STARBURNER ~ STARBURNER EP ....review

Intricate, complex music is all well and good when your in the mood for some deep thought and reflection but there are times when you just want to kick over a few tables and throw a chair or two around and for that you need some good ol' in your face, aggressive grooves. Well if that describes your current state of mind and musical need then look no further than Starburner's self titled debut EP "Starburner".

Anger is often a short lived emotion bursting forth suddenly from somewhere within and then dissipating almost as soon as it has been released, much like the four songs that make up "Starburner", Starburner (the band) deal in short sharp blasts of molten stoner metal that hit you hard and hit you heavy, blasts laced with elements of doom and hard rock fronted by raucous larynx tearing vocals. Songs like "Palms", with it's addictive chorus, powerful drumming and wah drenched solo's, "GTI", with its pacey hard driving groove and "Slow Obsession", with its swinging vocal line are delivered with a feral ferocity that at times is overwhelming but are balanced out with little subtle touches of bluesy/hard rock guitar colouring. Even when the band  ease up on the ferocity, as on the relatively slow, low and doom drenched penultimate title track "Starburner", such is the undercurrent of simmering malevolence boiling just beneath  its surface that the listener is left with a feeling that this  song could at any minute explode into another onslaught of anger and aggression.

Powerful, short and to the point and heavy without being overly brutal  "Starburner" is an EP that smacks the listener hard round the face, leaving an imprint that'll take a long time to fade and will leave a lasting memory.
Check it out ...
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© 2017 Frazer Jones

DR. COLOSSUS ~ THE DANK ..... review

Imagine waking up in an operating theatre to find yourself surrounded not by white suited surgeons trying to save your life but by three hairy stoners trying to slay you with their raucous fuzz drenched grooves, frightened and alone you then scream for a doctor only to see all three turn as one and utter the words...."Yes!". Sound like a scene from "The Simpsons"? Well you could be closer than you think!
Dr. Jon (guitar/vocals), Dr. Love (bass/vocals) and Dr. Johnston (drums) are Dr. Colossus a trio hailing from Melbourne, Australia who use America's yellow tinted dysfunctional cartoon family "The Simpsons" as the inspiration  for their brand of fuzz drenched riff'n'roll, something that on paper sounds a little ridiculous but in reality strangely works. The band have just recently released their latest album (or should that be episode) "The Dank"(Death Mountain Records).

"Thrillho" opens things with a slow throbbing doom riff over which reflective, woe is me type lyrics are sung from the viewpoint of Bart Simpson's long suffering best friend Milhouse. Dr, Jon's clean, strong vocals ooze with a knowing resignation of goals unattainable as he sings "My best friends sis, wanna kiss her sexy lips" against a backdrop of (Jacques) Brel-like vaudevillian melancholy and fuzz drenched stoner swagger.
"Future Bart" struts straight out of the starting blocks on a swirling circular guitar refrain supported by Dr. Love's spine-crumbling bass and Dr. Johnston's pulverising percussion. The song's doom desert groove and vocal refrain of "I wash myself with a rag on a stick" harks back to a Simpson's episode where Bart is shown his future and finds sister Lisa has become President of America and Bart is a failed musician forced to eek a living playing gigs at a beach bar.
"It's Still Good" echoes the mantra Homer voices as he chases a pig he was cooking  all over Springfield on a mobile barbecue after vegetarian Lisa has pushed it downhill. The song sees Dr.Jon and Dr, Love trading off vocals over a crunching stoner groove and has an almost "pop" feel to it owing to its addictive chorus and fresh bright dynamics.
"Dr. Colossus" follows and sees the band veering towards darker territory telling the story of Springfield's very own mad scientist over a soundtrack of menacing low slow grinding riffage and pulverising rhythms coated in a mixture of low,sinister and clean, roared vocals.
"Excellent" is an ode to the Simpson's resident all round not so nice guy "Mr.Burns"set to a backdrop of crunching desert groove taken to an epic close on a swathe of discordant guitar riffage.
"Holy Driver" utilises a throbbing, heavily distorted bass line as the anchor for a growling stoner riff fest that along the way references the great Ronnie James Dio in snatches of melody and phrasing.
"Lemonade" with it's "Eat my shorts" vocal refrain and totally addictive groove is one of the highlights of the album, Built around a rumbling bass and guitar refrain perfectly supported by Dr. Johnston's tight economic percussion the song rolls along with an understated menace yet retains that tongue in cheek humour that colours all the bands work both on this album and their previous work.
"Dr. Tongue" closes the album with a doom flecked ode to lust, loss and infatuation edged with a bluesy swagger and contains the immortal lines  "I don't believe it but now my pants are chaffing me" .....pure poetry.

Some might see Dr. Colossus's Simpson's themes  as being a tad gimmicky but with so many bands writing songs about a cloven hoofed man with horns and a forked tail, who also only appears in books and on screen, then that argument falls a little flat. Desert Psychlist's advice is to just listen with an open mind and enjoy.
Check 'em out ...

© 2017 Frazer Jones

THE BLACK WIZARDS ~ WHAT THE FUZZ! ..... review

Portuguese fuzz'n'rollers The Black Wizards will be no strangers to those who prefer their grooves a touch psychedelic, a touch fuzzy and a whole lot bluesy. The quartet of  Joana Brito (vocals, guitar), Paulo Ferreira (guitar), João Mendes (bass, acoustic guitar) and Helena Peixoto (drums, congas, backing vocals) have previously released one very impressive EP, "Fuzzadelic" and one equally impressive album "Lake of Fire" both of which were very well received by critics and fans alike. The band are now hoping for a similar reaction for their second and latest album "What The Fuzz!" (Raging Planet).

The incredibly short and noisy "Side by Side" is the intro by which you enter into The Black Wizards world of bluesy torch songs, raucous riff fuelled rockers and fuzz drenched jams and it's a world you will want to dwell in for some time. From the achingly beautiful "Freaks and Geeks" where Brito's majestic vocals soar and swoop over a backdrop of searing slow blues groove. through to the country edged gospel feel of  "Everything Is Good Until Trouble Comes" the listener is treated to a masterclass in fuzz edged delta groove and bluesy vocal pyrotechnics. Brito's vocals throughout "What The Fuzz!" are revelation, the guitarist/ vocalist's natural vibrato adding a unique edge to her powerful tones, the singer using it as a tool to add extra layers of texture to each songs lyrics coming across at times like a female version of (British 70's rock band) Family's vocalist Roger Chapman but a whole lot easier on the ear. The Black Wizards are not all about one members vocal gymnastics however and beneath that voice the listener will find a band of musicians who are wholly on top of their game. Ferreira compliments Brito's vocals and crunching powerchords with scorching lead work, his solo's and riffs filled with emotion and feel taking off soaring flights of fancy one minute laying out with intricate fills and licks the next. Every band needs a good rhythm section to drive its grooves and The Black Wizards have a superb one in Mendes and Peixoto,  Mendes holding down the bottom end with a mixture of bone shaking distorted riffs and liquid clean lines and motifs while Peixoto brings a natural Latin swing to both her drumming and assorted percussion, the pair together laying solid foundations for Brito and Ferreira to build upon.

"What The Fuzz!" is a fine album delivered with a high level of musicianship and packed with a range of blues rooted songs that run from the stonerized to the countrified, paying homage to the genres history while at the same time giving it well needed shot in the arm.
Check it out ...

© 2017 Frazer Jones

OWL COVEN ~ COSMIC VOID EP ... review

Slow, low and heavy is the dynamic that many of us associate with the genres of sludge metal and doom, these more sedate tempos and lower tunings somehow amplifying the music's intensity and depth in a way that standard tuning and brighter dynamics would struggle to emulate.
France's Owl Coven know a thing or two about dynamics, the Nantes quartet use them to create huge monstrous rumbling grooves of sludge tinted doom flecked with pinches of psychedelic colouring and occult texturing, two examples of which can be heard on the band s debut EP "Cosmic Void"

"Wanderer of the Cosmic Void" opens with the obligatory narrative soundbyte lifted from some classic horror movie, something that seems to be mandatory these days, beneath which a reverberating guitar arpeggio is gently and slowly picked. As the song slowly evolves the guitar is joined by sporadic bursts from bass and drums embellished with Gregorian-like vocal chanting before guitar, bass and drums all come together and the songs drifts into a low, slow heavy doom groove with the vocals shifting from monk like to demonic. Now there are those that rail against harsh vocals but here mixed low down amidst a tsunami of swirling, psychedelic morosity they work perfectly and give the song a feeling of epic magnitude.
"Dying Mammoth" begins with swirling wind like effects then segues into a sludge heavy desert groove over which glistening shards of chordal guitar colouring sporadically erupt like lightning illuminating a black sky. Buried within this maelstrom of sound rasping, chanted vocals tell of  "Mountains made of concrete" and "Modern altars built to ancient demons", a damning verdict ,set to a soundtrack of unrelenting heaviness, bemoaning  mans unstoppable quest to destroy his only habitat. The song then takes flight into an extended jam with bluesy guitar solo's swooping and swaying over a foundation of earth-shaking bass and pummelling percussion before finishing with another soundbyte, this one very apt and simply stating "One day, sooner or later, you will remember my words"

Atmospheric and strangely spiritual "Cosmic Void" is a superb debut from a band who are unafraid to bring a little social commentary and self analysis to a genre of music renowned for its obsessions with the macabre and dismal, and that alone deserves our applause.
Check it out....

© 2017 Frazer Jones

COMACOZER ~ KALOS EIDOS SKOPEO ... review

Sydney, Australia's Comacozer raised the bar high with their 2016 release "Astra Planeta" an instrumental album brimming over with eastern tinted mystic vibes and swirling heavy psych grooviness, the albums scorching guitar fuelled grooves scoring a minor triumph for non-vocalised rock music.  The problem with releasing an album with such a strong sonic impact is that its always going to beg the question "how are we going to follow this?" Well with the release of their latest album "Kalos Eidos Skopeo" we are about to find out.

The first thing the listener will notice when giving "Kalos Eidos Skopeo" a spin is there is an undeniable heaviness to the proceedings, a heaviness that although present on previous outing "Astra Planeta" here seems to be magnified. Whether the band have been listening to a steady diet of Ufomammut and other bands in that vein, Desert Psychlist knows not, but there is definitely a grittier, more intense feeling to be found amongst the four epic sized grooves that make up this new album. This heavier feel is most evident on the albums opening track "Axix Mundi" a hypnotising doom tinted slow burner, briefly broken by a deliciously lysergic mid section ,that gradually grows in depth and intensity, adding little subtle layers, as it wends its way to its noisy fuzz drenched climax.  Ambience and tranquillity, however, are never far behind in the world of Comacozer  and these two elements are used to great effect on the superbly eclectic "Enuma Elish" a track that sees guitarist Rick Burke laying down a swathe of psychedelic textured  six-string colouring around Frank Attard's swirling array of synthesised keyboard effects ably supported by Rich Elliot's deep booming bass lines and Andrew "Pana" Panagopoulos's complex drum patterns that then erupts into gnarly fuzz drenched refrain that the listener will not want to end.
Between these two tracks of essential heavy psych reside "Nystagmus" and "Hylonomus", the former a moody eastern flavoured piece that finds Burke gently picking effect pedalled arpeggios over Pana's intricate jazzy percussive patterns that are perfectly underscored by Elliot's thrumming bass motif and Attard's swooping synthesised effects, the latter a lysergic romp through the cosmos that suddenly takes off into a stratospheric space/psych jam that in places recalls the more rockier moments of British psych/prog/rave exponents Ozric Tentacles

The Eastern/North African themes Comacozer explored on "Astra Planeta" are still in evidence on "Kalos Eidos Skopeo" but this time around the band have edged them with an element of gritty darkness, the band finding a balance between the exotic and the brutal that is both intoxicating and exhilarating.
Check it out....

© 2017 Frazer Jones

RED MOUNTAINS ~ SLOW WANDER .. review

Norway has always been a source of the slightly left of centre, the quirky and the unusual when it comes to music something that becomes glaringly evident when you delve into the nations diverse and varied rock scene. Whether its because of the strange array of  midnight sun and short daylight hours, that is the countries norm, or that there are still strands of Viking Bezerker running through the peoples DNA Desert Psychlist is not sure but there is something about Norwegian rock that is just that little bit different.
Red Mountains, Simen Mathiassen (Drums), Sverre Dalen (Bass), Jostein Wigenstad (Guitar) and Magnus Riise (Guitar / Vocal) , from Trondheim are no exception to that particular rule, the quartet bringing to the table a blend of lysergic grooviness and desert swagger, overlaid with clean, clear vocal melodies, that although easy on the ear has an element of dissonance and disharmony bubbling just beneath its surface,  the band creating a strange and exhilarating mixture of the sweet and sour that can be both soothing and jarring in equal measure, as can be witnessed on the bands latest opus "Slow Wander"

"Slow Wander" is a very apt title for an album that does exactly what it says on the tin, songs like opener "Home" with it's superb lilting vocal delivery underpinned by solid thundering percussion, the atmospheric "Acid Wedding" with it's slow plodding doom-ish undercurrent  and "Endless Ocean" with it's prog meets indie psych groove and lysergic guitar textures, are paced not at a stoner gallop but at a more sedate gait allowing listeners the time to fully appreciate and absorb the subtle shifts in tempo and time, colour and texture the songs take on their respective journey's. Mathiassen's mix of intricate and brutal percussion and Dalen's thrumming bass lines are the foundation around which Wigenstad and Riise lay a plethora of six-string colouring, the guitarists using a variety of tricks and effects to fill the spaces the rhythm section leave for them. It is this guitar pairing that is the secret to Red Mountains sound, the two guitarists unafraid to use atonality and disharmony as tools with which to colour their riffs and solo's, mixing them in equal measure with melody and harmony to create a sound that is slightly off kilter and wrong but at the same time is melodic and right. Add into this slightly off/on musical equation Riise's perfectly pitched clean vocal tones and the whole thing all comes together perfectly.
Check it out .....

© 2017 Frazer Jones

OLDE ~ TEMPLE .... review

Toronto's Olde, the brainchild of guitarist/producer Greg Dawson, came into existence not as a bunch of friends who decided forming a band would be a good way of getting women and drugs and not either as like-minded musicians who bumped into each other on a regular basis and decided to do something together, the truth is these guys had never even set eyes on each other before, not even when recording their parts for the bands debut "I", the musicians coming separately to the studio to add their contributions on the strength of the demos Dawson had sent out to each and every one of them. The  prospective members, Ryan Aubin (drums), Chris Hughes (guitars), Cory McCallum (bass) and Doug McLarty (vocals) eventually met on guitarist Dawson's driveway and thankfully hit it off, and so Olde, as a proper living breathing collective, were born. The band followed up "I" with "Shallow Graves" a four song EP that cemented them in peoples minds as a band on a mission and a band with something to say and have recently recorded and released their second full length album "Temple" (STB Records).

Olde describe what they did on "I" and "Shallow Graves" as "an exercise in force and restraint" and in the most part this stands true of "Temple" as well but that's not to say there are not elements of subtle progression and musical muscle flexing to be found amongst the seven songs that make up "Temple". The bands modus operandi of short sharp bursts of hardcore tinted doom are stretched a little further here with Aubin and McCallum laying down swathes of  pulverising bass and drum driven groove over which Dawson and Hughes adorn with dark crunching downtuned riffage and searing non-indulgent guitar solo's ,all topped off with McLarty's gruff, larynx shredding vocals. From the in your face, pacey aggression of "Subterfuge" to the slow ,low and grindingly menacing refrains of "Castaway" there is hardly a moment for the listener to take a breath as the band lurch from one gnarled refrain to another managing never to repeat themselves while maintaining a level of intensity that at times can feel exhausting yet at the same time exhilarating. The band do step out of their safety zone on occasions as on "Now I See You" with it's proto-doom/metal-like groove and addictive vocal meter and on the excellent "Maelstrom" which uses clever touches of bluesy guitar colouring to make its presence felt, on the whole though its the full on, foot to the pedal, fuzz drenched stoner metal and intense sludge tinted doom played with intensity and passion that makes listening to "Temple" such a worthwhile audial experience.
.Check it out ....

© 2017 Frazer Jones