SMOKE THE LIGHT ~ EGO DEATH ...... review

New York's Smoke The Light are a four piece heavy psych/sludge/doom combo who after starting their individual journeys playing raucous punk rock in bands with names like The Rebel Dead, Seer, Six Kills and Taking Back Sunday decided they wanted to try their hand at something that was a little bit darker and a touch heavier. The Long Island quartet, consisting of Jarett Slionski (rhythm guitar/vocals); Paul Komsic (bass/backing vox); Jerzy Kurjanski (lead guitar) and Steve DeJoseph (drums), tell us their intentions are to "play loud catchy music pulling inspiration from bands like Queens of the Stone Age, Elder and High on Fire".

The band have just recently released their debut EP "Ego Death" a riff heavy ass-kicking collection of songs that'll leave you battered, bruised, blown away and highly entertained.

Given the bands punk rock backgrounds and their intentions to hit the doom-ic road it might come as a surprise to find the band opening their debut release with "Intro/We Are Not Alone" an experimental piece that leans more towards the avant-garde than it does the low. slow and sludgy, its mixture of throbbing bass and industrial noise making for an interesting listen if a somewhat unsettling one. Things return to some semblance of normality with next track "InHell" its grainy heavily distorted bass and guitar refrains are driven by pounding percussion and decorated in wah pedal drenched lead work, a combination that gives the song a sludge-like dynamic but a dynamic not reflected in its vocals which retain a little of the punkish snarl that was part of each the members pasts. Smoke The Light really get to show their doom credentials on next track "Wizards" its slow to mid-tempo groove boasts some seriously fuzzed out riffs and is fronted by some really impressive vocals which are crooned clean and mellow on the songs verses transitioning to a feral scream on its chorus and if that wasn't enough there is also a nicely paced Iommi-esque guitar solo to look forward to. "The Heroic Dose" is next and here we find our heroes jamming a galloping groove that sits somewhere between stoner rock and old school heavy metal and is furnished with clever ear catching guitar motifs and an easy to singalong to hook laden vocal melody. "Detached" follows and is a song that starts out raucous with bluesy undertones and then explodes into a desert/stoner groove interspersed with some clever musical twists and turns something that is mimicked in its vocals which are roared and raw for the most part but then revert to mellow doom-ic mantra as the song reaches its conclusion.  Last song and title track "Ego Death" is a song that employs everything from galloping Sabbath-esque riffs to stuttering sludge like crunching chord progressions, it also features this EP's best vocal performance, heavy, riff fuelled and strident the song stands as a fitting finale to what has been a very good and highly enjoyable listen from a band Desert Psychlist is sure we will hear much more from in the future

Smoke The Light's "Ego Death" is a debut release and as such it is a little naïve and untamed in places but that is not a criticism that should put you off giving this a spin or laying down a few dollars/pounds on their Bandcamp page to add this to your collection. "Ego Death" is a solid highly enjoyable release from a band who if they continue on this trajectory will become one of those bands, much like those bands they wish to emulate, whose albums/EP's are pre-ordered unheard long before their release dates.

Check 'em out .... 

© 2022 Frazer Jones

OREYEON ~ EQUATIONS FOR THE USELESS ..... review

 

Italy's Oreyeon have been on an upward trajectory ever since releasing their debut album "Builders of Cosmos" (released in 2016 under their original name of Orion) a collection of songs that mixed elements of spaced out heavy psych with elements of riff heavy doom and sludgy stoner metal. The band followed up their debut with "Ode To Oblivion" (2019) an album that saw a name change but was still very much in the same musical ball park as its predecessor only this time boasting a much more polished production and a far more mature approach to arrangement and song structure. This year La Spezia's favourite sons, Richard Silvaggio (bass/vocals); Andrea Ricci (guitar); Matteo Signanini (guitar) and Pietro Virgilio (drums), return with their third album ""Equations for the Useless" (Heavy Psych Sounds Records) and we at Desert Psychlist think its their best to date.

A droning effect that swells and swoops back and forth across the speakers introduces first track "It Was Time" accompanied by a crunching chord progression which is then joined by the drums, bass and second guitar in a thrumming doom-ic flavoured groove around which spacey prog-like guitar textures routinely drift in and out of. Almost as if in defiance of the heaviness that surrounds them the songs vocals bear a mellow clean  dynamic and sit partly buried in the mix a trick that adds much to the songs overall sonic impact and at times gives things an almost ethereal vibe. "Pazuzu" finds Silvaggio's vocals pushed a little further forward in the mix and possessing a touch of goth rock-like gravity in their execution, musically this song remains very much in the canon of doom but has so much more going on within it that to just tag it as doom would be doing the song a gross disservice. With title track "Equations for the Useless" Oreyeon lay down a musical milestone that marks just how far this band have come since their 2014 formation, the song begins in a wash of psychedelic textures and colours, similar in flavour to those Pink Floyd experimented with on their iconic psych masterpiece "Echoes", Silvaggio laying down a deep low bass line over which Ricci and Signanini layer all manor of superbly effective guitar trickery before the song suddenly erupts into a whirlwind of doom-ic heaviness and vocal majesty pushed hard by Virgilio's Bonham-esque drumming. "If" follows and sees Ricci and Signanini trading off raucous and strident riffs anchored to the earth by Silvaggio's booming bass and Virgilio's thundering percussion, the band the band adding an element of diversity to the song by subtly shifting time signatures and altering tempos throughout is duration while "Downward Spirals" finds the band melding lilting vocal melodies over a tsunami of complex stoner metal bluster tinted with elements of eloquently textured post-rock. The band close proceedings with "The Protocol" a strident and pummelling blend of prog metal and stoner rock/metal fuzziness which, like the albums opener, benefits from having Silvaggio's vocals set a little back in the mix and thus allowing the sheer forcefulness and power of the songs groove to be the songs main focus.

If you google the word "evolution" online one of the definitions you will come across is "the gradual development of something", that something in Oreyeon's case is their music. Oreyeon's first album sounded a little unpolished, untamed and a little raw but they had "something", it was a "something" you couldn't quite put your finger but it was there nonetheless. The bands next album saw that "something" growing in substance and showing glimpses of its full potential. Now with "Equations For The Useless" that "something" has become a fully fledged SOMETHING and its a SOMETHING you need to hear.

Check it out .... 

© 2022 Frazer Jones

SWARM ~ SWARM ....... review

 

It is not often Desert Psychlist gets to use the term "warm" in a review but it is a word that is unavoidable when describing the music of Helsinki based Finnish quintet SWARM, in fact you could go further and say that the music these five musicians create together possesses an iridescent glow that hangs in the air long after their music has faded into silence. The band, Hilja Vedenpää (vocals); Panu Willman (guitar/vocals); Dani Paajanen (drums); Einari Toiviainen (guitar) and Leo Lehtonen (bass), jam a groove some are referring to as "heavygaze", a heady blend of ethereal folkiness and languid grunginess spliced together with elements of dank doom and occult(ish) rock that is not exactly what you would call heavy but nevertheless carries its fair share of weightiness. 

The band have just recently released their debut album "Swarm" a collection of four sultry tomes warm enough to take the chill off even the coldest of nights.

Opening song "Nevermore" begins its journey with a circular guitar motif revolving over reverberating single bass notes and lightly applied percussion then is joined by Vedenpää's mellow vocal tones, her voice clear, clean and note perfect, telling us that she doesn't want to be by herself, is aided and abetted on the songs harmonies by the voice of guitarist Willman, their voices intertwining  and complimenting each other to perfection . Musically the song has its heavier moments but its crunching riffs and soaring solos are cleverly offset by moments of languid tranquillity and mellow reflection something that allows the song a much greater flow and gives it a nice even balance. "There Again" follows and finds SWARM initially kicking out the jams with a raucous doom tinted bass and guitar refrain overlaid with soaring lead guitar but then drops down into a gentle lament with the vocals a mix of mellow lead and luscious harmonies. For "Frail" the band go (semi) acoustic with the vocals taking on a folk-like flavour, the only electricity allowed being a drone like effect that thrums and grumbles in around the vocal interplay and a brief but precious burst of lead guitar. The band finish with "We Should Know" a song that builds from humble beginnings, Vedenpää warbling serenely over a folk-rock flavoured musical backdrop, then slowly builds in intensity and volume until finally bowing out on a wave of low slow doom-ic riffage interspersed with Edge (U2) like lead guitar colouring.

SWARM deliver, with their debut, both weight and warmth, the sound they create together is an intriguing blend of riff orientated metal and ethereal folk-rock that is as likely to have you throwing devil's horns in the air as it is to have you weaving daisy chains under a a turquoise sky.. 

Check 'em out .... 

© 2022 Frazer Jones

INDUS VALLEY KINGS ~ ORIGIN ..... review

New York's Indus Valley Kings raised the bar pretty high for themselves with the release of their self titled debut "Indus Valley Kings", the albums mix of grungy bluesiness and fuzzy desert grooviness, overlaid with a mix of clean and harmonized vocal tones, made for an impressive musical statement especially when those elements were combined with the bands predilection for filling their songs with constant shifts in both both direction and dynamic . The trio, consisting of Billy Fridrich (lead and rhythm guitars, vocals); Jonathan Lesley Habers (bass, vocals) and Dan Lofaro (drums), return this year with a new album, "Origin", an album that possess all the attributes that made their debut such a pleasurable listen but this time with a little edgy darkness and experimentation dialled in.

Opening track "Clown" explodes out of the blocks on a wave of thrash-like guitar riffage then just as quickly settles down into a low slung stoner groove over which clean harmonized vocals tell of "searching for the perfect" and "breaking skulls at the seams", the songs groove then shifting up a notch or two to accommodate the songs catchy chorus before shifting back into stoner mode for the verse, the song routinely revisiting these three differing dynamics over its duration only deviating to include a brief but totally face melting guitar solo. "...And The Dead Shall Rise" finds IVK waxing lyrical on the approach of an impending zombie apocalypse over a backdrop of chugging proto-doom that includes an up-tempo Sabbathian flavoured middle section replete with Iommi-esque guitar colouring while next track "A Cold Wind" mixes doom with a little grunge and jazzy psych to create a tasty cocktail of groove that will leave listeners both shaken and stirred. "Hell To Pay" sees bassist Habers taking over lead vocal duties while also bringing some four string funkiness to the table, his soulful but slightly fragile tones contrasting nicely with Fridrich's fuzzy guitar tones to give the song a very pleasing late 60's undercurrent. "Dark Side Of The Sun" follows and jams a groove nestled somewhere between doom and heavy psych but that does not quite fully commit to either and is all the better because of that. IVK opt to go instrumental for next track "Mohenjo Daro" a doom-psych tour-de-force that is in turns both heavy and languid and allows Fridrich's the space and freedom to showcase his considerable talents on six-strings. "Demon Beast" is a weird but totally compelling hybrid of indie-rock, grunge, punk rock, blues and doom that feels like it was cut and pasted together from various musical ideas the band couldn't find a home for elsewhere but then discovered worked together perfectly as a stand alone song. "Drowned" begins with strident urgency, Lofaro's furious and powerful drumming driving the song along at a tempo that sits somewhere between punkish and thrash-like while Habers and Fridrich combine to lay down complimentary bass and guitar refrains as well as melodic vocals over those rhythms. At the core of this song beats a chaotic heart, the songs mid-section being a schizophrenic mix of screaming discordant guitar solos, rumbling bass riffs and ever changing rhythmic patterns that have no real right to be existing together in the same song but nevertheless do. Elements of chaos that infected the previous song roll on into final song "Sky King" only the band keep a firmer hand on the tiller this time around and manage to just about steer their musical ship into waters a little more traditional and straightforward, the band jamming a galloping desert/stoner groove flecked with traces of doom and psych boasting an ear catching melody and scorching lead guitar work.

Desert Psychlist suspects that there will be some who may be turned off by IVK's diversity and off kilter approach to their music but what may turn some off them will also endear others to their cause. You cannot pin a convenient label on a band like IVK, they are a band who like to defy convention and rules, a band who will  constantly shift the focus of a song away from its starting point to take it somewhere else entirely, bringing it back only to once again go off on another unexpected tangent, maybe they should of  just called the album "ORIGINAL".

Check 'em out .... 

© 2022 Frazer Jones

SERGEANT THUNDERHOOF ~ THIS SCEPTRED VEIL ....... review

Bath, UK's Sergeant Thunderhoof have always been so much more than just another of those riff fixated stoner bands, this became obvious with the release of the bands first album "Zigurat", a stunning debut that showcased a band who had all the riffs you could possibly ask for but also knew how to pen those riffs into well crafted song structures that had defined beginnings, middles and ends. The Hoof, as they are affectionately known, followed up their debut with the aptly named "Ride of the Hoof" an album that saw them not only widening their audience at home but also internationally, it was however with the release of the bands third album "Terra Solus" in 2018 that things really started to gel for the band with even the mainstream rock press turning their attention in their direction, Classic Rock magazine giving the album an 8/10 rating and calling it "Barely tamed, extremely hallucinogenic and beautifully overloaded all round ". The band originally intended to follow up "Terra Solus" with a 2020 release but a worldwide pandemic put paid to those plans and a drastic rethink had to be undertaken, something which vocalist Dan Flitcroft has described as somewhat of a blessing in disguise as it enabled the band the time and space to write songs that were of a much more reflective and personal nature and a better representation of where the bands were currently at musically. Those songs have now been released under the banner/title of "This Sceptred Veil" (Pale Wizard Records) and we at Desert Psychlist think its the bands best and most ambitious album to date.

There is a much more progressive rock element to the grooves Sergeant Thunderhoof present for our listening pleasure on "This Sceptred Veil" than on the bands previous outings and that progressive element is somewhat reflected in the albums artwork, Sara-Jane Swettenham's painting of twisted vines rooted to a clump of earth suspended on a plain green background is somewhat reminiscent of the work Roger Dean used to grace the albums of prog giants YES back in the 70's, whether this is intentional or not Desert Psychlist does not know but it does seem a little more than coincidental. Do not however fear that what you are about to hear are complex keyboard heavy odes to Siberian Khatru's  dwelling in Topographical Oceans.as The Hoof's take on prog is a lot more subtle and is never too far away from a heavy killer fuzzed out guitar refrain. "This Sceptred Veil" does have one thing in common with 70's prog though and that something is a concept with each of the albums nine songs being inspired by the folklore. myths and legends surrounding the bands West Country home turf. 

"You've Stolen The Words" kicks things off in heavy style with guitarist Mark Sayer and bassist Jim Camp combining on an old school flavoured stoner riff driven by some solid tight drumming from Darren Ashman over which Dan Flitcroft delivers a pitch perfect clean vocal edged with unexpected moments of harshness. "Devil's Daughter" follows, its galloping gait, routinely interspersed with Thin Lizzy-like  ascending/descending guitar motifs, is pure ear candy for those out there who like their rock delivered strident and riff heavy. You might be wondering at this point when those prog-rock elements, spoke of earlier, will make an appearance and The Hoof answer that question with "Absolute Blue" a smoky mix of crunching chord progressions and prog flavoured guitar textures around which Flitcroft delivers a clean pristine vocal that tells a balanced tale of remembrance and regret. "Foreigner", "Woman Call", "King Beyond The Gate" and "Show Don't Tell" all follow much the same pattern with each boasting a hard rock/stoner core but with the band surrounding that core with elements of heavy psych, post rock, classic rock and prog so as to add colour and texture and vary each songs dynamic. The album finishes with  "Avon & Avalon Pt.1" and "Avon & Avalon Pt.2" which is essentially one epic song split into two movements inspired by the bands West Country home and the Arthurian and Celtic myths that have shaped its history and culture. Both parts lean towards the prog/psych end of the rock spectrum but both also possess just the merest hint of doom-ic darkness in their makeup, it is these hints of darkness that adds to each song/parts atmospherics and emotional gravitas and take both songs/parts to an all other level of listening enjoyment.

Sergeant Thunderhoof are probably never going fly to gigs in their own charted plane or live in huge mansions decorated in questionable taste, those days are long gone, these days bands have to subsidise their rock'n'roll lifestyles by having proper jobs which makes it even more astonishing that despite having to take kids to school, worrying about paying bills and generally trying to survive from day to day a band like The Hoof are still able to make albums as powerful, majestic and essential as "This Sceptred Veil"

Check it out .... 

© 2022 Frazer Jones

THE GRAY GOO ~ 1943 ....... review

The Gray Goo, Max Gargasz (guitar/vocals); Matt Carper (bass/vocals) and Zach Ronish (drums/vocals), are a trio hailing from the Flathead Valley, Northwest Montana and thanks to Frank Zappa's quirky opus "Montana" Desert Psychlist cannot now think of anything connected with Montana without conjuring up images of pygmy ponies galloping through endless fields of white dental floss. Now that could be a problem if The Grey Goo were an out and out heavy rock or metal combo cranking out songs about satanic rituals and virgin sacrifices but this is a trio Desert Psychlist thinks the late Mr Zappa would approve of, a band of supremely talented musicians unafraid to mix and meld elements from a wide spectrum of music's and genres in an experimental hotch-potch of sound that ranges from complex and proggy to groovesome and funky, often all in the same song. The band penned the songs they present to us on their debut album "1943" while in Covid isolation and if anything positive has come out of this planet's latest brush with mass extinction then this album is it!

The Gray Goo go big straight out of the blocks with opening track "Bicycle Day" a ten minute plus epic that begins with an eerie mix of electronic noise that then morphs into an equally eerie and off kilter doom like refrain over which wordless vocal harmonies are sung. Right now you are probably wondering why we referenced Zappa in our intro piece and why we thought he might be smiling down on this trio, well here is where you find out. Up until this moment "Bicycle Day" has shown all the signs of being a low slow. if slightly quirky, doom-ic tome but then everything changes with the band erupting into a complex heavy prog workout that then shifts into into a liquid-like reggae groove and then to further confuse things adds some whaka-whaka style guitar textures to take us into funk territory, if that wasn't enough to contend with the band then go all Ozric Tentacles on our asses before signing out back in the doom waters they first launched themselves off from. Its mind blowing stuff and we are only on the first track! "Problem Child" follows and the schizophrenic nature of The Gray Goo's sonic attack is not tempered one iota, here they blend strident hard rock with heavy psych and doom and decorate it with a vocal that has a punkish Andrew Stockdale (Wolfmother) vibe, the songs dynamic erupting and subsiding like one of Yellowstone Parks famous geysers. "Launch" begins with sampled narrative on the effects and dangers of heroin then falls into a playful funky reggae groove over which high pitched whoops and screams routinely erupt while for "The Comedown" The Gray Goo almost play things straight, well if you consider proto-doom morphing into reggae-ish heavy psych and then decorating the ensuing blend with a very Zappa-esque clipped vocal.. straight. Those Zappa-like vocals reappear for "Shakes and Spins" but this time are accompanied by a much darker doom-ic musical dynamic that also includes an experimental and frankly quite brilliant  middle section. "Goo" is a moment of respite equating to one minute thirty one seconds of liquid sound effects before we are pummelled into submission by closing number "Cop Punk" a furious assault on the senses musically in keeping with its subject matter which deals with police brutality and contains the line "You can't breath with my knee on the back of your head", an unveiled reference to the recent murder by an American policeman of George Floyd.

Stunning musicianship combined with a refusal to be hemmed in by musical boundaries makes, in our opinion, "1943" one of the most exciting and diverse albums to have emerged so far this year, let's hope that it wasn't  just the pandemic that inspired The Gray Goo to reach the heights they have reached with their debut and that in the future they will be just as capable of reaching those same heights without the threat of impending annihilation hanging over them.

Check 'em out ..... 

© 2022 Frazer Jones

RED MOON SHAMAN ~ CHAPTER ONE ..... review

 Desert Psychlist returns to Italy for the subject of our latest review and before you start preparing yourself for another wordy praise fest on the Italian "scuzzy" acid doom scene let us tell you that not an ounce of "scuzziness" is to be found on this particular release. Red Moon Shaman seem to be another of those bands who like to shroud themselves in mystery, Desert Psychlist can find no information regarding the bands personnel and what photo's we have seen, on their social media, depict a trio clad head to foot in monkish attire. Personnel and instrumentation don't really matter though because at the end of the day we are here for the music and Red Moon Shaman's music is an exhilarating and constantly shifting blend of eastern exotica, spaced out cosmicness and good old heavy rock that refuses to be put in a conveniently labelled box. The band have just recently released their debut album "Chapter One" and already we are looking forward to "Chapter Two".

  A Shamanic mantra introduces opening song "Pale Rider" and sets the scene for something slow and doomic but Red Moon Shaman are not a band who  deal in the expected and instead explode into a strident stoner rock gallop replete with fuzzed out bass and guitar riffs driven by tight busy percussion over which strong vocals tell their tale in clean but grainy tones. We did however mention the word "shifting" in our opening piece and as the song approaches its finale that "shifting" starts to make its presence felt with the song  first moving into heavy psych waters, guitar solos majestically soaring and swooping overhead, and then subtly slowing down and taking on a more doom-like dynamic. Up next is "Rolling Sunshine" and Desert Psychlist cannot find enough good things to say about this song, its vocal melody and accompanying harmonies are like a drug you never want to kick, they go around and around in your head long after the song has reached its finish, and the eastern motifs and themes that lie just beneath the songs thrumming riffs are a thing of rare beauty. "Spirits" follows, its caustic guitar riffs routinely subsiding to allow the vocals space to weave their melodic magic then erupting again when those spells have been weaved, the song also takes on one of the bands customary "shifts" as it reaches its close with things moving towards something a little more heady and lysergic. "Thorns" finds Red Moon Shaman adding a little touch of rocky space to proceedings while "Filaret" finds them ramping that space element up a level and adding a little proto-doomic bluster to the mix. Penultimate track "Mindcrawler" has an almost mainstream vibe, its easy on the ear groove is coupled with an equally easy on the ear vocal melody, it also boasts a killer guitar solo that sees the guitarist making full use of his wah pedal. "WanderLUST" brings things to a close, it is a song that amalgamates everything that has gone on before and throws us a glimpse of where this band might takes us next, post-rock textures, swirling spaced out backdrops, lilting harmonies and powerful lead vocals all combining together to create something very special indeed.

There is heaviness to be found on Red Moon Shaman's "Chapter One" but it is not an all encompassing heaviness it is a heaviness tempered by the knowledge of how to construct a song to best maximise its impact, the band utilising musical tools like melody and dynamics to add light and shade to their compositions and to make them accessible to all and not just a specific clique and that's something we think worthy of applause. 

Check 'em out .....

© 2020 Frazer Jones