HOREHOUND ~ HOLOCENE ..... review

Doom comes in many flavours these days from the gothic tinted traditional/epic through stonerized  and occult all the way to the extreme and blackened but there are not many bands that touch base with all them...until now.
Pennsylvannia's Horehound are that rare animal, a band who can comfortably flitter in and out of  doom's sub-genres and niches without losing sense of their own groove and sound, a band who understand doom and all its essences and who are unafraid to explore them all. Not convinced this is possible, well give their latest release "Holocene"(Doom Stew Records) a spin and find out for yourselves.

The big doom build up we alluded to in this reviews intro is slightly negated by the gentle acoustic guitar picking that introduces first track "The Kind" but it is not long before the gentle plucking of nylon strings, jazzy percussive chops and organic sounding bass lines are replaced by a wall of crunching chords, growling bottom end and thunderous drumming. Huge sounding and with a groove deeper than an ocean trench "The Kind" is further enhanced by the strong and distinctive tones of vocalist Shy Kennedy her voice, especially in the songs chorus with its call and response vocal hook, the glistening cherry sitting atop a dark dank soufflé of doomic delight. "Dier's Delight" follows and finds the band blending their heavy doomic attack with alt-rock/grunge asthetics and post-rock colourings while "L'appel du Vide" toys with aspects of occult rock and winds them, courtesy of Brendan Parrish's excellent guitar work, around eastern motifs before suddenly taking off into blackened territory with Kennedy swapping her ethereal voicings for a more guttural, demonic tones. JD Dauer's powerful slow and deliberate percussion combines perfectly with Nick Kopco's thrumming, grizzled bass to lay the foundations for nest track "The Sloth" a song that finds Kennedy pitching her vocals a little lower and darker and in doing so ramps up the songs epic/traditional doom feel. "Anastatica" stays within the epic/traditional territory of the previous track but has a slightly deeper emotive feel, something reflected in what feels like a deeply personal  lyric. "Highball" closes out "Holocene" in a sublime sea of atmospheric stoner doom with Kennedy reverting back to ethereal to give her best vocal performance of the album.

Desert Psychlist could go on for ever on why you should check out "Holocene" and its amalgam of doomic delights but instead we will steal this little snippet from Horehound's Facebook bio  … Fans have described Horehound as, “fucking heavy, doomy, catchy, and downright amazing.”... says it all really.
Check 'em out ….


© 2018 Frazer Jones

HYPERMORTAL ~ THE MOTIVE POWER OF FIRE ..... review

As Desert Psychlist has stated in the past one of the best things about this whole reviewing lark is when something suddenly comes out of the ether, seemingly from nowhere, and blows you right out of your socks. This is how it felt today when, while perusing the latest releases on Bandcamp's "Heavy Psych" pages, Desert Psychlist came across an interesting piece of artwork and decided to delve a little deeper, what we discovered was a little gem of swirling heavy psych from a band called Hypermortal.
Hypermortal, Travis Baker (drums and percussion), Daniel Glascock (bass, vocals, sitar, synthesizers) and Samuel Piper (guitar), hail from Lawrence, Kansas and have just released one of the most interesting and exhilarating "psych" releases of this rapidly dwindling year with "The Motive Power of Fire"

"The Motive Power of Fire" begins in mystic eastern style with "Lapis Lazuli" a sprawling ten minute opus full of  swooping, swishing synthesesiser that swirls dervish-like around an insistant vocal mantra, the band taking off on a hundred and one different tangents, incorporating as they do so a heady mix of gentle tinkling percussion and dissonant guitar colouring. "Entropy" follows, a song with a strong Spirit vibe that would of had the late Randy California grinning like a loon in admiration. "Microchip" is up next its stuttering bass heavy groove is complimented by smooth slightly echoed vocals and an array of superbly executed guitar solo's. "Gulf of Pestilance" ramps up the bands psych quotient with an instrumental that although tethered by Baker and Glascock's solid underlying bass and drum groove really reaches for the stars in the guitar department with Piper.at times sounding like he's discovered a whole new music scale. The band change tac a little for next track "Space and Time", initially diving into a bluesy psych groove decorated with an ultra cool vocal melody then closing out with a spacey psych jam. "The Void" rounds up "The Motive Power of Fire" and finds the band hitting into a gritty, jerky and addictive spluttering groove that at only two minutes thirty five seconds finishes far too soon.

Hypermortal's "The Motive Power of Fire" takes the 60's psychedelic experimentations of bands like the The Byrds, Spirit and Quicksilver Messenger Service and blend them with the gritty, heavier dynamics of more modern psych bands like Seven That Spells and Druid, creating a sound and groove that is both lysergic and fluid yet at the same time solid and heavy.
Check it out …..

© 2018 Frazer Jones

CAPTAIN CARAVAN ~ SHUN THE SUN .... review

Usually, when reviewing a band hailing from Norway, Desert Psychlist starts off with a little verbal riffing about how underground rock music from that country has a quirky, off centre dynamic. This time around we can't really use that tried and tested intro as the band in question, Captain Caravan, are a straight down the line stoner/classic/hard rock combo with more bite than a Grey Wolf, something you can check out for yourselves by spinning their debut album "Shun The Sun" (Vinyl release via Cursed Tongue Records, due 2019, digital formats available now via Bandcamp, Spotify and all the usual digital outlets)

"Old school" is a term we all use from time to time to describe music that has it's roots in the past and there is no denying that the grooves executed by Captain Caravan on "Shun The Sun"  have a very distinctive 70's vibe, however that is not something to be ashamed of within the stoner/hard rock fraternity, in fact given that the whole stoner rock scene and its many offshoots has been founded on what has gone before means being called "old school" could now very well be considered a badge of honour. Captain Caravan, Geir Solli (bass), Johnny Olsen (vocal), Morten Skogen (drums) and BK Sæstad (guitar). make no bones about the influences that have formed their sound and nor, as listeners, should we. especially as the sound these guys make together is some of the finest heavy "classic" orientated rock that has come out of Norway in a long time.. Another feather in the bands cap is managing to get studio maestro and Wo Fat guitarist/vocalist Kent Stump to put the finishing touches to "Shun The Sun", his renowned mixing skills giving songs like "Illusion of Meaning", "Zombie Machine" and "Book of Oblivion" not only a huge bombastic feel but also a clarity often not associated with albums released under the underground rock banner. Musicianship throughout "Shun The Sun" is of the highest calibre with sterling performances from all involved,  Sæstad's guitar when not tearing out searing solo's splutters and crunches with raucous chordal colouring while Solli's booming growling bass,combines with Skogen's punchy, powerful percussion to form a backdrop of solid. tight rhythm many bands would give their right arms for. Over this groovalicious foundation of swaggering heavy rock Olsen contributes gritty strong and powerful vocals, telling the bands stories with unbridled passion in tones dripping with gravitas.

Captain Caravan's "Shun The Sun" may be considered "old school" heavy rock and it may have its roots set in a era long past but honestly there are moments here when Captain Caravan's "old school" out shines some of those "old school" bands back when they were the "new school" if that makes any sense!

Check it out …. 

© 2018 Frazer Jones

GODS OF SPACE ~ TIL HUMAN VOICES WAKE US .... review

Wilkes- Barre. Pennsylvania trio Gods of Space, Matt Hannon (bass), Tommy Pudimott (drums) and Jacob Waxmonsky (guitars/vocals), are what some might call an epic doom band, however the doom Gods of Space bring to the table is unlike anything you may have heard before in this genre, something their latest release "Til Human Voices Wake Us" more than bears testimony to.

The core of Gods of Space's musical attack has its foundations set firmly in the ground once ploughed and tilled by the likes of Candlemass, Solitude Aeturnus and Lord Vicar, a deep dark and dank doom sound with a gothic edge that often gets labelled as "epic"or "traditional". Gods of Space are, however, a child of the now rather than the then and so the trio bring things up to date by filling their atmospheric grooves not with stories of demon's, witches and sacrificial altars but with tales that are relevant to the world we live in today, or as the band themselves put it .."Tales of mankind causing chaos, madness, and ruin unto themselves while losing touch with what make us human.". 

From the deep droning intro of "Beyond The Time Barrier" through to the Floydian tinted atmospheric instrumental "Infinite Burn Ride" listeners are treated to a masterclass in modern traditional/epic doom with scorching guitar solo's, deep reverberating bass lines, complex percussive patterns and strong gothic tinted vocals all coming together to paint swirling portraits of a world staring skywards at the stars while standing on a planet in turmoil.

Epic/traditional doom is not so much "in vogue" these days but Gods of Space don't give a rats ass what is "in vogue". The band, with "Til Human Voices Wake Us", drag the sub genre's decaying body out of the dark recesses it has been hiding in and, with the help of a little Hawkwind-esque spacial swirl, breath renewed life into it. 

Check it out …. 

© 2018 Frazer Jones

COMANCHET ~ CXXXVIII .... .review

Mexico's Comanchet count among their influences such hard rock and metal luminaries as Mastodon, Red Fang, Whores, High On Fire and of course Black Sabbath so it comes as no surprise that Comanchet's latest release "CXXXVIII" references some of those influences in its grooves. Comanchet however are no fools and are not a band content to just mimic the sound of their heroes, over the course of the four songs that makeup "CXXXVIII" they prove that even if a band is, to some extent, a product of its influences its music can still sound fresh, vital and exciting.

Slow, low and dialled in dank is the first impression, as "CXXXVIII's" first track "Desconocido" lurches menacingly out of the speakers, but then the tempo increases and the song moves from doomic into something a little more proto-metallic and stonerized that is then overlaid with thick, deep throaty vocals (sang in Spanish). "Garabato" takes the doomic qualities of the previous track and ramps them up ten fold by adding a touch of stonerized metallic oomph to the mix along the way while third track "Taarna" finds Comanchet shifting into full on stoner mode with a groove that swings harder than a piñata in a wind tunnel. The band finish off proceedings with "Aquelarre" a song that pulls all the Comanchet's influences into one song, the band cramming elements of metallic prog, swampy sludge and whatever else they can find into just under six minutes of mind-blowing and intense heavy groove.

Music as good , as exciting and as groovalicious as Comanchet's "CXXXVIII" cannot be, should not be, held back by borders or fences. Mr Trump might build a wall to try to stop the Mexican people from crossing into the USA but music this good will always find its way over.
Check it out …..

© 2018 Frazer Jones

CRANEIUM ~ THE NARROW LINE .... review

Craneium, Andreas Kaján (vocals & guitars), Martin Ahlö (vocals & guitars), Joel Kronqvist (drums) and Jonas Ridberg (bass), have been about, in one form or another, since 2011 and in that time the Finnish combo have earned a reputation as a solid go to for mellow sounding desert/stoner rock with a little bit of bite in its back pockets. Their latest release "The Narrow Line"(Ripple Music) finds the band expanding their reputation further with an album that not only will please those denizens of the underground rock scene but if the wind blows in the right direction could even see them pulling in a few listeners from the mainstream.

Craneium deal in fuzzy stoner rock but are not a band who are going to make your ears bleed with the sheer volume of their grooves. they are also a band who toy with elements of psych and doom but again these guys are not going to take you the outer extremes of the cosmos or summon up a demon, Craneium are a band who attack you with stealth rather than bludgeoning you over the head, the quartet laying down grooves that creep up on their listeners slowly, seducing them with a unique blend of crunching riffage and gentle melodies that they then overlay with clean mellow harmonies. This is not to say that Craneium don't rock out, there are moments on "The Narrow Line" where the band kick out the jams with raucous abandon, it's just that their rocking out has a more tempered, almost considerate dynamic that makes a pleasant change from the usual in your face attack we tend to come across in the underground rock scene. There were times during listening to "The Narrow Line" that 70's cult icons Wishbone Ash came to mind, not in sound but in the structure of songs like "I'm Your Demon" and "The Soothsayer", the band balancing out the more grittier elements of their sound with a more gentle approach adding to those elements of doom and psych, mentioned earlier, a melodic sometimes almost folk-rock edge.

Like Wishbone Ash could be considered the "Yang" to the "Ying" of bands like Sabbath and Zeppelin then it could also be argued that Craneium might also be considered the equivalent "Yang" to the likes of say Mothership or Graveyard, still as relevant just a little mellower. "The Narrow Line" is, in Desert Psychlist's humble opinion, Craneium's best release to date and in a perfect world should see them reaching a wider international audience, whether that will happen is in the lap of the gods but if it does then they, on the strength of this album, more than deserve it.
Check it out ….

© 2018 Frazer Jones

ARCADIAN CHILD ~ SUPERFONICA ... review

When Cypriot psychonauts Arcadian Child quietly released their debut album "Afterglow" in 2017 they were not expecting the levels of appreciation and praise about to be heaped upon them by the movers and shakers of the underground press, it seemed that everyone and their dog was digging what these sons of Limassol were attempting with their diverse blend of psych, prog and hard rock. Now all this appreciation and praise does cause a problem for a band, a level of expectation now arises and those that hailed your last release are expecting, if not something more magnificent, then at least something on an equal par. Well that time has come around and Arcadian Child are about to release their second album "Superfonica" (Ripple Music, 23 November 2018) so let's see what they've got....

"Bain Marie" kicks off "Superfonica", its initial retro sounding guitar intro heralding a pulsating, throbbing psychedelic groove interspersed with swirling guitar motifs over which effortless clean mellow and smooth vocals, not so much soar, but float majestically. "Twist Your Spirit" follows and already Desert Psychlist is warming to the direction this latest album is taking especially when the songs strident hard rock groove suddenly morphs into heady laid back ambience with its violining guitar effects giving proceedings a sweeping orchestral feel. "Brothers", "Constellations" and "Painting" all follow much the same heady lysergic paths with the latter boasting an absolutely stunning vocal, "She Flows" steers a little too close to Coldplay territory at times but that is only a minor quibble and the band more than make up for that with the albums next two tracks "Before We Die" and "The March", the former an atmospheric slow grower delivered in hushed vocal tones over swirling guitars and an insistent rhythmic beat, the latter taking things to a close on an Eastern tinted groove underpinned by liquid bass, tribal percussion and Arabian flavoured guitar colouring all coated in an uber delicious vocal.

"Afterglow" was always going to be a hard act to follow but Arcadian Child have stepped up to the plate with "Superfonica" and knocked the ball way out of the park, stunning stuff!
Check it out ….

© 2018 Frazer Jones