DESERT SMOKE ~ KARAKUM .... review

Portugal is not a country that we tend to mention too much when talking about the underground rock scene on an international level, but the Mediterranean country, clinging on at the western borders of Spain, is not without its share of very good bands happily flying the underground flag. Dollar Llama, and more recently, Heavy Cross of Flowers have both made sizable splashes on the international scene and there are many more waiting in the wings hoping for their chance to shine. One Portuguese band hoping for their moment in the spotlight are a little combo from Lisbon going by the name of Desert Smoke. Desert Smoke, André Pedroso Rocha on guitar, João Romao on guitar, João Nogueira on bass and Claudio 'Pidgeon' Aurélio on drums, jam grooves that weave together elements of swirling space rock and lysergic laced heavy psych to create a sound that takes the listener to places they didn't know they could go to, so why not grab a bag and the bands new album "Karakum" and allow Desert Smoke to take you with them on a one way trip to instrumental heaven.

Without doubt the first thing that will come to mind, as intro "Smoke One" billows out of your speakers/headphones on a wave of swirling swooping sound effects, will be Hawkwind but although there are plenty of Hawkwind-esque moments on "Karakum" it cannot be said that Desert Smoke are in anyway attempting to emulate those space rock grooves of yesteryear. Desert Smoke's grooves come from a much deeper, heavier and trippier place than those of Dave Brock's space cowboys something that following track "Darvaz" more than testifies too."Darvaz" erupts out of the speakers with muscular riffs fuzzed and crunching then proceeds to go everywhere all at once with the two guitarists laying down a scorching array of screaming, screeching solo's, expertly steered from beneath by some outstanding deep growling bass work and industrious thundering percussion. "Solar Jam" follows and begins with chilled and hazy sounding guitar tones floating over shimmering percussion and deep liquid bass lines, the song slowly building in momentum until taking off into the cosmos on wave after wave of lysergic laced guitar pyrotechnics, the band gradually easing off the throttle and bringing the listener back to earth by reverting once again to the humble relaxed fusion groove of its beginnings. "Mystic Lunar" opens with a superbly executed circular bass motif that is then joined by the guitars and drums in a groove that is part desert rock, part Ozric Tentacles style progressive rave rock and 100% breathtaking instrumental grooviness.. Desert Smoke close out the album with "Gate of Karakum" a scintillating heady tour-de-force that ebbs and flows between hazy ambience and full on lysergic heaviness.

Desert Psychlist hates using that tired old cliché "journey" when describing music but its damn hard to think of another word when trying to put into words the experience of listening to Desert Smoke's "Karakum", it is without a doubt "a journey" and it is one you will want to revisit again and again.
Check it out ….

© 2019 Frazer Jones

ALUNAH ~ VIOLET HOUR ..... review

After a run of outstanding occult tinted doom albums Birmingham's Alunah's upward trajectory almost came to a shuddering halt when founding member vocalist/guitarist Sophie Day announced her retirement from the band, Day was the bands main lyricist and with her distinctive voice she was very much the focal point of the bands live shows. Replacing Day was going to be a big ask but thankfully the band found the perfect replacement in, former Bear Legs, vocalist/guitarist Sian Greenaway, not only did Greenaway possess similar vocal tones to Day she had just as strong a stage prescence. The band soon got down to writing for their new line up and soon discovered  that Greenaway was not only a powerful vocalist but she was also an accomplished lyricist, the new member was proving to be quite the asset. After testing the waters on the live circuit Alunah decamped to the studio to record "Amber & Gold" a four song EP that included three new songs and a stunning cover of Chris Issak's "Wicked Game", the EP garnered good reviews from all the right quarters and things were looking promising for the Birmingham combo. This year, and quite out of the blue, Alunah announced that founding guitarist David Day was leaving to pursue a life outside of music, for any other band losing another founding member would be a disaster but the band hardly missed a stride and the news that he was leaving was almost immediately followed by the news that Dean Ashton, who had previously been plying his trade with metal legends Diamond Head, was his replacement. Fast forward a few months and the revised line up of the band who had been working on new songs, headed into the studio to record  their new album "Violet Hour".Will the loss of two original members have had a huge impact on Alunah's core sound, we'll let you make your own minds up.

Things get off to promising start with opening track " Trapped and Bound", old fans will be pleased to hear that Alunah's hallmark sound of huge resounding refrains driven by thunderous rhythms are all still in place but may be intrigued by the slightly more commercial feel of Greenaway's vocal melodies. For some older fans this ever so slight shift towards a more mainstream sound maybe the straw that breaks the camels back however we at Desert Psychlist find the fact that there are still bands out there writing songs that are satisfyingly heavy and intense yet still pleasingly hummable to be quite refreshing. "Dance of Deceit" follows in much the same vein as its predecessor,  Ashton's heavily distorted and fuzzed guitar crunching out thrumming powerchords and dark swirling solo's over and around a backdrop of growling bass and crushing percussion, expertly supplied by Dan Burchmore (bass) and Jake Mason (drums).It is Greenaway's vocals however that will stay the longest in the listeners memory, her vocal range,slightly wider than her predecessors, possess enough tonal similarities to Day's to ensure that Alunah's core sound. which is the reason why we all came here, has not been compromised. "Hunt" follows and jams a slightly more atmospheric and brooding groove, Greenaway's vocal, occasionally backed by Ashton, sounds huge here and combined with the songs dark menacing refrains and pulsating rhythmic groove gives the song an epic almost grandiose feel. "Hypnotized" finds Greenaway employing a clipped, almost Germanic inflection to her vocal totally suited to the songs throbbing groove while title track "Violet Hour" is built around an encapsulating stop start refrain that splutters and stutters beneath clean clear vocal melodies."Unholy Disease" is up next and mixes old school doomics with new school occult melody to create a delightful blend of both dynamics.Things get a little ethereal on " Velvet" Greenaway's vocals taking on waifish tones,  her vocal a little higher and a little sweeter sounding while beneath her the band lay down an intriguing mix of  heavy doomic nastiness and chilled bluesy swagger. "Lake of Fire" brings the album to a close with a wonderful blend of lilting melody and atmospheric heaviness, Greenaway's note perfect soaring vocals drifting gracefully over thick swathes of dark, dank prog tinted bluesiness, Ashton ripping brief but tasteful solos from his guitar superbly supported by Burchmore's deep liquid bass lines and Mason's solid and on point percussion.

Like we said in our intro we will let you decide if the new line up of Alunah meets your high expectations however we will say that for us, at Desert Psychlist, this latest version of Alunah have, with "Violet Hour", upheld the legacy of the original Alunah and have gone some way in enhancing that legacy. Long live Alunah!
Check it out ….

© 2019 Frazer Jones

GODS & PUNKS ~ AND THE CELESTIAL ASCENSION .... review

From a country that keeps giving comes a band who are equally giving. Brazil's Gods & Punks have, over a three year period, been turning out quality release after quality release, the Rio de Janeiro quintet steadily gaining a legion of fans both in their own country as well further abroad. Although things have been going well on the international scene things at home have not been going so well, the band recently lost access to a place they called "The Attic", a rehearsal space where they thrashed out ideas and composed the majority of their musical tomes. Fortunately, and  after a period of fruitless searching, the band chanced upon a place called "The Shack" an ideal new home set in a semi-jungle environment where, in their words, "the magic happened". That "magic" can now be witnessed firsthand on the bands third full length album "And The Celestial Ascension"

Gods & Punks seem to be a band on a consistent mission to blow minds, the band, who took their name from a Monster Magnet song, have progressed at alarming rate since the release of their debut EP, gradually shifting from being a four to the floor heavy stoner unit to one unafraid to experiment and take chances. The bands sound has, in just a three year period, evolved to such an extent that it's hard to believe that the band who gave us "The Sounds of the Earth" is the same band currently promoting their new album "And the Celestial Ascension", where were once crunching riffs and punchy rhythms we now find intricate sweeping arpeggios and shimmering percussion. This is not to say that when called upon Gods & Punks can no longer pin you to the wall with the power of their refrains, they can and do, just that there is a more cerebral, intelligent feel to their grooves now that somehow makes them feel much more powerful and a whole lot more interesting. Undulating is a strange word to attribute to music from what is essentially a hard rock band but that is exactly what you get with songs like "Ascension", "Infinite Hourglass" and "Dying Planet", songs with grooves that have the ability to pick you up and carry you along with them, grooves that ebb and flow like waves on an ocean's surface, powerful and dangerous one minute calm, serene and gentle the next.

Complex, clever and packed solid with superb vocal performances and outstanding musicianship "And the Celestial Ascension" is Gods & Punks finest release to date, how the band will top this is anyone's guess but you can bet your bottom dollar they will try and given their current trajectory will most probably succeed.
Check 'em out ….

© 2019 Frazer Jones

COSMIC REAPER ~ DEMON DANCE ,,,,, review

Somewhere in North Carolina a gathering is happening, The Horned One has summoned his acolytes to partake in a ceremony to celebrate the beginning of the end times, inviting his malevolent horde of malformed and maladjusted disciples to strut their stuff as humanity slowly spirals into apocalyptic chaos, tonight my friends..... the demons dance.
Ok that is not exactly true (apart from the mention of North Carolina), what we at Desert Psychlist are really trying to do here is flex our journalistic muscles to prepare the stage and set the scene for an EP that has a dark occult(ish) feel and crunching  proto-doomic flavour, that EP is entitled "Demon Dance" and the band are called Cosmic Reaper.

If you are not a fan of Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats psychedelic doom endeavors and have had your fill of Sabbathesque proto doomic riffery then maybe now is the time to stop reading however if the mention of those two bands evokes an onset of uncontrollable drooling then your in for a treat with "Demon Dance". Charlotte, North Carolina's Cosmic Reaper do not try to put on any airs and graces or try to pretend they are the next big thing, they don't want to be the new Elder or Tool they just want to lay down some damn good doom and have some fun while doing it. Now you may be thinking that that sort of mind-set doesn't show much ambition, well you would be wrong as although Cosmic Reaper might not be chasing world domination they do want to be the best at what they do and what they do is grind out some mightily impressive doomic grooves. From the delightfully dense and heavy instrumental "Subintroeo", with its powerful percussion and thundering reoccurring fuzz drenched riff, to title track and closer "Demon Dance", with its clean ,almost buried in the mix, vocals, crunching circular refrains and brief but highly effective solos, there is not a minute or nano-second you will regret pushing the play button on this little gem of an EP!

Going back to our tongue in cheek intro to this review, if the Angel of the Bottomless Pit really did need a soundtrack for his end-times shindig then he wouldn't be going far wrong if he started spinning Cosmic Reaper's " Demon Dance" on his flaming decks of steel, the Horde would be going ballistic!
Check it out …..

© 2019 Frazer jones

CLOUDS TASTE SATANIC ~ SECOND SIGHT ....review

Clouds Taste Satanic will be no strangers to Desert Psychlist's readership, we have covered three of their releases and we were not about to let the bands new two song EP "Second Sight" slip through our fingers without waxing lyrical on its many merits. For those of you who may have been living in some sort of vortex and are unfamiliar with CTS they are an instrumental band hailing from Brooklyn, New York who have made a name for themselves as a go to heavy doomic band despite the lack of a vocalist.

There seems to have been a slight shift in direction from CTS on their new EP "Second Sight", and it is slight we are not talking seismic here, the band are still laying  down the doom thick and nasty but the psychedelic/lysergic elements that have always been an aspect of their sound seems here to have been ramped up a notch or three. Title track "Second Sight" is a prime example of this, the songs constantly changing dynamics spiral to unbelievable heights one minute then plummet into doomy depths the next, the band shifting seamlessly from one groove into another never allowing the music to go down blind alleys it can't return from and constantly finding new destinations they can take it to. Second song "Black Mass" finds CTS adding a touch of old school hard rock and heavy metal in with their staples of heavy psych and post-doom, the rhythm section of Sean Bay (bass) and Greg Acampora (drums) at one point laying down an almost Iron Maiden type gallop behind the crunching riffs and swooping solos of guitarists Steven Scavuzzo and Brian Bauhs. CTS are also unafraid to  employ ambience and atmosphere as weapons in their musical arsenal as they do at the songs three quarter mark where a dark throbbing bass line, accompanied by droning effects and controlled guitar feedback, leads into menacing slow, low riffage pushed by powerful deliberate percussion before then taking off on a lysergic flight of guitar screaming fancy to take things to the close.

There are a myriad of bands out there travelling the instrumental highway but none come close to replicating what Clouds Taste Satanic bring to the table with their particular brand of instrumental post-doom and lysergic metal. We at Desert Psychlist thought it would be damn hard for the band to better their previous EP "Evil Eye", such was its sonic impact and high levels of writing and musicianship, but CTS have proved us wrong and with "Second Sight" the band have raised the bar to whole new level
Check it out …….

© 2019 Frazer Jones

AROUND THE FIRE ~ ADVENT OF THE FIREWALKERS ...... review

If you have been a regular visitor to the pages of Desert Psychlist then it might have come to your notice that we have a bit of a predilection for music that is a little off the beaten track, music with jagged edges that doesn't quite conform to what many consider the norm. Today we feature a band who fall into that category, a combo from Thessaloniki, Greece whose grooves blend Asian and Middle Eastern influences in with those from their home country while also managing to rock out western style.. The band in question go by the name of Around The Fire and their debut album flies under the banner of "Advent of the Firewalkers"

After bigging up Around The Fire's Middle Eastern/Asian influences it comes as a bit of a surprise when the needle drops on first track "Helie Eleison" and we are treated to a vocal chant that sounds not unlike something that might be heard at some Native American rain dance, the band redeem themselves somewhat though by surrounding the songs tribal drumbeats and crunching guitars with swirling eastern tinted motifs superbly delivered on a kemenje (a type of fiddle with three strings used predominantly in Eastern Mediterranean folk music). Vocals, both here and throughout the album, are delivered in clear tones but mostly sit at the low throatier end of the spectrum, this vocal approach far from being at odds with the albums underlying eastern themes and motifs actually adds a certain gravitas to proceedings and gives the album an almost ritualistic, spiritual vibe. Only four songs are contained on "Advent of the Firewalkers", all of them are a mix of westernized heavy doom, stoner rock and traditional flavoured Middle Eastern/Grecian grooviness and each, in Desert Psychlist's humble opinion, is worth its weight in gold, frankincense and mer.

Quirky, left of center and off the wall "Advent of the Firewalkers" is all of those things and more, an album from a band not just content to take their influences from the vast library of western rock but also from their own geographical location and history.
Check it out …..

© 2019 Frazer Jones

HERÁLDICA DE MANDRAKE ~ ESTO TAMBIÉN PASARÁ ....... review

There is something going on in the international underground scene that has never really happened before, bands from the countries like Brazil, Argentina and Peru, situated at the southern end of the America's, are not only creating music to be enjoyed by audiences of their own respective countries they are also making music that is reaching out to a much wider international market and Chile, that strip of land running like a spine down the South American west coast, is no exception. 

Heráldica de Mandrake, a trio from Santiago, Chile, consisting of Francisco Visceral Rivera (guitar/vocals)and vocals; Max Salazar (bass/backing vocals) and Cristian Rivera (percussion), jam grooves that although owe a huge debt to the doomic grooves of Northern Hemisphere bands like Reverend Bizarre and Count Raven contains enough "rice and beans" to give them their own unique identity, as can be heard on their epic one track EP "Esto Tambien Pasará". 

"Esto Tambien Pasará" begins with drummer Cristian Rivera beating out a huge military-like percussive tattoo that is then joined by the harmonised voices of Francisco Visceral Rivera and Max Salazar in tones that can only be described as Gregorian, monastic chants that give the proceedings an almost spiritual yet at the same time satanic feel. The Ep's lyrics are all sang in Spanish and far from limiting their appeal to a potential wider international audience they add an element of mysticism to events giving the listener the feeling they are witnesses to some sort of ancient religious ritual. Musically "Esto Tambien Pasará" sits somewhere between epic doom and its stonerized equivalent with a variety of big thundering guitar riffs driven hard by equally thundering percussion and bass around which the band intersperse elements of swirling heavy psych and  experimental space rock, the trio regularly taking their grooves off on weird and wonderful tangents  but just as regularly returning to the rustic core elements of their doomic origins.

In a scene that regularly looks backwards for its inspiration it is refreshing to find a band trying to do something a little different with those inspirations, and what Heráldica de Mandrake bring to the table with "Esto Tambien Pasará" is certainly different and maybe even a little brilliant!

Check it out .... 

© 2019 Frazer Jones

URBAN GRAVEYARD ~ WELCOME TO THE URBAN GRAVEYARD .... review

We at Desert Psychlist have come to the realisation that our coverage of grooves coming out of the Dutch underground scene has been a little sparse to say the least, in fact the only bands we've covered from the Netherlands in the five years we have been running have been Desert Colossus and Blood Diamond This  needs to be remedied and how better than pointing you in the direction of Urban Graveyard a quintet from the Dutch Low Countries with a penchant for caustic fuzz drenched riffage and punchy thundering rhythms as can be heard on the bands debut "Welcome To The Urban Graveyard".

 Title track "Welcome To The Urban Graveyard", is not so much a track as an introduction piece, its narrative, accompanied by the sound of  crowing cockerels, tolling bells and the sound of people getting on with their general lives, tells of how death for people living in medieval towns and cities was such a common occurrence that the dying and dead outnumbered the birds that sat atop the rooftops. Just as the listener begins to think they may have stumbled across some conceptual themed opus set in the Dark Ages the listener is suddenly propelled into the present with a gritty little ditty entitled "21st Century Prostitute"  a song that begins life with rolling, heavily fuzzed, bass line that is then joined by the rest of the band in a groove that sits somewhere between the generator party desert rock of Kyuss and the weed inspired riffology of Wales' Dopesmoker, incessant circular grooves decorated in big, slightly untamed, vocal colouring. A brief experimental piece going by the name "Danjon-L0" follows before we are once again battered by an onslaught of fuzz drenched refrains via "Bloodmoon Rising", a chugging thunder riffed groove monster interspersed with Hawkwind flavoured swells and swirls. "A Subtle Guide" is up next and does not differ much from its predecessor except for the fact that there is a touch of bluesy swagger thrown into the mix this time around. "A58" closes "Welcome To The Urban Graveyard", an inner city cruising song that conjures up visions of on coming headlight glare and seemingly endless tarmac,

Experimental pieces aside Urban Graveyard's sound is a relentless assault that hits into a groove and does not deviate too far from that groove once that groove has been hit. Now some might read that statement as a criticism, it is not, like the aforementioned Dopesmoker Urban Graveyard use their relentlessness and repetition as a tool to create a mesmeric almost hypnotic feel with their music, the band creating grooves that once they have grabbbed you just simply refuse to relinquish their grip.
Check them out …..

© 2019 Frazer Jones

HIDDEN SUN ~PARALYZED ..... review

Sometimes musicians come together and something just clicks straight away, whether its because all the musicians involved have a similar musical vision or it's just an alignment of certain planets remains a mystery but when it does happen the results can be outstanding. Bamberg's Paralyzed only got together in March of this year (2019) and after only a few gigs the German quartet of Michael Binder (vocals & solo guitar); Caterina Böhner (rhythm guitar); Philipp Engelbrecht (bass guitar) and Florian Thiele (drums) decided that despite the brevity of their time as a working unit they needed to dive into the studio and document the magic they were creating together so as to share it with the wider world. The results of that studio visit can be heard on the bands debut EP " Hidden Sun" and we think you will agree IT IS outstanding!

Regular perusers of Desert Psychlist's pages will know that we have a real soft spot for that genus of raucous raw groove, birthed between the heavy blues of the late 60's and the hard rock/heavy metal of the late 70's, that we now known as "proto metal".  Paralyzed may not have even been born during this period but the music they create has a distinctive "proto" vibe, albeit sitting at the more bluesier end of the spectrum. Fear not though that Paralyzed's grooves are backward looking as "Hidden Sun" has as much of the gritty modern stoner attack of Earthless and Wo Fat in its execution as it does that of, "proto" cult legends, Buffalo and JPT Scare Band. Why are we specifically mentioning these bands rather than say the Monster Magnet's and Kyuss' from the modern era and the Sir Lord Batimore's  and Dust's from those "proto" heydays, the reason why is, with the exception of Buffalo, those are and were bands who put a huge emphasis on the use of guitar solo's as a main musical weapon as opposed to just an accompaniment or a way to fill in the spaces between verses. So why Buffalo then we hear you ask? Well that's because Binder's vocals have a not too dissimilar tone and delivery to those of the Australian bands frontman Dave Tice, gritty, bluesy and strong.  "Hidden Sun" is primarily a guitar album and it is Binder's guitar work, combined with his powerful vocals, that is the dominant force throughout the EP's seven tracks, whether rocking back and forth on his wah pedal or laying down soaring clean tones and textures he is the axis around which the rest of the musicians contributions revolve. And what contributions they are, Böhner's rhythm guitar does not just fill in the spaces Binder leaves for her it lays down the foundations on which those guitar forays are built, her crunching power chords and single note riffs dripping and drooling in warm fuzz are the cornerstones around which the lead guitarist constructs his swooping solo's. Engelbrecht's bass plays a similar role, his booming, growling bass lines sit just beneath the guitars and combine with Thiele's solid, tight and punchy percussion to inject "the groove" into the EP's blues flecked lysergic sonic onslaught. Song wise Paralyzed do not put a foot wrong from the fuzzy bass intro of brief but groovy "Idols" to the final snare shot that closes the heavily fuzzed final track "Polarity" not a guitar note or drum beat is used without it earning its place in the whole, everyone bringing their "A" game to the table to create something that doesn't need a few listens to "get in to" but hits that sweet spot in your inner ear immediately.

Desert Psychlist was one of the first to chance upon Paralyzed's "Hidden Sun" and we immediately posted our discovery on social media to alert others to its awesome content, the post was then picked up by such underground press luminaries as Doomed & Stoned's Papa Paul Rote and Doom Charts contributor Steve Rodger both of whom have gone on to not only rave about its sonic impact but also to put their money where their mouths are and make a purchase.... and that can probably tell you more about how good this is than a few hundred of Desert Psychlist's words.

Check it out ..... 

© 2019 Frazer Jones

DOPE DEFAULT ~ IMPRISONED ..... review

When reviewing Greek riffmeisters 2017 EP "Tales from the Wasteland" Desert Psychlist stated that "Dope Default may not be in the same league as Planet of Zeus and 1000mods quite yet but if they continue releasing EP's of the quality of "Tales From The Wasteland" then that day might not be too far away" Well it seems that Desert Psychlist maybe somewhat of a seer as since that time Dope Default's star has been on the ascendancy. The band soon followed up "Tales from the Wasteland" with their first full length album "Ofrenda" an album that fully cemented the bands transformation from the wannabee grungsters of their debut EP "Nuclear Honeymoon" into the hard riffing stonerized desert rockers they are today and to further document that transition from groan to growl the Thessaloniki quintet of  John Campbell (vocals); Dimitris Kolimvanos (guitars); Giorgos Kontouris (guitars);  Makis Georgiou (bass) and  Thodoris Anastasiadis (drums), have just released their second album "Imprisoned".

Things get off to a very promising start with "No Tomorrow" a chord crunching riff fest driven by throbbing bass and powerful percussion over which big throaty vocals tell of missed opportunities and chased dreams. Following tracks "Cold-Blooded Queen" and "The Fallen Saviour" follow in much the same vein as their predecessor with big chopped out powerchords complimented by swirling lead guitar motifs pushed hard by a pulsating bass and drum pairing, both tunes finding Dope Default putting a bigger emphasis on melody and vocal trade offs. Next song "Sinless Invader" finds the band heading into southern rock waters, the band jamming a groove that sits somewhere between Blackfoot and Mississippi Bones, and is quickly followed by "Relentless", a chugging riff monster with a clever mix of loud, quiet , loud dynamics. "Silent Scream", a song that tackles the subject of our own inner demons, is next and is buoyed by a stuttering heavily fuzzed guitar riff decorated in a mix of gritty lead and harmonised vocal colouring while "Years Of Glory" , an instrumental, uses a recurring twin guitar motif to grab you attention before going off on a series of groove laden tangents. And so we arrive at last track and the one that bears the albums title "Imprisoned", big beefy and with a groove that is part Sabbath, part Orange Goblin and part Iron Maiden, it closes the album with all guns blazing its powerful bellowed vocals, scorching lead and crunching rhythm guitars underpinned by growling bass and punishing percussion, all combining to create a raucous finale to what is a delightfully raucous album.

Greece maybe a country struggling with its economic climate but one currency the bands that reside there do not lack in is groove and Dope Default's "Imprisoned"  is rolling in the stuff!
Check it out ….

© 2019 Frazer Jones

GEVAUDAN ~ ITER ..... review

It starts at the base of the spine and runs like an electric shock up through the vertebrae finally arriving in that sweet spot in the brain where there it explodes like a bomb sending your senses reeling and filling your whole being with an unexplainable delight. We are of course talking about that reaction we feel when we hear music that is so damn good it actually has a physical effect on the body, a reaction Desert Psychlist felt earlier today when we dropped the needle for the first time on UK doomsters Gevaudan's debut "Iter"

Grief, misery and woe are staple and oft overused themes of many bands working in the field of doom however Adam Pirmohamed (vocals), Bruce Hamilton (guitar), Andy Salt (bass) and David Himbury (drums), under the flag of Gevaudan, manage to give those themes a whole new lease of life with their debut album "Iter". "Iter" is in essence what you would call a "traditional" doom album but to just call it that would be a disservice as there is so much more going on here. Yes there are those themes of despair and sorrow we spoke of earlier and yes Pirmohamed's vocals do have those classic gothic tinted tones that border on rock operatic but when you put these together with the dark, dank and frankly quite prog-like doom that Hamilton, Salt and Himbury lay beneath those vocals and lyrics then you end up with something very, very special. Desert Psychlist's first thoughts, while listening to Gevaudan's debut opus, was to try and compare it with albums from those greats of the traditional doom genre Candlemass and Solitude Aeturnus but the more we listened the more we started to hear something else and the truth dawned on us that what we were hearing had more in common with early Opeth and Ireland's Primordial than it did with Leif Edlings Swedish combo as there are elements of both Opeth's proggish leanings and Primordial's blackened metal intensity in what Gevaudan bring to the table, albeit a little more doomic and vocally a little more traditional. Desert Psychlist could go into one of our usual song by song breakdown's, examining every little vocal inflection and instrumental passage of the five songs that make up "Iter", however we will leave that for you to discover as music this good, this emotionally involving and powerful should be experienced first hand without any preconceived notions, what we will tell you is what Gevaudan bring,to the altar, with songs entitled "Dawntreader", "Maelstrom", "The Great Heathen Army", "Saints of Blood" and "Duskwalker", are dynamics that range from a whisper to a roar, grooves that can seduce with a gentle caress then leave you reeling with the ferocity of their attack.

"Iter" is an album that will appeal to both the traditional doom crowd and those that like their doom a little on the blacker side, an album that leans towards prog in places yet at the same time stays true to the basics of its doomic roots, an album that's not quite a masterpiece but comes damn close.
Check it out …..
  © 2019 Frazer Jones

GOLDEN GOD ~ SILENCE, DEATH, OVATION, GOLD .... review

"The Blues" can be found in almost everything from the most extreme forms of metal to the tenderest, gentlest folk song be it a single melancholy note or just a feel or vibe. Over the last decade "The Blues" has seen a huge resurgence not just in the guitar hero blues of Joe Bonamassa and Gary Clarke Jr. but also with those bands plying their trade in the depths of the rock underground. Some of these bands, like Clutch and Graveyard readily acknowledge the bluesy influence and inflections in their grooves while some bands don't even realise they are even there. The subject of today's review are of the former camp, Ohio's Golden God, Sebastian (vocals); Greg (guitar); David (drums) and Marshall (bass), know full well that the grooves they play may first come across as raucous, crunching and in your face stoner/hard rock but they also understand that at the root of their fuzz drenched riffs and punchy, powerful rhythms is a music older than they are. If you still need confirmation of Golden God's blues credentials then look no further than their jaw dropping debut "Silence, Death, Ovation, Gold"

Ok let's clear up one thing, those reading this reviews intro might be expecting something Zeppelinesque or even Cream(ish) with some sort of late 60's early 70's heavy blues flavour, this is not the case. Golden God's groove is very much of today, a raucous raw edged groove drenched in caustic fuzz drenched guitar and distortion heavy bass that is driven by solid, thunderous percussion and coated in strong clean clear but gritty vocal tones. So where does the blues come in to all this we hear you ask, well the answer to that is just about everywhere, What Golden God does on "Silence, Death, Ovation, Gold" is to take the blues strip it of its black suit and shades image then dress it up in leathers and a band tee and stick a joint in its mouth, this is not the blues your mum and dad might have danced to in their day this is blues that'll try to seduce your mother while its friends beat your dad up in an alley.

"Silence, Death, Ovation, Gold" is stonerized blues rock at its very best, an album that despite a couple strategically placed, breath catching , respites is a full on assault on the senses from start to finish.
Check it out …..

© 2019 Frazer Jones

BLACK SIRE ~ BLACK SIRE ..... review

We've said it before and we will probably say it again, the best discoveries are those you weren't looking for, the ones by bands you have never heard of before and have seemingly come out of nowhere and then have proceeded to blow you the fuck away! This was the case with the subject of this review, Desert Psychlist was innocently scrolling through the feed on a certain social media giant when we noticed a post from Doom Charts contributor and long time fellow music explorer Mr Steve Rodger extolling the virtues of an album he had recently found. Thinking along the lines of if Steve is on this it must be worth checking out Desert Psychlist quickly followed the link and pressed play, what we heard next was a jaw-dropping collection of dark doomic grooves that ranged from  heavy and mid-tempo to low, slow and lysergic. We were hooked as we hope you will be when you hear Black Sire's self-titled debut "Black Sire"

When Desert Psychlist first chanced upon Steve Rodger's post recommending "Black Sire" the first thing that hit us was the artwork accompanying it, a stark monochrome photo of a tower looming menacingly amidst a forest of  trees set against a glaring orange background with the bands logo nestled boldly in one corner. It was an image that conjured up memories of bands like Iron Claw, Stone Garden and Sir Lord Baltimore, an image that screamed proto-metal and early doom, our only concern at this point was would the music beneath the artwork live up to the expectation it's imagery promised. We needn't have worried the grooves on "Black Sire" do not only live up to those expectations they exceed them. From the first dark notes of "Lord of Hallucinations" to the gentle fading drone that denotes the end of final track "Golden Dawn" the listener is taken on a journey of pure proto-doomic delight with swooping swirling guitar solo's and caustic crunching power chords , ingrained with lysergic textures and colouring, soaring and growling over rhythms and grooves that plod and grind one moment, race and gallop the next. "Black Sire" is partly an instrumental album, partly a vocalised one, when those vocals do appear, as on the already mentioned "Lord of Hallucinations" the sinister and lysergic "Horn of Samael", the eastern tinted "Night of Pan" and the schizophrenic "Golden Dawn", they are buried deep in the mix giving them a hazy, distant feel totally in keeping with the albums overall heavy doomic psych vibe. Black Sire do throw an unexpected curveball into play midway through the album with "Interlude", a droning acoustic instrumental that sounds like something that you would hear played by Arabian musicians at a Bedouin desert gathering, its a pleasing departure from the mayhem its surrounded by and goes a long way in proving that there is much more in Black Sire's locker than just a raucous riff and a thunderous groove.

"Black Sire" is not an easy album to describe, it is doomic in both the proto and stoner senses and it is heavy with lysergic texturing and colouring which would put it in the category of psych but there is also an underlying blackened edge to the seven songs contained here yet not so much so that you could categorize this as sitting at the extreme end of the rock spectrum. We have been mulling this over at Desert Psychlist and the best we could come up with is this … "Black Sire" is the best "stonerized proto-doomic blackened psych" album your likely to hear for a long, long time, if ever again.
Check it out ….

© 2019 Frazer Jones

SOUTHBOUND SNAKE CHARMERS ~ TO THE BONE .....review

"Proud Mary", "Bad Moon Rising", Up Around The Bend" and "Run Through the Jungle" bring to mind one band and that band are California's Creedence Clearwater Revival. a quartet who despite their West Coast origins jammed grooves of a more southern persuasion, songs that referenced swamps, bayous and catfish rather than the sun, sand and sea of their home. Why, you may ask, are we mentioning this? Well the answer to that comes from the mouth of Southbound Snake Charmers vocalist/guitarist Topher Denman who when notifying Desert Psychlist of the imminent arrival of his bands new EP "To The Bone" added to his message " I feel we went really Creedence with this one", a bold statement you may say, so time to find out if they did.

Denman along with Nat Sutphin (bass) and Brooke Maloney (drums) do not only capture the sound of CCR on "To The Bone" they damn near become them, ok that maybe a bit of an overstatement but if you played a CCR greatest hits album and then followed it with "Through The Smoke" and "Playin' With Fire", the first two tracks of this nifty slice of swampy blues grooviness, you would be hard pushed to tell where one band started and the other finished. Everything from guitar tones to rhythmic execution has that authentic late 60's early 70's analogue feel something that deserves a big thumbs up to the team at Ash Ravens Music who produced, mixed and mastered "To The Bone" It's not all CCR worship however there is a strong Hendrix vibe to the excellent "No Land" with its wah drenched guitar motifs and powerful bass and drum accompaniment and "My Crazy" could easily be mistaken for an outtake from Quicksilver Messenger Service's legendary "Happy Trails" album. The EP is filled out by two new remastered versions of tracks that appeared on previous releases, "Ride On" (originally released on Voodoo Chicken Shack) and Don't Speak To Soon (originally released on Rythmn'n'Rust) both get the same retro production treatment that the newer songs get and sound all the better for that.

Desert Psychlist has mentioned three bands that may or may not have inspired the sound and direction of "To The Bone" but don't be fooled in to thinking that this is some sort of tribute to those artists. Soutbound Snake Charmer put their own personal stamp over each and every one of these songs on offer, putting their own twist on things and making certain their own identity shines through on songs that although may have a certain familiarity are nonetheless new, fresh and exciting.
Check it out ….

© 2019 Frazer Jones

MORTALES ~ DEATH RATTLE VALLEY ..... review

When asked about their influences desert/stoner rock pioneers Kyuss once replied that they were more inspired by Black Flag than they were Black Sabbath, this is not surprising as stoner rock, in its early stages, had a lot more in common with punk rock than probably any other genre, both stoner/desert rock and punk were born from a dissatisfaction with the musical climates surrounding them and both rock sub-genres started their lives at a grass root level.

Texas quartet Mortales, Lucas Indrikovs (lead vocals/rhythm guitar); Michael Munoz (lead guitar/vocals); Luis Roa (bass); Brett Hanrahan (drums), don't call themselves a punk band neither do they say they are a stoner rock band but you would have to be severely hearing impaired to not pick up on the elements of both within their grooves. The band skirt around the issue of genre classification by describing their mix of punk, stoner metal and hard rock as "gnarcore", and the spirit behind their grooves as something they like to call "The Gnar". If you want to find out what "gnarcore" sounds like and to see if "The Gnar" grows strong in you too then we suggest you give the bands second album "Death Rattle Valley" a spin.

"Warhead" kicks off "Death Rattle Valley" and totally justifies Desert Psychlist's intro to this review by hurtling out of the speakers in an explosion of punkish venom, raucous chugging powerchords and in your face rhythms coated in gritty, almost shouted, vocal tones, the fact that it has a middle section that jams a more stoner(ish) psych vibe adding even more credence to our original observations. The band initially bring things down a notch or two for next track "Hostility of a Bomb" by relying on a slow. low heavily fuzzed groove to build up an air of a brooding atmosphere, restraint however is not one of Mortales greatest assets and its not long before things take a more raucous turn and the band take off on a throbbing fuzz drenched hard rock groove decorated in a mix of gravel throated lead and harmonised vocals  the song switching back and forth between these two dynamics before finally checking out on a wave of fizzing, popping electronic noise. "Psilocyborg" finds Mortales donning  their psychedelic robes and matching them with dark doomic headwear while "Bring All Your Fire" has them decking themselves out in attire more appropriate for a party in the desert. "Bricks" follows and here the vocals take on a smoother less abrasive tone that perfectly matches the songs heady blend of doomic stoner metal and galloping hard rock. Next up is "Golem" a song that can't quite make its mind up if its a punk, stoner or surf rock and ends up a little bit of all of them. Finally we arrive at the last track of the album and, for Desert Psychlist, the best of the bunch, "Nazareth" is a bluesy, doomic and atmospheric tome with an epic feel, if you have had trouble finding that element the band like to call "The Gnar" on this albums previous songs you should have no problem finding it here, as Star Wars Jedi Yoda might say "Strong is The Gnar in this"

"Death Rattle Valley" is an uncompromising, unclassifiable and  unbelievably good album from a band who are unafraid to forge their own musical path regardless of where that path may take them. Mortales might call what they do "gnarcore" you might want to call it something else, Desert Psychlist calls it essential listening.
Check it out …..

© 2019 Frazer Jones

HOWLING GIANT ~ THE SPACE BETWEEN WORLDS ..... review

Nashville's Howling Giant, Tom Polzine (guitar/vocals); Zach Wheeler (drums/vocals) and Sebastian Baltes (bass/vocals), should be no strangers to those with their fingers pressed firmly on the pulse of underground rock, the band having released a mightily impressive series of EP's that have dazzled and delighted fans from right across the rock spectrum. This year the band decided to go that extra mile and release a full album and not content to just deliver a normal album they have made it a concept album! Welcome to "The Space Between Worlds".(Blues Funeral Recordings)

It is best to allow Howling Giant to explain the concept behind "The Space between Worlds".... "The Space Between Worlds is a concept album that follows the story of a huntress who travels the infinite metaphysical worlds brought into being by the dreams of humankind. In these realms, she encounters a dream eater which threatens to unravel the fabric of reality by devouring dreamers and destroying the dimensional gateways". Now Desert Psychlist could try to explain how each song interconnects with the next but that would be taking half the fun out of things for you the listener, instead we are going to talk about the overall effect of the album as a musical piece. Concept or not there is no getting away from the fact that "The Space Between Worlds" is a stunning album executed by musicians of the highest calibre, an audial feast for the ears that although leans towards the progressive end of the rock spectrum is saved from the usual over complex and over technical pitfalls of that genre by also having an element of swing and melody. Songs with titles like "Comet Rider", "The River Guide" and "The Orb" are not bereft of complexity and instrumental intricacy, far from it, it is just that they are balanced out with old fashioned crunch and swagger as well as a fair modicum of lighter elements such as three part vocal harmonies and lilting acoustic passages. Howling Giant also keep a tight rein on duration times, only the emotive and undulating "Everlight" comes close to the eight minute mark, thus ensuring that no one song ever overstays its welcome and becomes overblown and indulgent.

Bands like Elder, All Them Witches and Merlin have all been successful, on differing levels, in getting their music out there and heard by people who might not have ever listened to a supposedly underground band before, due partly to their musicality but also due to their courage in not playing it safe. On the evidence of "The Space Between Worlds" Desert Psychlist sees no reason why Howling Giant should not be included on that list.
Check it out ….

© 2019 Frazer Jones