CLOUD CATCHER ~ TRAILS OF KOZMIC DUST ...review

Denver's Cloud Catcher have been burning up oxygen with their brand of riff fuelled cosmic groove since their formation in 2013 and as those lucky enough to have heard the bands 2015 debut "Enlightened Beyond Existence" will tell you, these guys know how to rock a riff or two.
The band, Rory Rummings (guitar/vocals),  Kameron Wentworth  (bass) and Jared Soloman Handman (drums), recently signed with Totem Cat Records, a move culminating in the release of their second album "Trails of Kozmic Dust"

Driven by the the influences of heavy blues laced 70's hard rock bands like (early) Grand Funk Railroad, Cream and Mountain and salted with touches of Hendrix-esque guitar pyrotechnics "Trails of Kozmic Dust" is very much an album born of the past but existing in the present. Cloud Catcher are no retro band trying to recapture an age however, these guys bring into their heavy rocking 70's grooves elements of todays doom, psych and stoner, blending them with those of yesterday and creating a sound that although having its roots firmly planted in the past still manages to sound fresh, exiting and in the now. From the Mountain-esque grooves of  opener"Astral Warlord" to the Budgie -like riffs and motif's of final track "Righteous Ruler" Cloud Catcher pay homage and tribute to those that have gone before and those that may yet come, the trio laying down fuzz drenched stoner/hard rock grooves packed with swirling bluesy guitar solo's, spine crumbling bass and tight solid percussion. Add the grainy, powerful blues drenched vocal tones of Rummings into this maelstrom of stonerized heavy blues drenched groove and you arrive at an album that you not only should but must check out .....

SAIL ~ SLUMBERSONG ... review

Taunton, a town snuggled in the county of Somerset, UK ,once famous for it's cider production, is also the home of prog/sludge groovsters Sail (formally Husk) a band who cite among their influences the writers HP Lovecraft and Terry Pratchett (as well as of course cider). The band, who as Husk previously released one album "Seven Pyramids" and a split "Upon His Mountain", (with fellow West Country sludgsters Striga ) have just released their first album, "Slumbersong", under their new name

Sail employ, into their sound, elements of textured  post-rock and  complex progressive metal and combine those elements with thick swathes of swampy sludge drenched guitar riffery and raw throaty vocals, then confuse matters  further by weaving in to those heady mixes touches of 70's rock and shoegaze/alt-rock vocal melodies. Songs like "Praise and Hatred", "Righteous" and "Old Tom" are hammered out on waves of crunching riffage, pushed hard by a thunderous rhythm section, over which raw bellowed vocals play "catch me" with dark swirling guitar solo's, the resulting whirlwind of groove coming across like Baroness meeting Mastodon at a Boss Keloid gig. Now this alone would be enough to sell "Slumbersong" to most metalheads/stoners but Sail have more up their sleeves than just a roar and a riff, these guys can mix it up too. On "Ghosts" the band create post-rock structured soundscapes enhanced by a combination of reverb drenched and swirling bluesy guitar colourings coated in shoegaze-ish vocal tones, while on "House" the band almost get a little psychedelic and at times Celtic, these two songs combined with the beautiful title track shining a whole new light on what Sail are all about both musically and dynamically.
Sail, Tom Coles (drums), Kynan Scott (bass), Charlie Dowzell (guitars/vocals) and Tim Kazer (guitars/vocals) have with "Slumbersong" created somewhat of a rod for their own backs in the that after hearing an album so perfectly balanced in songwriting, arrangement and execution its hard to see how they could ever better it ...but let's hope they try.
Check it out .....

MONDO DROMO ~ SOLIPSISMO .... review

South America is on fire these days, there doesn't seem a day goes by without some kick-ass band playing kick-ass grooves makes it way onto the music littered desk of Desert Psychlist. Grooves coming from places like Chile. Brazil, Peru and others are becoming as anticipated as those from the USA  and European big hitters Greece and Sweden.
The latest band from South America to assail Desert Psychlist's senses with their gnarly refrains is Mondo Dromo, a quartet from Buenos Aires, Argentina courtesy of their new EP "Solipsimo"( Venado Records).

For those not familiar with listening to music coming from the South American continent. or any other non-English speaking nation/continent for that matter, the secret is not to translate every syllable via some internet translator but to allow the melodies and general flow of the vocals to wash over you as if you were listening to another instrument. This works especially well with the vocal deliveries on "Solipsismo", where the gritty tonal qualities of vocalist/guitarist Andrés Gargiulo are slightly buried within the mix allowing the immense stoner/psych grooves, which are the bands stock-in -trade, to dominate proceedings. Having said this those tonal qualities remain an integral component in Mondo Dromo's overall sonic attack.
Musically Mondo Dromo are a tour-de-force of gnarly fuzzed riffage and hard driving rhythms enhanced by scorching guitar solo's and psychedelic arpeggios. Gargiulo and second guitarist Francisco Badano lay down swathes of fuzz soaked guitar driven hard by Sebastián Romani's powerful percussion and Martín Tarifeño's bone rattling bass lines, all coloured by Gargiulo's powerful gritty/clean vocals.
The EP consists of four songs, "Aquas Negras", a raucous mix of hard rock bluster and stoner/psych grit, "Solipsismo", a hard driven acid laced rocker with a deliciously addictive groove, "Lava" a riff fuelled romp though  desert territory on a Kyuss shaped camel and "Broken", a  nicely paced bluesy barnstormer that on its way to it's droning conclusion takes in elements of space, psych and blistering hard rock.

If you don't speak Spanish but like your grooves molten hot with a touch of heavy psych colouring and an element of dusty desert swagger then "Solipsismo" is an EP that you should hear, it could open a whole new world to you.
Check it out .....

OBJET ~ THE SPACE THAT BINDS US .... review.

Portland, (Maine) does not quite have the musical kudos of it's doom and stoner drenched North Western cousin of the same name but there is however a good, if smaller, stoner, doom and psych scene going on there with a number of good bands doing their best to get their grooves out there and noticed.
One of those bands Objet, Dan Paulsen (drums),  Joshua MacVane (bass),  Andy Beavis (guitar), Keith Hebert (guitar) and Kris Milo (vocals) have recently stepped out of the shadows of  obscurity to throw their hat into the ring with the release of their three song debut EP " The Space That Binds Us".

First track " Bulletproof Renegade" starts life on a deep booming bass line underscored by intricate and understated drum patterns before being joined by the guitars, shards of chordal colouring filling every space. Over this slightly psychedelic, slightly prog-ish groove lyrics, telling of anger and regret, are delivered in huge clean, slightly gritted vocal tones that possess a classic rock/metal vibe perfectly suited to their surrounding  heavy psych/prog grooves , Suddenly the chorus kicks in and the  mood changes both vocally and musically, the guitars shifting into riff mode laying down a thick heavy stoner metal refrain while the vocals take on a gruffer, grittier and heavier delivery, Driven by pounding percussion and grizzly distorted bass and enhanced by short bursts of  scorching solo guitar the song then falls back into line again for the next verse, the song toing and froing between these two dynamics until reaching a deliciously noisy metallic conclusion.
"Prophet of Nowhere" bursts from the traps on one of those stuttering heavy metal riffs we have all heard before but can't help loving to death, the songs slightly NWOBHM feel mixed with elements of prog-metal complexity although slightly generic in places is nevertheless highly enjoyable.
"The Space That Binds Us" sees Objet upping their game with a song that walks a line between subtle shades of progressive metal and its heavier stoner equivalent without committing to either, finding a balance between the two that sits nicely on the ears. The song shifts through differing tempos and time signatures without feeling forced or clichéd, moving between complex passages of dark prog texturing and heavy metallic bluster with unerring ease buoyed by a delicious ear-catching vocal melody.
Although not quite the finished article yet Objet are a band who with the right breaks and a willingness to work hard could have a bright future.
Check 'em out ...

KING WOMAN ~ CREATED IN THE IMAGE OF SUFFERING .... review

Ethereal and atmospheric are two words often bandied about when discussing music found within the genres and sub-genres of the doom scene but never have two words seemed so fitting as when applied to Californian doom rockers King Woman's new opus "Created In The Image of Suffering" (Relapse Records)

Dark and moody with a hazy psychedelic feel "Created In The Image of Suffering" is a startling atmospheric album full of  dynamic twists and turns, telling tales of love, loss and longing over a backdrop of at times jarringly brutal, at times heart wrenchingly beautiful, dark velvet metallic tones of doom. Ethereal vocals, delivered in hauntingly sweet, breathy tones float over sweeping arpeggios and crunching riffage, built on a platform of intricate and complex drum and bass patterns.
Kristina Esfandiari's vocal delivery throughout "Created In The Image of Suffering" is a revelation and a shining example of how less can sometimes be more, her hushed. slightly droned, tones bringing a deep emotional gravitas to lyrics like "I'd wash your feet with my dirty hair, and you know I love you with all my heart"("Deny") and "All I ever wanted to be, you strip a sense of self from me"("Worn") filling them with a sense of melancholy and regret that is both touching and beautiful. Combine this with the stunning and breath-taking levels of musicianship, that are the canvas on which these lyrics are painted upon, and you have an album that not only can make you bang your head but may also make you cry.
Check it out ......

GOYA ~ HARVESTER OF BONGLOADS ...... review

Phoenix Arizona's Goya emerge from the "Valley of the Sun" once again to assail our senses with four slices of monolithic groove delivered under the mighty banner of  "Harvester of Bongloads" (Opoponax Records)

"Harvester of Bongloads" begins with that old chestnut of the 70's a conceptual piece, a twenty minute plus opus that lyrically pays homage to the "sweetest leaf" as well as lamenting the state of the world we live in, and is entitled "Omen". Split into three movements, " Strange Geometry", "Fade Away" and "Life Disintegrates", "Omen" shifts through a series of differing dynamics from tribalistic drums and backward sounding vocal effects through guitar wailing jamming to a full on monolithic, riff laden sludge/stoner doom finale Nick Lose (drums) lays down tumultuous barrages of rhythmic thunder superbly complimented by Sonny DeCarto's big gnarly overdriven bass lines, the pair laying the perfect foundations for Jeff Owens to build his fuzz drenched riffs and solo's over as well as adding his deep powerfully booming and slightly monotonic vocals to.
"Germination" follows and is a short yet totally enjoyable slab of plodding doom coated in scorching guitar that descends into white noise and feedback before re-emerging as.....
"Misanthropy On High"  is Goya doing what Goya does best, laying down thick grooves of devastating sludge tinted doom around lyrical diatribes against humankind. Owens delivers a superb vocal performance over DeCanto and Lose's backdrop of thrumming bass and pulverising percussion, at the same time tearing scintillating and molten hot riffs, licks and solo's from his fretboard. The three musicians come together like pieces of a jigsaw complimenting each others contributions and combining to create a whole that is as heavy as it is addictive.
"Disease" sees Goya paying homage to their Sabbathian roots with the trio raising the tempo slightly and hitting a groove that although owing a large debt to Ozzy and Co. also carries within its deeply dark hard rock grooves a touch of North Dakota stoners Egypt's sonic assault.

"Harvester of Bongloads"  is an album of superb new grooves and in Desert Psychlist's considered opinion is Goya's finest hour to date
Check it out .....

DAMN CRATERS ~ DAMN CRATERS. ....review

Simon Smith (vocals), Jay Cowley (guitar, backing vocals), Jonathan South (guitar, backing vocals),  Gavin Treliving (bass, backing vocals) and Kez Whelan (drums) are Damn Craters a raw and ready stoner/hard rock (although they prefer to call it "Gravity Rock") band from the home of Robin Hood and Raleigh Bikes, Nottingham.
The band, whose influences range from Pink Floyd to Soundgarden, have just released their first self-titled three song EP "Damn Craters".

"Bin Money" bursts intro-less from the speakers, like an alien erupting from John Hurt's chest, on a wave of grizzled impassioned vocals and fuzz soaked riff'n'rhythm, pinning the listener to the floor with the ferocity of its attack. Smith spits out lyrics telling of being "nurtured in the womb of a gitane" (gypsy woman) over a backdrop of heavy stoner groove, his snarling anger laced voice the perfect match for the gnarly distorted riffage all around it.
"Monomyth" is next and sees Damn Craters mixing into their gritty stoner grooves shades of dank doom colouring and textured psych that sees Smith slightly tailoring his vocals to compliment the darkness while Cowley and South lay down a dense variety of crunching riffage and swirling guitar solo's superbly backed by Treliving's throbbing bass and Whelan's pulverising drums.
"Fighting In The Caves of Drach" takes both the doom and psych aspects of the previous track and expands on them, weaving them in and around the songs intoxicating groove, the music's dynamics constantly shifting through the gears with Cowley and South swooping off into the stratosphere on glorious tangents of six string majesty that are only anchored to the ground by Treliving's delicious bass lines and Whelan's mix of intricate and pounding percussion. Smith's voice meanwhile moves from a hushed whisper to a raging torrent in a heartbeat, living inside the lyrics, feeling them, breathing them, when he sings the lines "the universe created these molecules, now you think you own this earth, well I can tell you, you fucking don't" you know he means it!

"Damn Craters" is a superb EP that uses that old showbiz adage of "always leave 'em wanting more" to great effect...because you will!
Check it out......