THE MIFFS ~ THE MIFFS ..... review

We at Desert Psychlist have to admit to being a little bemused when seeing the word "surf" included in any bands musical description, we suppose this bemusement comes from our inability to disconnect in our minds the term from the sing-a-long harmonies and wholesome catchy melodies of the Beach Boys, a band and style of music we just never ever gelled with. Thankfully, for us anyway, Australian trio The Miffs book-end the word "surf" in their self-description with two words we CAN get on board with (no pun intended), those words being "psych" and "grunge". The band, Erin Grace Donnarumma (guitar,/vocals/synth/sitar); Hannah Mawson (bass) and Sinead Brassil (drums), have just released their debut album "The Miffs" a release that does possess some subtle surf like guitar textures scattered around here and there but is on the whole a gritty blending of heady psych and melodic grunge/alternative rock.

Proceedings get underway with "Somnium Sonos" an instrumental built around a series of recurring guitar motifs supported by low bouncy bass and industrious drumming, a great introductory number. "Forever Is A Very Long Time" finds The Miffs blending their psych, surf and grunge with a touch of indie-rock like twang beneath a vocal melody that sways between ethereal and folky and tells us that "life ain't easy" and "it ain't no use to cry". Mawson's bass and Brassil's drums introduce next song "High On Spite" and are, after a few bars, joined by Donnarumma's distinctive guitar tones in a groove that is heavily psychedelic but also quite jazzy, that jazziness also finding its way into Donnarumma's superbly delivered vocal. Donnarumma swaps her guitar for a sitar on the delicious eastern flavoured "Forbearance" while also waxing lyrical on aspects of the human condition, Mawson and Brassil however are a little less subtle with their contributions, Mawson's distorted to the max bass and Brassil's busy drums bringing a nice element of grungy dirtiness to the table. "Do Right By The Ones You Love" boasts an early Colour Haze feel, albeit if Colour Haze were fronted by a vocalist whose voice is a cross between legendary Brazilian jazz singer Flora Purim and Eva Hägen of French alternative rockers Grandma's Ashes. The previous songs Colour Haze vibe is also mirrored on the excellent "No Stairway" only here with the vocals taking on a more lilting folk-like dynamic. Things get a little more alternative and grungy for the albums final two songs , "50 Years" and "State Of My Blood" the former telling a slightly cryptical lyrical tale far too many women will be sadly too familiar with, the latter a rant against being forced to take sides by those with a vested interest in the choices you make, both sets of lyrics set against musical backdrops that are hard driven and thunderous without being over the top heavy.

A seriously impressive debut album from a seriously good band, "The Miffs" is not an overly hefty album musically but it is a considerably weighty album lyrically, a collection of songs that tackle important issues both head on and cryptically against musical backdrops that range from gentle to crunchy and all the various stops in-between.

Check it out ...

© 2025 Frazer Jones

ZARGENZEIN ~ GOT ELECTRICITY? ..... review

Ask many musicians, working in the fields of stoner/desert rock, sludge and doom, which band has influenced them the most to do what they are doing musically and Black Sabbath is very likely to be the very first name dropping from their lips, however, there are some parts of Europe where if that same question were asked the answer would just as likely be Electric Wizard. Four musicians likely to answer that question with the words Electric and Wizard are Dande Kemppainen (guitar/vocals); Tuukka Niemi (vocals/guitar); Thalia Nivala (bass) and Aapi Pietilä (drums), a quartet from Tampere, Finland working under the collective name Zargenzein. Zargenzein have just dropped their debut EP "Got Electricity?" on Bandcamp, a delicious mix of sludgy distortion drenched doom, sludge and heavy metal that takes its cues not only from Electric Wizard but also the bands #2 inspiration Iron Maiden.

"Inhaling Amazon" kicks off proceedings, this is a song boasting heavy throbbing doomic grooves accompanied by off kilter, slightly dissonant, guitar textures and sampled narrative. The songs dynamics are somewhat reminiscent, in places, of those emanating from the Italian scuzz/acid doom scene with heavily filtered sneery vocals delivered over a backdrop of deliciously thrumming heaviness, however,  the main difference between what Zargenzein deliver and that which you might find gracing an album by Demonio or Witchsnake is that where those two Italian bands will often drench everything in distortion and fuzz Zargenzein are a a touch more restrained with their use of effects pedals, the band tending to bring a little more clarity to the table. Next up is "Pinnacler" here we find the quartet serving up ear-catching riffs and motifs over a thunderously swinging groove that is probably slightly more heavy rock than it is doom, the song also features some nicely traded off guitar soloing as well as another of those sneery heavily filtered vocal performances. You might expect a song titled "Attic Demon" to be heavily doomic and maybe a touch brutal, which in parts it is, but it also turns out to be quite bluesy and proto-metallic too, although you could hardly describe its accompanying vocals as sitting in either of those camps. For their final track Zargenzein ditch the sneered manic vocalising for a more traditional doomic delivery and twin that delivery with grooves that also sit in the traditional doom pocket, albeit regularly diverting into stoner and proto territories. It would be interesting to see if this more "traditional" direction will be something the band will to explore further on future recordings, they certainly have a gift for it. 

Zargenzein deliver, with "Got Electricity?", all the filth and nastiness you could ask for in the medium of heavy music but manages to do so without becoming an unlistenable mess or just a wall of untamed noise, that's not to say that things don't get noisy, they do, but its a controlled noisiness, a structured noisiness, a beautifully thunderous and totally addictive noisiness.

Check it out ...... 

© 2025 Frazer Jones

SWAMPLORD ~ WITCHLAND ..... review

Not a lot gets past us here at Desert Psychlist but Swamplord's latest release "Witchland" nearly did, which is especially galling as we covered the bands previous release "Tombstone" on these very pages. Thankfully our fellow Doom Charts contributor Doomcakes (Screaming From The Heavy Underground) saved our blushes by alerting us to its release via the Doom Charts contributors private Facebook page which in turn prompted this review. For those not familiar with Swamplord the band are a Russian trio hailing from Murom consisting of Ilya Mitin (vocals); Konstantin Igonin (bass) and Sergey Chizhov (guitar), as with their previous releases Swamplord make no mention of a drummer in their album notes so we can only assume some clever programming is involved in the recording process or their drummer wishes to remain anonymous due being a wanted criminal or involved in covert operations, either way there are drums involved and they are pretty damn solid. That cleared up lets talk about the new album.

Opening number "D,T.W.S.M" does away with any niceties and gets down and dirty right from the off, guitar nerds will adore the fuzzy tones of the guitar and bass decorating this stoner-doomic tome while vocal buffs will surely pick up on the grunge-like dynamics of its chorus, there is also a pretty nifty soaring guitar solo to contend with here too that cuts through the fuzz and distortion surrounding it like a hot knife through butter. A short burst of feedback announces the arrival of next track "Initiation", followed by a deeply distorted stoner meets proto-doom groove supported by solid heavy percussion, this is an instrumental number but its lack of vocals becomes hardly noticeable thanks to its searing lead work. Third track "At The Altar Of Pan" features a gritty swinging vocal melody adorning a groove that sways between brutal and lysergic while title track "Witchland", another instrumental, begins funky and loose and then somewhere down the line morphs into this tight and gnarly doomic behemoth and even more surprisingly makes that transition almost seamlessly. "Heretics" sees Swamplord flexing their Sabbathian muscles musically while also dipping their toes into alternative metal waters vocally, it is followed by "Alchemy" a track that sees the band repeating much the same process but adding some psychedelic texturing into the mix. Little touches of heavy bluesiness ease their way into both "Shadows From The Hills" and its follow up "We Sow The Darkness" with both songs boasting a more subtle and  refined vocal delivery. Swamplord close "Witchland" with "Fuzzcraft", an instrumental we at Desert Psychlist are interpreting as  an ode to the art of distortion delivered via the medium of doom, a discipline these guys are black belts in.

On first glance the artwork for Swamplord's "Witchland" looks fairly quaint and pastoral but look closer and you will start to notice that things are not quite as as quaint as they might first seem, a second glance at the image revealing that the comely looking maiden in the foreground is being sized up by a malevolent looking ram while in the background a hag-like figure looms menacingly. The painting/drawing is pretty much a visual summing up of what to expect when dropping a needle or pushing play on "Witchland",i.e. brief moments of serenity surrounded on all sides by encroaching wickedness. 

Check it out ....

© 2025 Frazer Jones

ORDOS ~ FIRE .... review

Back in the good old days when there were still weekly British music papers, like The New Musical Express, Melody Maker and Sounds we Brits would more or less get to know months, sometimes even years, in advance that one of our favourite bands or artists were in the studio working on a new release, these days though things are a bit different and unless you are on a bands (or their PR's) mailing list or are constantly perusing their socials then prior knowledge of a release for the ordinary fan is almost non-existent, well at least until a few days before said release drops. Why are we telling you this you may ask... well in July of last year (2024), on a whim. Desert Psychlist decided to check out the Facebook page of Swedish sludge/stoner/doom combo Ordos, the reason we did this was because having not heard much from the band since the release of their third album "The End" we were truly worried that they might have called it a day, something that would have been quite devastating for us at the Psychlist as we have been championing this band since stumbling across their self titled debut back in 2013. What we found on their FB page was firstly that the band were still active and secondly, much to our pleasure, the news that they were working on a fourth album, facts that we would not have known had we not delved into their socials. That album, "Fire", has now dropped and it is all and a whole lot more of everything we have come to expect from these Uppsala natives.

Opening number "There is More" starts restrained and atmospheric with Magnus Stenqvist's eerie toned guitar textures accompanying a fairly lilting Emil Johansson vocal asking questions like "is this all" and "is this everything you've been searching for" with that last line the signal for bassist Martin Hagnell and drummer Max Sundberg to join the fray and take things into heavier climes, it is also the signal for Johansson to mix up those clean lilting tones with some of that distinctive throaty harshness that has become his trademark. Prog-metal and heavy psych fans should also also keep an ear out for the textures. tones and colours guitarist Stenqvist brings into play here, even injecting what sounds like a little jazz fusion into proceedings at one point. "Ferment" follows and sees Ordos hitting into one of those insidious and gnarly sludge/doom grooves we have all come to love them for, Johansson adding to the glorious mayhem with a vocal that mostly borders on feral but on occasions drops into a delicious deep croon. Maybe it is Sweden's Viking history, or its maybe its the stark and moody artwork gracing this album that is causing Desert Psychlist to constantly have images from writer director Robert Eggers "The Northman" movie running around in our heads while we listen to Ordos' "Fire". The most vivid of those images coming to our minds eye tend to be generated by the albums next song "Hell Has Come" a song with a thrumming stoner doomic dynamic that slowly increases in volume, intensity and depth as it progresses, a dynamic that is mirrored in its vocals which shift from clean and monastic to grainy, gritty and growly. If you have not seen "The Northman" do yourself a favour and go and see it and when you do make sure you have this song in your head when viewing the movie's iconic last fight scene. "IV" follows next and is a masterclass in how to blend dank atmospheric doom with elements of prog and sludge metal, the song throbs with malevolence and menace mainly due to Johansson's vocals which lean towards manic at times but also thanks to the thunderous and ever-shifting grooves Hagnell and Sundberg lay down beneath his vocals and the crunching riffage and textured motifs and solos Stenqvist weaves around them. Last song "Eyes of Fire" sits somewhere between a ballad and a lament in its initial stages, gentle arpeggios ringing out over shimmering percussion, but this is Ordos we are talking about so its not long before things start to get gnarly, both vocally and musically, and no one does gnarly better than Ordos as they prove when the crunching riffs and  thunderous drumming come in to support Johansson's throatier warblings, to be fair the song does return to the arpeggios and restrained percussion in its final moments but by then the listeners ears have already been fried to a crisp. 

Ordos are not the type of band to drop an album every other year and that is why when a new Ordos album lands it feels somewhat like an event, something to be celebrated and savoured until the band decide to grace our ears with something new. Hopefully that something new will not take the six years we have had to wait for "Fire" but if it does, and it is as powerful and thunderously brilliant as "Fire" has turned out to be, then you won't find many complaining.
Check it out ...

© 2025 Frazer Jones

BLACK FIRE PY ~ PRIMAL ..... review

Desert Psychlist has reviewed many albums from Brazilian, Argentinian, Peruvian and Chilean bands/artistes but to date we have only reviewed two albums released by Paraguayan bands, those being from Fuzzkrank and Lucifer's Children. Today we add a third to that list in the shape of Asunción sextet Black Fire Py, Ana Pereira.(lead/backing vocals); Mabe Bongiovi (lead/backing vocals); Maggie Storm (keyboards); Juanjo Villasboa (bass); Robert Irrazábal (drums/backing vocals) and Gabo Murphy (guitar/backing vocals), a band who blend elements of late 60's psych and 70's hard rock with current period stoner, space and occult rock to create a sound that is gritty enough for those already heavily invested in the underground rock scene but that is also accessible enough for those just visiting. The band have just released their debut release "Primal" and if you are a fan of bands like Coven, Jex Thoth and bands of that ilk then you'll want in on this.

First song "Primal Intro" opens proceedings and is probably more a tone poem than it is an actual song as it incorporates just one line of narrative accompanied by droning effects, tolling bells, minimal percussion and samples. Things get underway properly with "Desert" an infectious little ditty boasting a nicely executed blend of lead voice and backing harmonies interspersed with earworm motifs and hooks, a great little rock song made even better thanks to a searing guitar solo. "Mental Noise" is up next and as with the previous song makes great use of the vocal interplay between Pereira's lead vocal and Bongiovi, Irrazábal and Murphy's harmonious backing, Villasboa's bass and Irrazábal's drums serving as the glue holding everything together. Despite its fairly stoner/hard rock groove there is a touch of post-punkishness about next song "Golden Supernova", especially in the songs shouty chorus, the song also serves as a great showcase for Storm's keyboard skills, her off piste flourishes bringing, at times, an almost Hawkwind-like feel to the proceedings. Things take a somewhat mainstream turn with the very radio-friendly "Full Moon Light", which sees Bongiovi handling the lead vocals, this is a song that sits out a bit like a sore thumb against the all the hard rock surrounding it, a pleasant enough diversion granted but maybe not quite the right fit for this particular release. Things return to a more rocking state with the excellent "Salvation", this is a fantastic shape shifting heavy psych/heavy space tome that gives everyone in the band a chance to shine with  Villasboa and  Irrazábal laying down a monstrous groove for Murphy and Storm to decorate with scorching lead work and whooshing keyboards, Murphy also lending his voice, with Bongiovi, to the songs wordless wailing backing vocals Pereira placing the cherry on this musical cake with a strong and powerful lead vocal that in places soars towards operatic. Last but one track "Into The Death Game" is probably this releases heaviest and most spacious tome, Pereira sings of a "virtual world" where "nothing is real" accompanied by a mix of swooning backing harmonies and whispered asides over a backdrop of thickly fuzzed psychedelic tinted groove that is taken to another level by Storm's keyboards and Murphy's guitar. Final number "Primal Outro" brings us full circle by somewhat mirroring "Primal Intro" bur adding into the mix some eastern flavoured, yet bluesy, guitar.

Black Fire Py's "Primal"  is not as heavy as some releases you will find being put out under the banner of underground rock music but nor could it be considered lightweight either, there is plenty of screaming guitar and thundering riffage to be found here but there are also elements that lean towards the more commercial end of the rock spectrum. If you like your rock music delivered catchy, accessible and with more hooks than a fisherman's bait box then "Primal" is most definitely going to be your jam. 

Check it out ....   

  © 2025 Frazer Jones

TOWER ~ LET THERE BE DARK .... review

To be totally honest we at Desert Psychlist have never been fans of metal played at breakneck speeds, we much prefer our metal low, slow and lurching, it is probably why we never got off on the whole thrash thing and basically tried to convince ourselves power metal was a figment of our combined imaginations. Basically we have actively avoided anything with more BPM's than an oars masters drum, well up until today that is. Today we pressed play on NYC metallurgists Tower's new release "Let There Be Dark" and discovered that full on, no holds barred galloping metal can actually be something to be savoured, especially when its fronted by a vocalist in possession of incredible depth, clarity and power.

Opening song "Under The Chapel" begins with a rapid paced circular guitar motif that is then joined by drumming of a similar rapid dynamic that is in turn then joined by the rest of the band in a galloping metal groove so strident that at times it threatens to break the sound barrier. Along with that pace though comes accuracy,  guitarists James Danzo and Zak Penley never fluff their lines every crunching chord, every squealing note hits its target while bassist Philippe Arman and drummer Keith Mikus lay down a rapid backdrop of groove so precise yet so swinging it makes you start to wonder if they are actually of this world. Tower are however not an instrumental band, they write songs with lyrics and of course a lyric needs a singer and Tower have one of the best with Sarabeth Linden. Linden brings her A game not only to this song but also those that follow, it seems wrong to describe a female voice as Dio-esque but we at Desert Psychlist cannot think of a current female vocalist to compare her talents to, she has it all depth, power, clarity and tone, she can easily go from a whisper to a wail without breaking sweat.  

We've concentrated here on the opening number "Under The Chapel" but there is not a song on this album that falls into the realms of makeweight, songs like "Holy Water", "Book of the Hidden", "Iron Clad",  and "The Hammer" are all masterclasses how to make metal music still sound vibrant, powerful  and fresh. Despite us bigging up Tower's stridency and pace "Let There Be Dark" is not however an album of back to back furiosity, the classical tinted "The Well of Souls" and the eastern tinged "Legio X Fretensis" do serve as brief windows for listeners to catch their breaths, as does the torch-like "Don't You Say", but overall this is an album of foot to the floor heavy metal delivered with a truckload of panache, style and class.  

Tower's "Let There Be Dark" is fast intense and powerful, it utilizes elements of thrash metal, power metal and NWOBHM, it is a metal played by extremely talented musicians and fronted by an unbelievably gifted singer. If you were of the opinion that heavy metal of this style and quality was starting to become somewhat of a rarity within our scene then "Let There Be Dark" is proof that if you are prepared to dig a little there's still gold to be found in them there hills. 

Check it out ..... 

© 2025 Frazer Jones

DAEVAR ~ SUB ROSA ... review

"Difficult third album syndrome" is a real thing and it is something more than a few bands and artists have struggled with over the years, the "syndrome" usually manifests itself after a band/artiste has released an impressive debut then follow up said debut with a killer second album that takes many of the ideas explored on the debut up to a whole other level. This is where problems start because now the band/artiste is expected to either better that killer second album or at least deliver something of a similar level of quality while at he same time trying to show the world that they are evolving as musicians and songwriters. Of course their are just as many bands and artists who never suffer difficult third album syndrome, bands and artistes who just seem to be able to follow one great album up with another of equal magnitude, one after another, and this seems to be the case with Cologne's Daevar.

Daevar, Moritz Ermen Bausch (drums); Caspar Orfgen (guitars) and Pardis Latifi (bass/vocals) burst onto the scene in January 2023 with their debut "Delirious Rites" and in the same month grabbed a #16 spot on the Doom Charts, this was followed by the excellent "Amber Eyes" (March 2024) which bettered its predecessor by hitting #9 on the Doom Charts as well as #11 on our own Desert Psychlist best of list for that year. The band have just released their third album "Sub Rosa" (The Lasting Dose Records) and although the trio do not make music with the sole intention of featuring in lists or charts Desert Psychlist fully expects that this swooning and majestic grungy doom opus will be appearing in many.

Daevar tend to throw around terms like "doomy grunge" and "cloudy lo-fi" when describing their music and as descriptions go those terms pretty much nail what the band bring to the table sonically. Muscular refrains and rumbling rhythms twinned with soaring, swaying vocal melodies are what Daevar are all about and the  J.D. Salinger inspired opening number "Catcher In The Rye" is the perfect example of this approach. Here we find Orfgen and Latifi laying down dank dark six and four string riffage supported by Bausch's thunderous Bonham-esque drumming, Latifi doubling up on her bass duties with a vocal that sits somewhere between lilting and haunting, her fey tones flowing over the songs backdrop of moody heaviness like honey over razorblades. There is a Nirvana-esque feel to the guitar tone Orfgen chooses to introduce next song "Siren Song" but any comparisons that can be made with Kurt Cobain's less than merry men soon go out of the window when Daevar launch into a groove that is far more occult rock than it is Seattle grunge accompanied by lilting vocal that carries a similar mystical flavour. "Wishing Well" follows and sees Latifi's low bass tones, Bausch's drums and Orfgen's crunchy guitar textures create a thunderous proto-metallic noise for Latifi's to then decorate with a smooth undulating vocal, no screaming lead guitar work to be found here this is a song that lives and dies on its melody. Next song "Wishing Well" finds Latifi voicing an  ethereal vocal melody over grooves of dank doom tinted with elements of alternative metal, the songs main guitar motif possessing a very Cobain-like feel but one that sounds like it is is being driven through a wall of amps belonging to either Conan or Monolord. "Mirrors" follows and starts of with Bausch beating out a rather upbeat drum tattoo but any thoughts that Daevar were about to launch into anything remotely rock'n'roll are dashed when he is joined by Latifi and Orfgen in a groove that although slightly more strident than what has passed previously most definitely does sit in that "cloudy lo-fi" pocket they have made their own, though having said that Latifi's vocals do possess an extra element of swing here. Fans of Windhand, The Devil's Blood and bands of that ilk will find much to enjoy about the following "The Forgotten Tale", Latifi's vocals are here delivered lower and a touch more monotonic and this adds a slightly more haunting quality to the proceeding, however there is nothing monotonic about Orfgen's sizzling solo that features in the songs final quarter, it is piercing, soaring and awash with colour. Finally we arrive at closing number "FDSMD" this features everything there is to love about this band in one song, booming low end, thunderous drumming, searing lead work and swooning swaying vocals all wrapped up in their distinctive low-fi cloudiness.

Whether Daevar found their third full length release a "difficult" album to make we will probably never know but it is certainly not a difficult album to listen to, in fact it is an absolutely delightful listening experience from start to finish. Thinking about it "Sub Rosa", could well be the best "cloudy lo-fi doomy grunge" album of the year, albeit in a field of one.

Check it out ... 

  

© 2025 Frazer Jones