Polish combo Astral Nomad, Bartek Kowal (drums); Damian Chojnacki (vocals/guitar); Artur Olej (guitars) and Szymi Baran (bass), are the latest in a long line of Polish bands to appear on the hallowed pages of Desert Psychlist, an inclusion that will come as no surprise to our regular readers as we have long sung the praises of the Polish underground rock and metal scene. Astral Nomad are probably a little less sludgy and a little more psychedelic than many of those other Polish bands we have reviewed over the years however don't be fooled that their headiness reflects a lack of heaviness, there is gnarliness in abundance to be found on the three tracks that make up their debut EP "Nomad-1"(Interstellar Smoke Records) its just that the gnarliness we speak of is wrapped in a muti-coloured blanket of cosmic swirliness.
Opening number "Deep Bog Boogie" begins withs swathes of swirliness and sampled narrative supported by solid tight drumming and spacious guitar motifs, the songs groove slowly growing in intensity until an explosion of guitar crunchiness, joined by a low toned but powerful vocals, sees the song really get underway. Some bands would be content to hit such a groove and ride that groove through to the end but Astral Nomad are not such a band and the journey they take the listener on here is one with many a diversion, those diversions including lysergic spaciousness, psychedelic bluesiness and doomic dankness. Second track "Dust Haze" finds Astral Nomad sandwiching a playful sing-a-long vocal melody, backed by a heady and laid back psych groove, between two sections of full on fuzzed out and strident hard and heavy rock, the band coming across in those sections like a cross between Motorhead and fellow Polish groovesters Dopelord. Third and final track "The Last Trip" justifies its title by taking you on a journey that is part a tiptoe through the tulips and part a nightmare trek through dense thorny woodlands, an instrumental reflection of a trip that starts out meditative and tranquil but then somewhere along the way takes a left turn into darker territories.
"Nomad-1" feels more like a full length album than an EP and that is because Astral Nomad have packed so much into its three songs, you will not feel cheated or disappointed when this EP finally winds itself to a halt, you will instead feel satisfied, fulfilled and thankful for its existence.
Check it out....
No comments:
Post a Comment