Things start well with opening number "Under My Stone" the song coming straight out of the traps on a wall of shimmering guitar textures and thundering rhythms before settling down into a hazy loose and bluesy psych groove over which smooth clean vocal tones tell a tale of chosen isolation and escapism, the songs occasional eruptions into a heavier dynamic adding tension and depth to the songs overall impact. Next song "Rimless Hole" finds Thirty Doradus jamming a slow lysergic blues groove around a smoothly crooned vocal, the band using this groove to launch off on musical tangents into territories that include both prog and jazz fusion, often seeming in danger of losing themselves in those territories but always managing to navigate their way back to the songs initial bluesy core. "Parasomnia" finds Thirty Doradus flexing their alt-metal/grunge muscles on a deeply fuzzilicious mid tempo workout, the song employing all the necessary loud/quiet/loud dynamics associated with genre but boasting much more complexity and intensity. Up next is "Gargoyles" a song that mixes off-centred bluesy funkiness with equally off-centred grunginess and features seriously off the scale musicianship from all concerned. Finally we come to "Blue Fish" a moody prog/psych hybrid routinely interrupted by bursts of heavy rock bluster, its not quite the big curtain closer you might have been expecting but that said its still a pretty impressive tune.
Wednesday, 27 March 2024
THIRTY DORADUS ~ EP ..... review
Things start well with opening number "Under My Stone" the song coming straight out of the traps on a wall of shimmering guitar textures and thundering rhythms before settling down into a hazy loose and bluesy psych groove over which smooth clean vocal tones tell a tale of chosen isolation and escapism, the songs occasional eruptions into a heavier dynamic adding tension and depth to the songs overall impact. Next song "Rimless Hole" finds Thirty Doradus jamming a slow lysergic blues groove around a smoothly crooned vocal, the band using this groove to launch off on musical tangents into territories that include both prog and jazz fusion, often seeming in danger of losing themselves in those territories but always managing to navigate their way back to the songs initial bluesy core. "Parasomnia" finds Thirty Doradus flexing their alt-metal/grunge muscles on a deeply fuzzilicious mid tempo workout, the song employing all the necessary loud/quiet/loud dynamics associated with genre but boasting much more complexity and intensity. Up next is "Gargoyles" a song that mixes off-centred bluesy funkiness with equally off-centred grunginess and features seriously off the scale musicianship from all concerned. Finally we come to "Blue Fish" a moody prog/psych hybrid routinely interrupted by bursts of heavy rock bluster, its not quite the big curtain closer you might have been expecting but that said its still a pretty impressive tune.
Monday, 25 March 2024
ZOMBIE HUNGER ~ ZOMBIE HUNGER ..... review
For those familiar with the long-running TV show 'The Walking Dead' and its various spin-offs, you'll know that zombies often appear in hordes. Typically, these hordes are merely a collection of shambling, decaying humanity whose sole purpose is to feast on the flesh of the unturned. Today, however, we present a horde of a different sort. Let us introduce you to Zombie Hunger, an ensemble comprising Patient Zero on vocals, Coffin Queen on bass, Graveborn on rhythm guitar, Wormfeast on lead guitar, and Skineater on drums, an Australian outfit with a flair for delivering old-school doom tinted with an element of theatrical shock-rock, as is showcased on their self-titled debut release 'Zombie Hunger'.
The instrumental "Rise From Your Graves" opens up proceedings its swirling effects are joined by rhythm guitar, bass and drums in a thrumming doomic groove over which a circular guitar motif holds sway before suddenly segueing into its follow up "Zombie Children", this song a chugging proto-doomic tome that would sound Sabbath-esque if it were not for Patient Zero's distinctive vocals which for this song sit nicely at the sneery end of sinister despite, in places, bearing a remarkable similarity to The B52's Fred Schneider. Patient Zero reverts to a more traditional doomic tone for next track "Mask of Satan" with Coffin Queen, Graveborn and Skineater laying down a pulsating mid tempo proto-doom groove over which Wormfeast layers incendiary lead. "They Multiply" follows", its core tempo may be set at just a notch or two above low and slow and its atmospherics may reside at the danker end of the doom spectrum but its vocals are powerful and fiery, its lead work scorching. Things get a touch stoner-ish and bluesy for penultimate track "Coming For You", its delicious earworm riffs, powerful rhythms and searing solos are taken to a whole new level of enjoyment by an absolute peach of a vocal melody. Its back to traditional doom for final track "Death Without Rest", a song that is essential listening for any of those brought up on a diet of Reverend Bizarre, Candlemass, Count Raven and bands of that ilk, the songs delightfully dank, lurching and thundering groove is enhanced by a superbly delivered gothic flavoured vocal, the like of which has sadly become a rarity in this age of growlers and screamers.
Friday, 22 March 2024
DAEVAR ~ AMBER EYES .... review
Wednesday, 20 March 2024
SONIC WOLVES ~ III .... review
Friday, 15 March 2024
MALSTEN ~ THE HAUNTING OF SILVAKRA MILL - RITES OF PASSAGE .... review
July 2020 saw Swedish outfit Malsten release "The Haunting of SilvƄkra Mill" a scintillating concept album telling of an ancient evil emanating from an old abandoned mill, it was an album we at Desert Psychlist described as being "like listening to the musical equivalent of a horror story told around the flickering flames of a campfire". Things went a bit quiet for a while after the release of this doomic masterpiece until in 2022 when Malsten released "Entr'acte" a single track intended to serve as a bridging piece between the first chapter and the next instalment of the SilvƄkra Mill story, it seemed that the campfire we mentioned was still burning and an unfinished tale was still waiting to reach its conclusion. That next instalment has now arrived in the shape of "The Haunting of SilvƄkra Mill - Rites of Passage" (Svart Records) so lets hunker down, make ourselves comfortable and let Malsten continue their tale.
Opening song "Path of the Nix" opens with melancholy strings then erupts into a slow dank dark doomic refrain, driven by pounding percussion, over which strong clean but mournful vocals tell of SilvƄkra's wearied preacher continuing his hunt for the killer that slipped through his fingers at the end of the first album, The song boasts an almost touchable atmospheric, the preachers confusion, frustration and fear perfectly captured not only in the songs lyrics but also in its slowly building musical dynamic. "Larum" follows and sees our preacher still following the path he has set out for himself but at the same time starting to experience a strange darkness calling out to him, the ancient evil emanating from the cursed mill infiltrating his thoughts much like it did the murderous miller he hunts, this all set to a backdrop of some of the dankest and most menacing doom you are likely to hear this side of Armageddon. Parping church-like organ and a lone vocal make up "Intercession" a brief piece that sees our preacher making a plea/prayer to his god for some sort of intervention against the darkness that is slowly enveloping him. Next song "Terra Inferna" builds its part up slowly, its initial post-rock textures taking on a more malevolent dynamic as the song evolves, that dynamic easing off slightly when the vocals make an appearance but nevertheless remaining in the air throughout the songs duration. Next up is "Ceremony" a sombre lament sang in melancholy tones against a backdrop of sparse piano and synth generated strings that then segues into final song "Laurenti Berth" a song that marks the confrontation between hunter and hunted but twists the songs narrative so that it becomes unclear who is which, the musical backdrop accompanying this final confrontation a mix of sinister spacious post-metal and sprawling heavy doom boasting a vocal that ranges from unsettling semi-crooned narration to impassioned gothic howling, spine chilling stuff!
Wednesday, 13 March 2024
SUPERNAUT ~ NO MIND VOLUME I ... review
Monday, 11 March 2024
SIGMANTRA ~ HALLUCINOGENIC ... review
Saturday, 9 March 2024
DAYTRIPPER ~ BOOK I: THE TRIP ...... review
Dark droning and distorted guitar textures introduce opening song "Jarl's Eyes", a hellish cacophony of noise that is then joined by a second guitar, bass and drums in a heavy doomic groove decorated in a mix of hazy and harsh vocal tones, a groove that is routinely interrupted by moments of lysergic languidity and delicious thrumming low slow bleakness. If you have not succumbed to the call of the Valium yet then "Marijuanakon" might be the song to push you over the edge, its Sleep like refrains support a chorus of wordless wailing and harsh guttural growls that vocalise Dune/Dopesmoker flavoured lyrical content, the addition of screeching violin adding an off centred satanic feel to the proceedings. "Primitives" follows and in its initial stages boasts a slightly more desert flavoured groove however after a brief episode of dark space like ambience things take a blackened turn and we are taken to the close on wave upon wave of droning dankness. Next track "Staff of the Bog" sees Daytripper's musical sages employing the vocals of Ashley Ann Thompson to add vocal contrast to a song that is part hazy desert rock part blackened heavy psych while "Sludgelurker" sees the band blending Sabbathesque proto-doom with swampy sludge then finishing in crescendo of dank off kilter noise that bears no resemblance to either. Penultimate track "Tin Man" is Daytripper at their most accessible, the songs vocals, a trade off of clean and harsh tones, are supported by a groove notable for its dialled down heaviness, granted its not exactly radio friendly but this is probably the closest these guys will ever get. Final number "The Trip" is a sublime epic hotch-potch of ethereal occult rock, psychedelic doom and swampy sludge delivered low slow and atmospheric, well that is until a brief injection of Sabbathian chug'n'roll heralds in a lurch to the finish line on a delightfully dark wave of unholy dissonance.