STRUCK/DOWN ~ TO WITCHES.. ...review

 Kent, UK is known to us Brits as the "Garden of England" due to its beautiful landscapes and fertile land which is home to a variety of fruit orchards and hop fields, now given this information you might well expect music from the region to reflect some of that beauty. Well that might have been the case back in the 70's when Kent bands like Soft Machine and Caravan were at the height of their powers but things are a little different these days. 

Struck/Down, a five piece unit from Canterbury, Kent are not a band known for their laid back and gentle soundscapes or their lilting melodies, their music is a gnarled and gritty blend of doom, thrash and groove metal that has more in common with the swampy sludge of  New Orleans than it has the lilting prog and jazz of those Kent bands mentioned earlier. One thing the band does have in common with those band however is a love of a concept, the band's latest release "To Witches.." is the second instalment of a conceptual theme first explored on their 2021 EP "From Demons..", a story based around a fictitious priest named Father Brown who manages to cause turmoil and misery wherever he goes, both intentionally and unintentionally. 

If you are not a fan of Lamb of God, Down, Gojira, Mastodon and bands of that ilk then you might as well stop reading now as Struck/Down are a band who share similar musical characteristics to all those bands listed above, we have to stress the word similar here though as Struck/Down are no bandwagon jumpers or copyists. Being from the UK and not the southern states of the USA sees Struck/Down bringing an air of British reserve and restraint to the groove metal party, where they could so easily have gone down the route of continuous heaviness and face melting intensity they instead prefer to regularly take their foot off the gas and take a little time to smell the roses. Groove metal, be it doom tinted or metallically extreme, can be a bit of a chore to listen to in one sitting but that is not the case with "To Witches..", each song on this stunning EP is a perfect balance of darkness and shade, the band even wandering into Clutch territory in places. Songs like "The Enforcer", the excellent "No Value" and the mind-blowing "Son of the Unburnt Witch" are not just built around riffs they have colour an texture too, these are songs that can pin you to the floor with the weight of their thrumming refrains and incessant rhythms but can also caress you with an arm around the shoulder, moments that may only be fleeting but are the difference between a  song being just good and a song being great, and these are all great songs.

We have spoke a great deal about the groove metal element of Struck/Down's music, mainly because it plays such a huge role in the bands overall sound, what we haven't spoke much about are the elements of doom, stoner rock, classic rock and thrash that can also be heard bubbling away under all that groove. It is the way Struck/Down incorporate these elements into their sound that sets Struck/Down apart from their American cousins and allows them their own unique voice in a sub-genre that up until recently has had somewhat of a closed shop mentality.

Check 'em out .... 

 

  © 2023 Frazer Jones

MELT ~ REPLICA OF MAN ... review

 

Melt, Joey Troupe (guitar/vocals); James May (bass/vocals) and J.J. Young (drums/vocals) hail from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and are seasoned musicians who have achieved a wealth of experience playing and working in and around their local music scene, In 2021 Melt released their first full length album "Melt" a blend of stoner strut, hard rock swagger and off the wall punk/pop playfulness that garnered favourable responses in all the right quarters. This year the band release their second album "Replica of Man", a release that sees the band levelling up on all those elements that made their debut such an enjoyable experience by adding to their sound a little extra element of gnarl and bite.

 If you are coming to this review expecting Desert Psychlist to wax lyrical about brutal riffs, low slow dynamics and monolithic heaviness then you are going to be disappointed because Melt are more about the hardness of their rock than the heaviness of that rock, of course where there is hardness there is bound to be found some heaviness but any heaviness found on this gem of an album is more akin to the heaviness you might find on something released by a classic rock band or one of the more musical punk bands. We mentioned playfulness in this reviews opening piece and despite the quite serious lyrical subject matter, broached on songs like "Sight To See", "Diviner" and "Shame", that playfulness is a commodity that is ever present, a playfulness that presents itself in the albums strategically placed samples and also in its off-kilter vocal melodies and harmonies which are delivered in a variety of tones meters and styles throughout the albums nine song tenure. Musically these guys are on top of their game, Troupe's guitar work is a mixture of choppy chords and intricate lead, bassist May brings low liquid bounce as well as thrumming growl to the table while Young's drumming is busier than a bee and tighter than a misers purse, together they create a groove that is hard dark and complex but is at the same time upbeat, infectious and fun.

Melt do not sound like Sabbath, Zeppelin, Elder or Kyuss, neither do they sound like any of the other bands we reviewers often use as comparisons to give our readers an idea of what to expect from an album. They are not doom or heavy metal, they are not classic rock, stoner rock or punk yet there are elements of all of those genres and bands to be found in Melt's sonic attack. Melt's sound is the sound of Melt and no one else, they are unique, an enigma, a one off and we should be thankful they live among us.

Check 'em out ....

© 2023 Frazer Jones

WIZARD MASTER ~ ABLANATHANALBA ......review

Having only recently reviewed Italian scuzzmeisters Demonio's excellent new release "Reaching For The Sky" along comes another slice of Italian scuzziness for Desert Psychlist to wax lyrical over in the shape of Wizard Master's latest release "Ablanathanalba" (Electric Valley Records). Wizard Master, in much the same way as the aforementioned Demonio did with "Reaching For The Sky", have for their latest release embraced a more heavily psychedelic and blues orientated dynamic, a dynamic that sees the band still drawing inspiration from the likes of Black Sabbath, Electric Wizard and bands of that ilk but also toying with elements that can be found in the music of new breed doomsters like the UK's Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats, France's Witchthroat Serpent and  Argentina's No Stone, in other words an engaging blend of heaviness and melody.

Random noises. screams and a snippet from a 60's pop song introduce opening song "Hell Riders" and are followed by a deliciously dank riff heavy groove so classically proto-doomic it should be preserved in museum. Vocals for this slice of doomic delight are delivered in clean melodic sneery tones, the sneery aspect of those vocals adding an almost garage rock element to the proceedings. The song continues along this path right up until around about the halfway mark when an unexpected flourish of church like keyboards and sampled horror movie narrative signals a shift towards a more convoluted and complex dynamic with the guitars and keyboards combining to bring an almost twisted prog feel to the songs final moments. "Funeral Boogie" follows and here we have a song that would get feet tapping at even the most sorrowful of internments, an upbeat but still gloom laden slice of proto-doom that starts life quite dark and sinister but then evolves into a chugging choppy riff fest with an ear catching chorus. "Acid" is next, a low, slow and heavy tome drenched in searing lead work and driven by sedate thundering percussion over which those sneery vocals tell their tale in an equally sedate meter. Tolling bells and weird inaudible narrative announce the arrival of "Master of Wizardry" an eerie off centred and delightfully disjointed opus that only really comes together in its last quarter but despite this is nevertheless an enthralling, if somewhat unsettling, listen. The final two tracks of "Ablanathanalba", "We Are Füd" and "Tested By Death" are both glorious examples of how far the Italian doom scene has come over the past few years, the former is an excellent blend of Sabbathian proto-doom and Italian scuzzy acid rock bolstered by a great vocal melody while the latter sees Wizard Master throwing elements of lysergic bluesiness and twisted doomic proggishness into the mix to create something that is unnervingly dank and dismal yet at the same time possesses an unexpected spine tingling charm and beauty all of its own. 

The Italian acid-doom scene is in a very good place at the moment with bands like Black Spell, Sonic Demon, Witchsnake and Demonio garnering the sort of reactions that were once the reserve of the Swedish underground scene a few years back. With "Ablanathaalba" Wizard Master may well have muscled their way to the top of that pile.

Check it out ... 

© 2023 Frazer Jones

VARIOUS ARTISTS ~ NEVER TURN YOUR BACK ON A FRIEND: 50 YEARS LATER ...... review

Desert Psychlist does not review tribute albums, not because we don't enjoy them but simply because we prefer to review albums by bands promoting their own work, today though we are making an exception. Why are we breaking our own rules you may ask, well the reason is that the band who are the recipients of this tribute are a band very close to our hearts, a Welsh band from the 70's who didn't get quite the same breaks or hit the same levels of success as their English contemporaries Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple but were equally as important and integral in the evolution of heavy rock music in the UK. The band we are talking about is of course Budgie, a trio from Cardiff whose classic line up of Burke Shelley (bass/vocals); Tony Bourge (guitar) and Ray Phillips (drums) made three albums on the spin that have since become cult classics and are, right up to the present day, still causing first time listeners to step back in amazement and awe. Those three albums "Budgie", "Squawk" and " Never Turn Your Back On A Friend" saw Budgie filling that musical middle ground between Led Zeppelin's heavy blues and Black Sabbath's heavier proto-doom/metal, it was a sound that in a perfect world should have seen the band reaping rich rewards, unfortunately we don't live in a perfect world and bad decisions, poor management and just old fashioned bad luck conspired to hold them back. For those of us lucky enough to be around at the time and who were aware of the band the fact that Budgie were not going on massive world tours or spending all their time trying to break the USA was somewhat of a boon, the hopes of getting to see any of the big three of British rock live was becoming increasingly rare while being able to see Budgie was, thanks to their incessant presence on the UK club circuit, almost unavoidable and a Budgie show was not something you would ever want to avoid. Although over the years the band continued to make great albums, notably  "In For The Kill" (Pete Boot replacing Ray Phillips), and "Bandolier" (Steve Williams replacing Pete Boot), they never quite reached that same level of  hard rock grittiness and heavy metal bite they achieved on those first three albums. 

Sadly Budgie stalwart and main man Burke Shelley died last year (2022) and Budgie as a band were to fly no more but their legend lives on and Pale Wizard Records are celebrating that legend with the release of  "Never Turn Your Back On A Friend: 50 Years Later" a tribute to what many consider to be the bands best album, it is a release that sees artists from right across the board putting their own spin on songs from "Never Turn Your Back On a Friend" plus some other iconic Budgie songs, it is a true labour of love and one that we are not ashamed to say sent a shiver of delight hurtling down our spines and brought a nostalgic tear to our eyes. 

Alunah kick things off with what is probably Budgie's most well known song "Breadfan" and to be totally honest Desert Psychlist was more than a little apprehensive about how they were going to approach this number, the song is rightfully a cult classic and screwing this up could well of brought some serious critical shade come tumbling Alunah's way. Well any apprehension we may have had went flying out the window as soon as that finger blurring riff hit our ears and Sian Greenaway's powerful vocal exploded into the songs opening verse. Alunah absolutely nail it by sticking fairly rigidly to the original version while still managing to stamp their own personality all over the song, the insertion of flute and the slight echo on Greenaway's vocal in the songs quieter section is a stroke of genius, so much so that anyone touting Metallica's version as the definitive cover of this Budgie classic may have to have a serious rethink after hearing this.

Next up is Firegarden's cover of Budgie's cover of Big Joe Williams "Baby Please Don't Go", again it is not too far removed from Budgie's version of the song except maybe for having a little more fire in the solo. Budgie's version was an exhilarating romp from start to finish, this is no different

Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell get the honour of taking on "You Know I'll Always Love You", one of Budgie's lesser known songs. The original was somewhat laid back and flowery but in the Admiral's hands it becomes a quirky rocker drenched in dissonance and distortion, nice work lads.

Regulas rock up next with "You're The Biggest Thing Since Powdered Milk", this is the one song on this tribute/homage/celebration that boasts a vocal closest to Burke Shelley's distinctive helium howl, it is also the one song that gets closest to capturing that original Budgie sound. 

 "In The Grip Of The Tyrefitter's Hand", is another Budgie song that fans would not want messed around with too much and thankfully Syncolima respect that by playing the song almost note for note with the only difference being the elements of grainy gruffness guitarist Josh Morgan brings to the vocals.

"Riding My Nightmare" was always a song that felt more California than it did Cardiff, so who better to get to cover it than San Diego's Great Electric Quest, the band adding to the songs West Coast feel with some lovely harmonised vocal interplay, gentle strummed guitars and beautifully executed lead work.

British underground rock royalty Sergeant Thunderhoof get to close the "Never Turn Your Back On A Friend" section of this release with "Parents", the song was always a highlight of any Budgie show and it proves to be no less a highlight here either. Vocalist Dan Flitcroft may not possess the same piercing upper range Burke Shelley brought to the original but his smoothness of tone and clarity more than make up for that, his voice is perfect for a song of this magnitude. The guitar work on this cover is also outstanding and it is hard at times to believe that it is the Hoof's Mark Sayer and not the great Tony Bourge who is wailing away on those six strings.

Next up we get three songs from different periods of Budgie's career 

"Guts", originally appeared on the bands debut "Budgie" and is covered here by Vancouver's La Chinga, the band perfectly capturing that proto-metallic stutter that was such a major factor of the originals appeal 

"Forearm Smash" is a song that appeared on Budgie's 1980 album "Power Supply" and saw John Thomas taking over guitar duties from Tony Bourge. Low Voltage are the band tasked with covering this slice of metallic rock'n'roll and they do so with all the necessary vim and vigour you could possibly hope for.

Last but not least we have Scotland's Solar Sons getting down and dirty on "Melt The Ice Away", the opening number of Budgie's 1978 album "Impeckable". The Scots bring a much welcome stoner rock feel to their version, filthy guitar tones, growling bass, thunderous drums and Rory Lee's gritty vocals adding a nice gnarly edge to a song that in its original form was let down by a rather spacious and tinny production.

 A complaint often aimed at tribute/homage albums is that the artists involved do not stray too far from the original songs they are invited to cover and so why shouldn't prospective listeners just swerve the covers and just crank up the originals instead. It's a fair argument and one we at Desert Psychlist have voiced ourselves on occasions. So then why are we recommending an album of covers that sticks pretty close to the feel of the original songs, The reason is because this is Budgie, a band that may be known by the few but not by the many. When Pale Wizard first tested the waters by allowing listeners to stream Alunah's version of "Breadfan" and Sergeant Thunderhoof's take on "Parents" posts soon started to appear on social media sites from people previously unaware of Budgie who liked what they were hearing and were promising to go back and check out the originals, if just two songs can invoke that sort of reaction then imagine what the full album will do. "Never Turn Your Back On A Friend: 50 Years Later" is not just a an album for wizened old Budgie fans its also a gateway for those unaware of the bands existence to discover a band who though never quite made it to the top of the mountain put out some damn fine music while they were climbing. 

Check it out ....  

 

© 2023 Frazer Jones

DEMONIO ~ REACHING FOR THE LIGHT .... review

 

Are all these Italian acid doom/scuzz rock bands, currently putting out fuzz drenched and filthy sounding albums and EP's like there is no tomorrow, somehow connected? This is a question we have asked before on these pages but we have come to the conclusion that the question really doesn't need to be answered just so long as the music these bands are making exists. 

Demonio, Anthony (guitar/vocals); Paolo (drums) and Matteo (bass), like their Italian contemporaries Witchsnake, Sonic Demon and Wizard Master, started their life jamming grooves inspired by Black Sabbath and  Electric Wizard, the band putting their own spin on that iconic sound by drowning those grooves in swathes of distortion and fuzz and and by dropping the vocals way back into the mix to allow the music to take centre stage. The sound the band created was loud, doomic and raw but at the same time gloriously uplifting and addictive and was a sound that dominated both their first album "Electric Voodoo" and its follow up EP "Black Dawn". Musicians though have a tendency to want to evolve and so for their latest album, "Reaching For The Light", Demonio have slightly moved away from the doom and embraced a more proto-metallic sound, still raw still loud and still very noisy but leaning a little more towards the screaming lysergic heavy blues rock of  The Jimi Hendrix Experience and  the JPT Scare Band than it does the devastating doom of Electric Wizard.

"Heavy Dose" kicks things off and straight away you notice a difference from that which Demonio served up with their previous releases and that which they deliver with this their new platter. The first thing you notice is that the vocals are clearer and sit a little further forward in the mix, the next thing you will notice is the clarity of the guitars. Much of Anthony's guitar work on previous releases tended to been buried under so much filthy fuzz and distortion that any subtleties in his playing tended to get lost, here though his tones sparkle and shine and cut through the growling bass and thunderous percussion that Matteo and Paolo expertly lay beneath him with a sharpness not previously witnessed on a Demonio release. Demonio prefaced the release of their new album by announcing on their Facebook page that they were "done with the satanic crap" and "Reaching For The Light" is testament to that statement. There are no mentions of horned devil's, demons or ritual sacrifices to be found on songs like "Fire Guru", "Shiva's Dance" or "Death Trip" instead what you get are lyrical celebrations of an alternative lifestyle set against a backdrop of music that pays homage to that period of rock music when the heavy blues of the late 60's started to morph into the hard rock of the mid 70's, a groove we have now come to refer to as proto-metal.   

There will be of course those that will bemoan the fact that Demonio have moved slightly away from their Electric Wizard inspired roots towards a more acid rock/proto-metal sound but the truth of the matter is that Demonio have always been more acid than they have been doom so it could be argued that "Reaching For The Light" is just a natural progression. It's not a progression far removed from the bands original sound but it is a progression nonetheless and one that has resulted in the bands best release to date.

Check it out ... 

© 2023 Frazer Jones

SWAMP DUKES ~ LIVING NIGHTMARES .... review

Strange the things that come to mind when sitting down to write a review. Today we tasked ourselves with penning a few words on an intriguing release we had just discovered from a Serbian trio going by the name Swamp Dukes. The band, Bora Jovanovic (guitars); Stevan Fujto (bass) and Ilija Stefanovic (vocals and harmonica), had just released their debut EP "Living Nightmares" on Bandcamp but the first thought that entered our minds, as we sat down to start our piece, was not how are we going to describe those guitar tones and those distinctive vocals, no the question that plagued us was.. are there any actual swamps in Serbia? Thankfully a quick Google searched revealed that Serbia does indeed have swamps (apparently quite a few of them), which explains not only the bands name but also why the bands sound has such a deliciously swampy dynamic.

Opening number "Southern Cross" begins with the sound of a tolling bell and footsteps treading through water and is followed by some suitably southern flavoured guitar picking and a wonderfully drawled and swampy vocal. This is a song with its roots in the blues but that also resides in the same territories as the modern southern tinted stoner rock of bands like Mississippi Bones, Clutch and Planet of Zeus but do not be surprised however if you also detect a little Creedence Clearwater Revival twang knocking around in there too. Next tune up is "Death House Rescue" an enthralling up-tempo stoner romp boasting rhythms tighter than a gastric band and searing bluesy guitar solos that fire off in all directions beneath a devilishly delicious drawling vocal. Fujto's bass and an expertly programmed drum track (the band currently have no drummer in residence) combine in a wonderfully rhythmic intro for next song "Dig Deeper" then are joined by Jovanovic's guitar in as swaggering, strutting bluesy hard rock groove that reaches another level of swagger when Stefanovic's distinctive grainy baritone joins the fray. "The Devil in the Details" is up next and jams a slightly off-kilter stoner blues groove not unlike something QOTSA's Josh Homme might have toyed with on one of his "Desert Sessions" projects while final song "The Voice of Void" rounds things of nicely with crunchy southern fried blues riffs and equally bluesy guitar solos delivered beneath a superb ear catching vocal melody, the songs gradual fade out bringing to an end an EP that has been an absolute joyful listening experience from start to finish.

"From the depths of the swamp come the Dukes to stone your brains to another dimension" is the legend that accompanies this release, as well as a statement telling us that the band are "just old pals who love to play together and share the music with the crowd"  Old pals wishing to share or stone braining swamp dwellers these guys play some mean sounding grooves worthy of investigation.

Check 'em out .... 

© 2023 Frazer Jones

TERRA BLACK ~ ALL DESCEND .... review

Sweden is held in such high esteem within the stoner, doom and psych community that those of us who are constantly searching for new music, on sites like Bandcamp and Spotify, feel almost compelled to check out anything that bears the country's name. Of course not everything that comes out of Sweden is going to blow your socks off but the Swedes do seem to have a knack of hitting the back of the net more often than they hit the post. That net was more than rippled recently with the release of Swedish outfit Terra Black's "All Descend", a scintillating collection of songs that blend crushing stoner/doom heaviness with the sort of  majestic ethereal elegance usually only found in certain forms of progressive folk metal and pagan themed occult rock.

Desert Psychlist has to confess that along with our love of all things doomic and heavy we also have a soft spot for the folk tinted progressive metal of British bands like Karnataka, Mostly Autumn and Panic Room, three bands often wrongly tagged as "symphonic metal". So why are we revealing this guilty pleasure now you may ask, well the reason is that Sweden's Terra Black combine their crunching doomic riffs and thunderous rhythms with essences that can be found in all three of those bands, Denice (bass); Sophie (drums); Isak (guitars/vocals) and Ezgi (vocals/guitar) may love to lay down thick reverberating guitar refrains and pummelling drum patterns but they are also not averse to taking things in a more otherworldly, ethereal direction either. Ezgi's vocals might not have quite the full range of elegance of a Heather Findlay (ex-Mostly Autumn) or a Anne Marie Helder (ex-Karnataka/Panic Room) but her vocals reside in somewhat similar territory, fragile and fey in the lower register and soaring and magnificent at the top end of her range. As we stated earlier heaviness is a a major factor in Terra Black's sound, and on songs like "Asteroid", "Black Flames of Funeral Fire", "Spawn of Lyssa" and "Slumber Grove" that heaviness is pushed to the fore with Ezgi's, crunching chord work locking in tight with Denice's growling bass and Sophie's powerhouse drumming to create a variety of doomic groove that Isak then decorates with searing and tasteful lead guitar as well as occasional lead and backing vocals. The real beauty of this album however are those moments when the heaviness momentarily subsides and the band drift into a more laid back and occult(ish) dynamic as on the sublime "Ashes and Dust" and the atmospheric "Divinest Sin", songs that perfectly highlight not only Terra Black's heaviness but also their lightness of touch.

Songs full to brimming over with lyrical content referencing witchcraft and astronomy might lead some to lumping Terra Black in with occult rockers like Wucan, Blood Ceremony and bands of that ilk but Terra Black's music is far heavier, far more dense and far more intense than anything those bands have released in the past, or might do in the future, What Terra Black bring to the alter with "All Descend" is an edgy doom, a heavy dank doom infused with subtle textures of folk, prog and post metal that can just as easily brush your cheek with a manicured finger as it can smash your nose to a pulp with a heavily ringed fist.

Check 'em out ....

 

© 2023 Frazer Jones