DRUG MOTHER ~ RISE WITCH .... review

Somewhere in a city called Newcastle, situated in New South Wales, Australia, sit five hairy musicians smoking weed and drinking beer watching a movie called "THE VVITCH", this is not the first time these guys have watched this movie, in fact the movie has become somewhat of an obsession with them, so much so that it has even inspired them to put down their beers and bongs and pick up their instruments to make an album. The musicians in question go by the collective name of Drug Mother and the album they have made is called "Rise Witch" an album the band describe as a concept album, the theme of which is getting drunk and watching "THE VVITCH".

"Stone on the back it’s done, stone in the mouth the burial has begun" is the immortal first line of opener "Deep Down in the Darkness" a lyric proceeded by a sardonically whispered  mantra and a groove that sits somewhere between swaggering southern metal and chugging proto-doom, a song full of occult imagery that doesn't try to pretend that it is anything other than what it is... which is a slice of gnarly-assed occult themed fuzz'n'roll. "Guide thy Hand" follows with guitar amps dialled to eleven and drums in thunder mode the raucous groove relenting only for a second to allow the vocalist to announce that "this is a song about an old Welsh witch" before once again taking off on wave of  southern fried raunchiness decorated in husky toned vocals and interspersed with moments of lysergic haziness. Next up is "Hemarthrosis" a strategically placed, mostly instrumental number that allows the band to really stretch out, the band jamming a groove that along the way employs everything from neo classical shredding to wordless choral harmonies. We say strategically placed because "Hemarthrosis" marks a shift in the albums sound towards a darker, danker and more doomic dynamic, a dynamic that can also be found making its presence felt on the albums last two tracks, "Wicked Sky" and "The Wych Elm", tracks that see the band not exactly jettisoning their southern swagger but certainly sees them not leaning on it as much, still raunchy and raucous but with the guitar tones a little darker, the bass lines a touch more boneshaking and the drums a tad more thunderous. 

Photo by Lucas Smith

Witch themed songs inspired by a film about a witch compiled on an album called "Rise Witch" is the short summary of what Drug Mother present to us with their latest release, the longer summary would probably go something like .. a heady, quite addictive, mix of raucous stoner rock, gnarly southern metal and dank doom weaved around lyrical themes of  witchcraft and the occult. Short summary or long summary the conclusion is the same and that is that "Rise Witch" is a real banger of an album that any stoner or doomer, with a love of a meaty riff, would be proud to add to their playlist.

Check it out .... 

© 2023 Frazer Jones

MOODOOM ~ DESDE EL BOSQUE .... review

Heavy blues of the type once churned out by the likes of Cream and Mountain has become a rare commodity these days, sure there are plenty of bands still jamming grooves that are both heavy and bluesy but none that have captured that same blend of late 60's psych and early 70's hard rock in quite the same way as those two bands mentioned did back in their day. Well this is what we at Desert Psychlist thought before we chanced upon Moodoom, Cristian Marchesi (guitar/vocals); Jonathan Calleja (bass/vocals) and Javier Cervetti (drums), a trio from Buenos Aires, Argentina who's latest album "Desde el Bosque" not only owes a huge debt to Cream and Mountain but also early Black Sabbath.

The musicianship throughout "Desde el Bosque" is of an unbelievably high standard,  Cervetti brings an element of swing to the proceedings with a display of drumming that even the late Ginger Baker might approve of while Marchesi's guitar playing brings all the necessary swagger and strut that music of this nature demands, a guitarist with an understanding of when to let loose and when and hold back his lead work is scorching and feel based, his chord work crunching and gnarly. The gold star however has to go to Calleja, whether the bassist is mirroring Marchesi's riffs, laying down booming walking blues motifs or locking in with Cervetti on a heavy proto-doom groove he is never, EVER less than impressive, a true master of his instrument.  If there is one chink in Moodoom's armour it is that they do not possess a vocalist of the quality of a Jack Bruce or a Lesley West but that is a minor quibble as the combined vocals of Marchesi and Calleja (sung in Spanish) are more than adequate decoration for the superb heavy blues grooves they sit above. We did mention Black Sabbath in our intro piece and you may well be wondering where they figure in what we have so far described as essentially a blues album, well the tracks "La noche del lagarto" and "Las maravillas de estar loco" will answer that query, the former boasts a low slung doom groove that is unashamedly Sabbathian in all but its vocals and the latter is a mix of heavy blues and proto doom that will please fans of both genres. 

"Desde el Bosque" is an album that will appeal to those brought up on 70's rock as much as it will to those coming to the underground rock scene anew, an album from a band of Argentinian musicians on a mission to put the heavy back into the blues.

Check it out ....... 

© 2023 Frazer Jones

HAKKON ~ THE FIFTH CESSATION .... review

 

You can almost guarantee that every band/artist that has ever made an album or stepped on to a stage can trace their origins back to the humble bedroom, for many budding musicians the bedroom was a refuge where they could try to work out those finger stretching riffs, complex drum patterns and blister creating bass motifs, a place where wannabe vocalists could stand in front of a mirror and practice their mic craft singing into a hairbrush without fear of being mocked or criticised. If said musicians were any good they might, as they progressed in skill, start inviting other budding musicians up to their refuge to jam and from these jams go on to start a band, some might even start creating their own music. All in all the humble bedroom has played a huge part in much of the music we now listen to and is still doing so right up to the present day, all of which brings us nicely around to Hakkon, the Indonesian combo who are the subject of this review.

Hakkon, Ferdian G Maulana (guitar/vocals); Fajar M (bass/backing vocals) and Adrian Fadhil (drums/backing vocals), started out life as a bedroom project but has since moved on to being a fully fledged band, the trio of musicians utilising those skills honed in the bedroom and taking them up to the next level, a fairly impressive level judging by their debut EP release "The Fifth Cessation"(Orange Cliff Records)

Hakkon's groove is rooted in metal but metal in all it's various forms and guises, the band drawing from the wells of prog, stoner, proto and doom, as well some of metals more alternative forms, to create a sound that is a sum of its influences yet still retains its own signature. The first track out of the bag "Tusk" is a perfect example of how Hakkon like to meld their metals, an instrumental number with a galloping NWOBHM gait underscored by elements of both stoner and proto doom, the song may be just under four minutes long but the band pack a hell of a lot into it. "Haunted" follows next and is a nicely balanced mix of riff heavy proto-doom and languid semi acoustic psych, the song also gives us a our first taste of the bands vocals which are delivered clean and melodic by guitarist Maulana, drummer Fadhil and bassist Fajar M complimenting his lilting tones with backing harmonies of an equal quality. The last three tracks "Ashes I", "II" and "III", are essentially one song split into three separate movements "Ashes I" is a beautifully constructed instrumental piece made up of ringing circular guitar arpeggios, liquid bass lines and sympathetically applied percussion, "Ashes II" initially follows a similar path but then adds into the equation those aforementioned lilting vocals plus heavier handed percussion and lot more guitar based crunch,. The band take the later dynamic of "II" into final track "Ashes III" where they expand upon that  heavier dynamic and in doing so take things in a much more doomic direction both vocally and musically, albeit fleshing that doom out with elements gleaned from the full spectrum of metal.

Indonesian underground bands are notoriously difficult to track down and Hakkon are no exception, attempting to find any information, other than what can be found on their labels social media pages, has been hard. A photo of the band on the labels Instagram account depicts them as a relatively young band so hopefully they are have not yet become disillusioned with the whole music making process and there will be more from them in the future, here's hoping so because although "The Fifth Cessation" maybe a little raw around the edges and a touch naïve in places it is nonetheless a cracking little debut well worth spending some time with.

Check it out ..... 

© 2023 Frazer Jones

SWELL O - MORNING HAZE .... review

 Of late it every album landing on our desk seems to be hailing from Germany, not that we are complaining as the scene over there looks to be on fire. The latest album from a German outfit to reach the top of our "marked for review" pile comes from a combo going by the name of Swell O, consisting of Simo (drums), Harald (bass),Sebastian (vocals, guitar) and Sönke (vocals, guitar), a quartet of musicians who jam an up-tempo mix of stoner rock and heavy psych ideal for those who like their grooves with an element of "joie-de-vivre" about them, an element running rife throughout their debut album, "Morning Haze".(Clostridium Records)

"Hitchhiker" kicks things off  in forceful style, a hard driven stoner/desert romp with an insistent fuzz drenched groove that fans of bands like Fu Manchu, Truckfighters and early Red Fang would sell a kidney to acquire for their music collections. Vocals come from much the same ballpark as the music , clean melodic tones that are a mixture of lead and dual harmonies with any grittiness kept to a bare minimum and zero traces of harshness, in other words a very much "old school" style of what we currently call stoner rock. For their next track, "Summit" Swell O introduce a little psych into the equation, the songs groove still staying very much within the stoner/desert parameters of the previous track but this time sprinkled with a liberal pinch of cosmic haziness. That haziness extends itself into following song "Black Cat" but here takes on a more circular swirly dynamic with the heavily filtered vocals possessing a tone not too dissimilar to those found on early Nebula recordings. "Earthship No,2" is somewhat of a departure from what has gone before mainly due to its vocals, which are delivered in a clipped tone that gives them an almost goth(ic) feel, a feel reflected in the songs grooves which are still stoner/desert in flavour but are tinted with a darker edginess. It is fully understandable that Swell O should choose "Morning Haze" as the song to name their album after as it is a song that perfectly captures what the band are all about, its throbbing desert groove and ear catching vocal melodies are just so joyous and life affirming that its hard not to just keep hitting the repeat button and attempt to live in the moment for eternity, if people tell you that stoner rock has seen better days then just play them this track and walk away smugly smiling. "Shine Through" carries much the same vibe as its predecessor only this time with a touch more bluesiness in its attack as well as a little extra heavy psych haziness while final song "Venom" takes its lead from the punk and garage rock that fuelled the desert movements early days, its furious groove and staccato type vocal delivery possess a gnarly infectiousness that will appeal to fans of both Kyuss and Black Flag alike.

Swell O should be given a hearty slap on the back for what they have brought to the table with "Morning Haze", it is an album packed solid with all the things we valued about the original desert sound but then puts a fresh spin on them so that those same values can be appreciated by a whole new generation of retro tee wearing, fuzz obsessed disciples of the riff.

Check 'em out ..... 

© 2023 Frazer Jones

PRAYER FOR THE MASSESS ~ ...AND RETURNS ...... review

Its not that often we review albums by bands/artists that have called it a day or disbanded but we have to make an exception in this case as this is an album that falls into the blow your mind to smithereens category. The band/artist in question (we cannot be certain if they are actually a band or a one man project) goes by the name of Prayer for the Massess and the only solid information we can give you is that the band/artist hails from Greece. Things are made even more mysterious by a cryptic message on the band/artists Bandcamp page which says "you can't contact Prayer for the Massess, you can't trust Prayer for the Massess" and a liner note in bold print explaining that the latest album, "...and returns", was recorded "A WHILE AGO BUT WAS NEVER RELEASED!!!" and if that wasn't confusing enough beneath this is a message in morse code signed off with the name SATVRNI. It seems pretty obvious that this is a band/artist who wishes to remain anonymous and who doesn't seem overly fussed about promotion, so why, you may ask, are we bothering to promote it, the answer to that is simple... because "...and  returns" is one of the best drugged up sounding, hazy assed slices of acid doom, voodoo blues you are likely to hear this year, or maybe ANY year!

The title of opening number "Wizard of Love" evokes images of a smiling white bearded mage dressed in flowery garb, his pockets overflowing with potions and charms, but you should never judge a song by its title. What we actually have here is a doomy slow acid blues tome played at almost funereal pace that is drenched in fuzz, and distortion and boasts a vocal that you could easily believe was delivered by a member of the living dead with its throat still partially filled with the graveyard earth it was buried in.
Next song "Addicted to Madness" is driven by a slightly more industrial backbeat but is nevertheless just as cloying and dank as its predecessor, the vocalist proclaiming himself "the lord of lost, the lord of void, the king of worms, the fall of man," in monotonic tones over screaming lead guitar, economic but effective bottom end and that aforementioned industrial drumming. Following tracks "Prince of Darkness" and "Crucified" stick fairly rigidly to the format of the albums first two numbers, sedately paced and heavy on atmosphere but then along comes the upbeat instrumental "What Lurks Underneath" to show us that what actually lurks underneath is an artist/band with the chops to be the next Earthless or Karma to Burn if they ever decided to jettison the gloom and despair for something a touch more upbeat and hopeful. A touch of the previous tracks musical positivity does manage to manifest itself on following tracks "Claws of Pleasure" and "My Damnation", although any light allowed in is heavily filtered through layers of lyrical despair and despondency. Next up comes the laid back and semi-acoustic "Holy Land", the vocalist voicing his dreams of a land where "all flowers are empty" and "the crosses have shattered", the song serving as gentle respite for the oncoming storm that is "Hollow's Rise" a schizophrenic instrumental that is part doomic riff fest and part heavy psych mindfuck. Final track "Children of the Sacred" finds Prayer for the Massess pushing for the finish line in full doom mode, not quite abandoning the bluesy elements that have served them so well, up to this point, but certainly dumbing them down in favour of a more dark and dank sonic attack.

Prayer for the Massess are a band/artist whose identity is undetermined, are they a band or the brainchild of one man, and is "...and returns" really Prayer for the Massess last ever album, given that they have already told us not to trust them..., who knows. What is determined however is that either together or as a single unit Prayer for the Massess make a fantastic noise, a noise that needs to be heard regardless of who or what they may be.

Check 'em out ...  

  

 © 2023 Frazer Jones

LORD MOUNTAIN ~ THE OATH .....review

What is "traditional doom" and how does it differ from the "epic doom" and "proto-doom" that it is often mentioned in the same breath with, well the truth is we don't really know. We at Desert Psychlist tend to use the hard and fast rule of dubbing anything with a sound similar in flavour to early Black Sabbath as "proto-doom" and anything with the grandiose richness of say Candlemass or Solitude Aeturnus as "epic doom" and then classing anything that falls in-between, and has an essence of both, as "traditional doom". Of course we understand that this is lazy journalism and that we are pandering to peoples need to compartmentalize their music but then try sitting down to write a review of an album and NOT do something similar. it's damn hard. Why are we mentioning this you may ask, well today we are reviewing "The Oath" (King Volume Records/ Kozmik Artifactz) the new album from Californian doom combo Lord Mountain an album that falls firmly into that "traditional" box we have lazily created for it but in truth is so much more, an album our old Doom Charts pal Bucky Brown probably sums up best with his Bandcamp blurb for "The Oath" where he calls the album "too metal for doom but too doom for metal".

"The Oath" is an album packed heavy with all cliches you could hope to hear on a release with its feet in the camps of both heavy metal and doom, fantasy inspired lyrical content , reverberating guitar riffs, neo-classical flavoured solos, tight, but flexible, rhythms and powerful clean theatrical vocals, Now given this information you might expect the word "generic" to pop up somewhere in this review but we can assure you that it will not and the reason it will not is because Lord Mountain bring a vigour and freshness to traditional flavoured doom the genre has been long lacking. You can go through "The Oath" track by glorious track and easily find nods to all the greats of doom, such as Black Sabbath, Pagan Altar, Trouble and Candlemass, but you can also find in its makeup essences of dooms new breed of "traditionalists" like Green Lung, Sleepwulf and Parish, and it is this blending of old school grandiosity and new school occultist swagger that makes "The Oath" such a breath of fresh air. Songs like "Well of Fates", "The Last Crossing", "Serpent Temple" and title track "The Oath" are not just a celebration of dooms past but also examples of how doom in its purest form is still as relevant today as it was before the genre became swamped in waves of harshness and brutality. "The Oath" recalls a simpler time when "sludge" was just a descriptive term for industrial waste and "blackened" referred to a cooking process using spices, however the grooves Jesse Swanson (guitars and vocals), Sean Serrano (guitars), Andy Chism (bass) and Pat Moore (drums) present to us with their new album should not be considered "retro" as they carry too much originality, "vintage" (something that represents the best of its kind) would be a far, far better description.

"The Oath" is an album that will appeal to those that cut their teeth on bands like Witchfinder General, Pagan Altar and St. Vitus as well as those working their way back from newer bands like Spellbook, Inner Altar and Dawnrider. Lord Mountain play doom the way doom used to be played, they are not trying to re-invent the wheel with "The Oath" they are just attempting to put a new tyre on it.

Check it out .... 

© 2023 Frazer Jones

GODSGROUND ~ A BEWILDERED MIND ..... review

Steffan Jugl (guitar), Ben Knabe (vocals), Sergio Arceri (drums) and Gregor Zirngibl (bass) are Godsground a collective of musicians from Munich, Germany who came together in 2014. Some of you may have crossed paths with the band previously thanks to their albums "The Golden Age" and "The Great Delusion" or maybe chanced upon their debut EP "Mosquitos", if you did then you will know that the band have a penchant for blending grunge/alt-rock dynamics together with elements of stoner fuzz and hard rock crunch to create a sound flecked with familiarity yet totally unique to themselves., if you didn't then the bands new album "A Bewildered Mind" is a good point to work back from.

A crunching guitar motif kicks off first song "Drink Some More" and is quickly joined by the drums and bass in a dirge like groove over which a mellow melodic vocal holds sway, although not doom by any stretch of the imagination there is nonetheless a doomy depressive air to this song, that said it is still a great song, just not one you would expect to open an album with. "A Game of Light" lifts the mood by jamming a chugging grunge groove interspersed with catchy hooks, both musical and vocal, that showcase the bands more playful side. Next track "Balance" finds the band hitting into an upbeat circular groove that channels both Alice In Chains and Soundgarden in its sonic attack with its vocals very much favouring the former while for "Into the Butter" Godsground employ that old grunge staple of loud/quiet/loud dynamics only with Godsground's quiet tending to wander into experimental territories while their loud has a heavy stoner vibe. "Flood" starts life low key and humble then suddenly comes at you in waves of gnarly riffage and thundering rhythms with the songs vocals taking on a similar dynamic. Godsground really stretch out for next song "Non Reflecting Mirror", the band kicking the song off with gnarly distortion heavy riffs punctuated by scorching shredded guitar before dropping down into a mellow, almost jazz like psych groove over which the vocal adopts a lounge lizard type croon that gets more impassioned and grittier as the song gets more intense and heavy. Last song "Letter Full of Wine" mixes its stoner with its alt-rock and then layers some bluesy guitar soloing over the top, not content to leave it at that they then wind things up by taking off on a heavy psych/doom jam, its all a bit schizophrenic but boy does it work.

Godsground's "A Bewildered Mind" is a prime example of how good grunge/alt-rock can still be if allowed to evolve at its own pace and be free to absorb elements from other musical sources, its an album that draws obvious influences from the past but at the same time is not beholden to those influences, as Kurt Cobain once said "Wanting to be someone else is a waste of who you are"

Check 'em out ..... 

© 2023 Frazer Jones