGEANT THUNDERHOOF ~ THE GHOST OF BADON HILL ...review

Sergeant Thunderhoof , Mark Sayer (guitars); Josh Gallop (guitars and backing vocals); Darren Ashman (drums) ; Dan Flitcroft (vocals) and Jim Camp (bass)  have built themselves a reputation many bands would be envious of, they have built that reputation not just because they have consistently delivered music of depth and quality, one album after the other, but also because they have throughout their career consistently engaged with their fans and supporters, conversing with them via messages and social media answering criticism and acknowledging praise with a class some bands and artists would do well to learn from. They are also a band with a sense of humour, even once running a competition to see who could give their last album, "The Sceptred Veil" the most scathing review, however, when it comes to creating music they are deadly serious. Their music, a focused blend of new age prog, swaggering hard rock and thrumming metal, is in turns blustering, complex and melodic, it is music with an appeal that crosses over all those usual boundaries that divide fans of rock music with extreme loving metal heads through to mainstream rock radio listeners all able to find something to tie their flag to on a "Hoof" album. Now many may have thought that Sergeant Thunderhoof had reached their creative pinnacle with the superbly well received " The Sceptered Veil" but those thoughts have been well and truly scotched with the release of latest album "The Ghost of Badon Hill" (Pale Wizard Records) an absolute game changing release from a band who many are now starting to consider to be one of Britain's finest musical exports in years.

Mysticism, folklore and Arthurian legend are the bedrocks upon which Sergeant Thunderhoof's latest album "The Ghost of Badon Hill" has been built, for those not up on their history of Britain Badon Hill was the site of a battle between the resident Britons (Celts) and the invading Anglo-Saxons in the bands home county of Somerset. The album begins with "Badon" its suitably medieval flavoured intro of gently picked guitars is complimented by sparse but effective bass and militaristic drumming. Vocals at this point are delivered clean and croon-like but as the song moves towards a more forceful and torch-like dynamic those vocals become more intense and  powerful, its impressive stuff and this only the first track! Following song "Blood Moon"  is a much more forceful and heavier affair with chugging riffs and thunderous drumming supporting swirling lead work and sharded chord textures over which the vocals posses just a touch more bite and grittiness. Next we come to "The Orb of Octavia", this has got to be, in our humble opinion, one of  the best songs The Hoof have ever recorded, There are many ways you could interpret the lyrics to this song, is it a soldiers last words to a loved one before facing battle or is it just a vain plea to be remembered by an unrequited love.. we don't know but if there is a song anymore emotionally intense and beautiful, yet that still manages to retain its air of edgy heaviness, then we at Desert Psychlist have yet to hear it. If you are writing an album that has at its core a battle then you need at least one rousing call to arms type song and "Salvation for the Soul" serves (partly) as that song. Anyone who has read a Bernard Cornwall novel will know that battles, in the period this album is set in, were not fought remotely from behind a gun but face to face in the hell that was a shield wall, men were pushed up against each other never knowing if the next spear or sword to break through said wall was going to take their lives. If you survived a shield wall you were a hero if not you were just dead, a situation summed up perfectly in the lines "As the echoes fade in to the moonlit night we step up to face the hordes, our lives on the line" and "Beneath the stars we wait, where destines are made through the fear and the pain" Next up is "Sentinel" a wonderfully arranged piece with a groove that fluctuates between languid and soaring over which reflective lyrics are delivered in powerful and deeply emotive tones against a backdrop of swirling prog(ish) guitar colouring and sympathetically delivered rhythms, the song finally signing off on a haunting piano motif. Final number "Beyond The Hill" is a stunning tome that is part a tribute to those that have given their lives to a cause they believed in, "An end to what we have known for so many years", and part a sorrowful lament for all those touched by conflict, "Shaking fury up to the night sky as she kisses her child’s hand", an again emotive and thought provoking piece.

Musically stunning and lyrically intelligent Sergeant Thunderhoof's "The Ghost of Badon Hill" is everything you could ever want from a modern era rock album, it  is a release that rocks and dooms in equal measure while also incorporating into its make-up elements of complex prog and textured psych. Add to this genre crossing tapestry a concept that actually works, and doesn't leave you scratching your head in confusion, and what you are left with is an absolute modern day rock masterpiece.

Check it out ..... 

© 2024 Frazer Jones

CARACARA ~ HORTIS MENTIS CANTOS .... review

 

Rhode Island sultans of groove Caracara, Ed Jamieson (guitars); Matthew Meehan (vocals); Christopher Colbath (bass) and Matt Johnson (drums), jam a groove that is a blending of 70's hard rock, 90's desert rock and present day heavy psych, agreed it is a sound not uncommon within this thing we call the "underground" but the panache and pizzaz they bring to the table with that sound most certainly is. Some may remember Caracara from their 2022 release "Vagrant Witness Canto", a release that reached a very respectable #11 on the December Doom Charts of that year and was described by Stoner Hive's Joop Konrad as "Stoner that will shake your bones and doom you soul. Impressive and powerful stuff!", and if someone with Joop's standing says something is powerful you better believe it is. The band return this year with "Hortis Mentis Cantos" four epic sized slices of grooviness guaranteed to blow both your mind and your socks off!

First out of the bag comes "Tom's Dog" a deliciously crunchy blend of desert rock haziness and hard rock swagger beneath which a bluesy undercurrent is omni-present. Meehan's vocals here, and for that matter throughout the album, are delivered in clean and powerful tones and are edged with an impressive soulful weariness that adds real gravitas to his words. It is however Jamieson's guitar work that really takes the breath away here, one minute he is ripping out caustic refrains the next he is laying down shimmering fractured chord work and when he's not doing either he's tearing out spiralling solos ably supported in all of his various guitar duties by Colbath's grizzled but bouncy bass lines and Johnson's industrious yet tidy and tight drumming. Next up is "Faceless Headress" its scorching guitar intro setting the tone for a track that has the structure of a song but in places feels like an impromptu jam, its groove taking off on tangents and spiralling down musical alleyways that are totally unexpected one of which is a funky passage over which Meehan delvers rap-like sermonizing. Third track "One Myr Boat Ride" begins bluesy and alternative with Johnson laying down a jazzy backbeat anchored by Colbeth's swinging bass, Jamieson adding texture to the mix with thrumming laid back guitar colouring around a Meehan vocal which borders on lounge lizard at times, well that is until the groove shifts into trip-hop territory in its last knockings and things get a little funky both musically and vocally. Final number "The Attendee's Attendance" is a magnificent and frankly quite mental romp that is part proto-metal, part heavy psych and part doom but refuses to commit to one style or the other, one minute all furious riffage screaming solos and incessant rhythms the next plodding doomic and bluesy with the band, vocally and musically, all bringing their A game into play. 

Caracara approach this whole stoner/hard rock thing from a slightly different angle to that of many of their contemporaries, sure they've got the raucous riffs and pumping rhythms we all love and adore but they have also got this bluesy funk thing going on as well. If you like your stoner and hard rock blustering and crunchy but also infused with a little streetwise sass and attitude then "Hortis Menis Cantos" is sure to be your jam. 

Check it out...

    

© 2024 Frazer Jones

SCARECROW ~ III.... review

 

Desert Psychlist sang loud in our praise of Scarecrow's debut album, the self-titled "Scarecrow", and our admiration for the band grew even stronger with the release of the excellent "Scarecrow II". Those albums saw the band mixing doom, proto-metal, prog and orchestral music together in ways other bands were just not attempting. Having not heard anything from the band for quite a while Desert Psychlist wondered if Scarecrow were still a going concern and had not disappeared into that ether that has swallowed up so many good bands over the years but then out of the blue we got a message from Artemis (vocals/flute/keys/oud/clarinet) that a new album was imminent and that it would be preceded by a brand new EP. "Golum" Unfortunately Desert Psychlist were unable to write up a review for "Golum" but we still desperately wanted to write something up for the bands new album when it dropped  That album, "Scarecrow III".(Scarecrow Records & Ritual Sound) has now landed and Artemis, along with Max (guitar); Elijah (bass) and Vadim (drums/percussion), will need to strap themselves in as we predict a lot of love coming their way for this absolute gem of a release.

"III" begins with "The Saffron Skies Overture" an eastern flavoured orchestral piece featuring the oud. a lute type stringed instrument. The piece starts very dramatic and almost doom-like but then morphs into this sweeping desert like soundscape that evokes images in the minds eye of endless dunes, imagery very much in keeping with the artwork that adorns this album. Its all change for next song "The Hymn", this is a stuttering proto-metal rocker over which Artemis' wails his vocals like the offspring of an unholy coupling between Rush's Geddy Lee and Zeppelin's Robert Plant and Max lays down seriously impressive lead, Vadim and Elijah anchoring the groove with  thunderous drumming and gritty bass, the song further enhanced by Artemis' swooning keyboard flourishes. There are quite a few songs gracing "III" that could be considered masterpieces in their field and the first of those is "Eastern Nightmare", this is a song no other band but Scarecrow could pull off , at times it has the feel of a Broadway musical at others it feels almost highbrow and operatic, there are passages that are blustering and heavy and other passages where the vibe is almost playful, its just mesmerising from start to finish. Following track "The Foe" is modern prog-metal but played with old school prog-rock panache while "Rising Sands" is part a heavy metal gallop and part an Arabic whirl, crunching power chords finding themselves sharing space with exotic eastern motifs and orchestral flourishes, mark this one down as masterpiece #2. The mood is melancholy and reflective for the languid and beautiful " Eternal Ones" but then shifts to soaring and torch-like for the excellent "The Turtle". Things get nicely bluesy and emotive for penultimate track "Saffron Skies" but bluesy and emotive with a dusky desert undercurrent. Final song "Scarecrow III The Suite" could easily pass for a movie soundtrack due to its expansive nature, the word journey is often bandied about far too much in music reviews but this instrumental DOES take you on a journey, a journey through sun bleached landscapes where traditional and modern instrumentation flits in and out of orchestral type arrangements over backdrops of exotic rhythms, this is most definitely masterpiece #3. 

  If blustering heavy rock, swaggering proto-metal and luscious prog light s afire beneath you and you are not afraid to occasionally dip your toes into more highbrow waters then you cannot go far wrong by giving Scarecrow's "III" a whirl, it will be a decision will not regret.

Check it out .... 

© 2024 Frazer Jones

WORMSAND ~ YOU, THE KING ....review

There is a high probability that many of you out there may not be familiar with French sludge/stoner/psych trio Wormsand and that would be understandable as before the release of the album we are reviewing today Wormsand had only released two previous recordings, the 2019 self-titled EP "Wormsand" and the 2021 debut full length album "Shapeless Mess". Hopefully the release of new album "You, The King" (Mr. Red Sound Records) will see the band, Julien Coppo (guitars/vocals); Clément Mozzone (bass/synths/vocals) and Tom Valstar (drums/percussions/vocals), garner the sort of international acceptance we at Desert Psychlist believe their music richly deserves.

Opening song "Daydream" begins with a circular feeling guitar motif routinely interrupted by bursts of caustic drums and bass with those bursts soon transitioning from being an interruption to becoming a constant. The vocals that accompany what has now become a throbbing stoner-doom(ish) groove are clean melodic and easy on the ear but, thanks to them being bolstered by occasional edgy and harsh backing harmonies, they retain a darkness well in keeping with the weighty dynamics of the music that surrounds them. "Digging Deep" follows and sees Wormsand's vocalists trading clean and harsh tones over a backdrop of grainy gritty sludge metal that is taken to another level by some surprisingly clear and concise lead guitar work. Title track "You, The King" finds Wormsand swapping back and forth between passages of textured and ambient post/prog-metal and crushingly heavy sludge with a mix of vocals that match both disciplines while "Black Heaven" concentrates mainly on the sludge side of things despite being fronted by a vocal melody that would not sound too out of place on mainstream rock radio. "Drown" follows a similar path to its predecessor only this time with the addition of some Alice In Chains like slurriness in its guitar attack. "The Crown" serves as a brief instrumental eye in storm and nicely sets the scene for the atmospheric "The Final Dive" that follows, a stunning torch-like tome that musically mixes aspects of the blues with elements that, to this listener, are reminiscent of "Pornography" era The Cure and also boasts superb croon-like vocal interplay. Final number "To Die Alone" sees Wormsand bowing out in style, the band combining prog, psych and post metal dynamics with elements of sludge and grunge to give what has been a truly magnificent album a truly magnificent finale.   

The songs that inhabit Wormsand's new album "You, The King" possess a complexity of structure and arrangement that we usually only associate with progressive rock and metal yet strangely you will find no tags or descriptions referring to them as being such. Sludge and grunge are the two genres that are most often bandied about when discussing Wormsand's music and although there are strong elements of both to be found in what Wormsand bring to the table it is, for us, those progressive aspects of their sound that take "You, The King" from being just another collection of swaggering riffs and blustering rhythms to being something very special indeed. 

Check it out ..

© 2024 Frazer Jones

WITCHPIT - FOREVER SPOKEN ... review

There are times in any music addicts life where the only music that will satisfy is something full on and furious, for such times the universe has gifted us Witchpit a four piece outfit from South Carolina consisting of Jesse Lane (bass); Jeremy Grobsmith (drums); Thomas White (guitars) and Denny Stone (vocals). The band have described their sound as High On Fire flavoured heavy stoner rock mixed with the more moody and thoughtful work of Neurosis, a description that many fortunate enough to have heard the bands debut "The Weight Of Death" will no doubt agree with. This year Witchpit release the follow up to their debut with "Forever Spoken" (Heavy Psych Sounds Records) and if you thought these guys could not get anymore gnarlier and in your face then you are in for a big surprise. 

Title track "Forever Spoken" kicks off proceedings and from note one it is evident that Witchpit are not going to take you gently by the hand and whisper sweet nothings into your ear,  no this is more akin to being serenaded by a denizen of the underworld backed by Satan's favourite house band. We are talking gnarly, gritty, grimy doomic flavoured sludge metal here fronted by a vocalist who sounds like his larynx has been torn to shreds by too much smoke, too much whiskey and just about too much of everything. "Through Eyes of Apathy" follows and if you thought that the intensity was about to let up one iota you were wrong, in fact the intensity of Witchpit's attack increases tenfold, Stone's vocals get nastier and the grooves supplied by Lane, White and Grobsmith get grimier, the only flicker of light to be found here being White's brief but tasteful guitar solo which is delivered clean and piercing. Third track "Mouth Piece of Hate" when examined closely is not actually as heavy as it first seems, the song possesses a groove that is less blackened doom and more sludgy circular stoner rock, however it is a groove made to feel heavier simply due to the intensity of Stone's no quarter given vocals, which never drop below full on and caustic. "Panacea" finds Stone's vocals routinely switching between demonic and guttural beneath which Lane and Grobsmith lay down a deliciously fractious sludgy doom meets alt-metal groove White layering the results with equally fractious chord progressions and searing solos. The following two tracks "New Age Fallacy" and "Becoming I" are both full on metallic barn burners with the former just shading it over the latter courtesy of its mid-section breakdown. Which brings us to final track "Silver Turns To Rust" a riff heavy doomic tome fronted by slightly more drawn out and drawled vocal tones beneath which dark edgy guitar textures , expertly supported by grizzled bass and industrious drumming, thrum and fizz like an overloaded power cable.

Witchpit tell us that "Forever Spoken" is an album that lyrically explores "the trials, adversities, and struggles that shape our journey and challenge our ability to fulfil our destiny" whether that concept translates to the listener quite the way the band intended is obviously down to the individual listener but even if you do or don't buy into their concept you are still left with an album of music that kicks harder than a mule on steroids, it's a win-win whichever way you look at it. 

Check it out .... 

© 2024 Frazer Jones

MOMOVUDU ~ MOMOVUDU .....review

 

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. 

Devastating levels of filthy fuzz and distortion, passages of heady heavy psych, desert rock grittiness and occasional doomic dankness can all be found inhabiting the eight songs that make up Momovudu's debut. Even those naysayers constantly berating the underground scene for becoming too stagnant and sterile and accusing it of spinning in self-perpetuating Sabbathian circles would be hard pressed to find fault with this raucous gem. 

Check it out ....

© 2024 Frazer Jones