Psychedelic – Page 33 – 7th Level Music

Anika returns with first new music in eight years.

Anika – the project of Berlin-based musician Annika Henderson who is also a founding member of Exploded View – announces signing to Sacred Bones and returns with a new single/video, “Finger Pies.” Released in collaboration with Invada Records, this is Anika’s first new piece of music in 8 years, following her 2010 cult-favorite Anika, and the 2013 Anika EP. “Finger Pies” presents Anika’s alluring voice, which switches between singing and speaking over bass, waning brass, drums, and blares of synth. The accompanying video was co-directed by Anika with Sven Gutjahr (who has worked with Versace and Holly Herndon). The two had lived in the same apartment building in Neuköln, Berlin, during 2017 yet never met. Fate, and a bunch of people around a table 3,965 miles away brought them together for the video. It shows Anika effortlessly contemplating her adopted city with a cinematic coolness.

Anika elaborates: “A song that never had a name, like an artist that never had a face. Caught between roles, a jack of all trades, she slips between your fingers like a moment that never was, or was it? So many faces tailored to a myriad of occasions. Walls built between ourselves and the outside world. For protection. Passes grant access to another level. So where are you at? Those with all the keys, please remember, access comes with responsibility. Yet responsibility has been lost, like tissue paper in the rain, a battle without rules, to save face, exploit weakness, to save getting slayed, by the faceless generation. Welcome to the world of ‘Finger Pies.’”

When asked to describe the circumstances that influenced her beautifully fraught new work, Anika quickly articulates a set of feelings and unpredictable circumstances that are familiar to anyone who tried to make art—or simply tried to live through—the recent global pandemic. “It’s a moment caught in time,” she says.

“Finger Pies” is the first of more new music from Anika this year.

Watch “Finger Pies” Video

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Patrick at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Evolfo release “Give Me Time” ahead of full album due June 18th.

Brooklyn, NY psych rock septet Evolfo today shared their new single “Give Me Time” from their sophomore full-length, Site Out Of Mind, releasing June 18 via Royal Potato Family. The track arrives alongside an El Oms-directed music video which premiered today via FLOOD Magazine.

Expanding on the usual psych rock cocktail of phasers, fuzz, and echo, Evolfo blends in an array of less typical tones and textures such as soaring synths, mandolins, and ominous horns. “When I received the song I immediately liked it”, says the video director & animator Omar “El Oms” Juarez. “I love the way the guitar sounds so melodic. It’s like it’s telling you that summer is around the corner. I love the epic ending and how heavy it sounds. Around the same time I heard the song, I was rewatching the 1952 Mexican movie Los Olvidados. It’s a story about young kids facing everyday struggles with life. The verse that stood out to me was ‘no ones come to rescue me.’ I immediately thought of Los Olvidados and came up with the video concept. I presented it to Evolfo and we started to brainstorm on how we wanted the audience to go on this psychedelic and emotional ride.”

If the Brooklyn-based psych rockers felt pressured to repeat the successes of their 2017 album Last of the Acid Cowboys they certainly didn’t show it. One might think a band that racked up 6 million plus streams on their debut record would try to recreate this by doing more of the same. But Evolfo step confidently forward into fresh sounds and more vivid conceptual subject matter. They have flipped the world of their 2017 debut Last of the Acid Cowboys on its head, departing the earth bound adventures in melting landscapes, rat cities, and desert sojourns for metaphysical territory and the mountains of the mind. “We’re always going to be in a state of flux,” says Gibbs, who formed the group a decade ago, “I consider this to be an exciting, positive thing. We have to embrace our own change.” On their brand new album Site Out of Mind, Evolfo reaches far beyond the confines of genre to create a colorful echo drenched psych rock dream all their own. Adorned with a mind bending cover by visual artist Robert Beatty, the result is a collection of songs that are unexpected, absorbing, and blissfully tripped out.

Partially inspired by concepts pulled from sci-fiction and one group psychedelic drug trip, Site Out of Mind is a thrilling spiral into the depths of the spiritual mind and the afterlife. Lyrically, Gibbs says, it could be interpreted as a continuation of the loose concept that Evolfo’s previous album hinted at. “If the protagonist of that album died at the end of Last of the Acid Cowboys,” says Gibbs, “then this was the protagonist’s internal journey, flipping the landscape, and going through the mountain of their mind in that moment of mortality; perhaps a blurring of brain activity between dying and death, between life and the afterlife.”

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Cody at Clandestine PR.]

A Place to Bury Strangers announces new lineup, new tour, new EP, and new single.

Brooklyn’s A Place To Bury Strangers announces their new EP, Hologram, out July 16th on founding member Oliver Ackermann’s label Dedstrange, and presents a new single/video, “End Of The Night.” Hologram is the anticipated follow-up to 2018‘s Pinned and will be capped by a world tour in early 2022. In 2003, A Place To Bury Strangers emerged on the scene out of Ackermann’s psychotropic vision. Often cited as “the loudest band in New York,” A Place To Bury Strangers is known for their vicious live performances overloaded with all-consuming visuals, experimental sonic warfare, and treacherous stage antics. 2021 welcomes a lineup change. Ackermann is joined by new members John Fedowitz (bass) and Sandra Fedowitz (drums) of Ceremony East Coast, cementing the most sensational version of the band to date. John and Oliver were childhood friends who had played in the legendary underground shoegaze band Skywave, crafting futuristic punk music together. This next phase is a sonic return to the band’s most raw and unhinged endeavors, pushed even further into a new chaotically apocalyptic incarnation.

Lead single “End Of The Night” buzzes with percussion and murky noise and synth, as reflected in the disorienting self-directed video. Oliver Ackermann elborates: “‘End Of The Night’ is the first written in collaboration with either of the new band members. John sent me the drum track and challenged me to write a song over it. It sort of came about as a strange stream of consciousness and unknowingly became about the end of the former band and the beginning of the new one. Each layer of the song stripping away the dead skin from the old and regrowing layer and layer of distortion of the new band. It’s great to be working again with John Fedowitz. I feel like our songwriting styles shot off in different directions from our earlier band Skywave only to come back to the table with different experiences to create something special again.”

A Place To Bury Strangers will host a screening of the Dedstrange SXSW Showcase this Friday, April 23rd at 7PM Eastern Time via the label’s Facebook and YouTube. It’s the first performance featuring the band’s new lineup, and other artists performing include Holy F–k, Randy Randall (No Age), Paul Jacobs (Pottery), Data Animal and Jealous.

Watch “End Of The Night” Video

Pre-order Hologram EP

Hologram EP Tracklist
1. End Of The Night
2. I Might Have
3. Playing The Part
4. In My Hive
5. I Need You A Place To Bury Strangers 2022 Tour Dates:
Wed. March 9 – Hamburg, DE @ Hafenklang
Thu. March 10 – Dresden, DE @ Beatpol
Fri. March 11 – Warsaw, PL @ Klub Poglos
Sat. March 12 – Prague, CZ @ Futurum
Sun. March 13 – Bratislava, SK @ Randal Club
Mon. March 14 – Budapest, HU @ Durer Kert
Wed. March 16 – Bucharest, RO @ Control Club
Thu. March 17 – Sofia, BG @ Mixtape5Fri. March 18 – Thessaloniki, GR @ Eightball
Sat. March 19 – Athens, GR @ Temple
Mon. March 21 – Skopje, MK @ 25th of May Hall
Tue. March 22 – Belgrade, RS @ Club Drugstore
Thu. March 24 – Zagreb, HR @ Mochvara
Fri. March 25 – Bologna, IT @ Freakout Club
Sat. March 26 – Rome, IT @ Largo
Sun. March 27 – Milan, IT @ Legend Club
Tue. March 29 – Zurich, CH @ Bogen F
Wed. March 30 – Munich, DE @ Backstage
Thu. March 31 – Martigny, CH @ Caves Du Memoir
Fri. April 1 – Paris, FR @ La TrabendoSat. April 2 – London, UK @ Lafayette
Mon. April 4 – Antwerp, BE @ Kayka
Tue. April 5 – Munster, DE @ Gleis 22
Wed. April 6 – Amsterdam, NL @ Melkweg
Thu. April 7 – Groningen, NL @ Vera
Sat. April 9 – Stockholm, SE @ Hus 7
Sun. April 10 – Oslo, NO @ John Dee
Mon. April 11 – Copenhagen, DK @ Pumpehuset
Tue. April 12 – Berlin, DE @ Hole 44
Wed. April 13 – Cologne, DE @ MTC

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Patrick at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Review: Brown Acid – The 12th Trip

RidingEasy Records is back with another round of obscure, rare stoner rock, metal, and psychedelia on Brown Acid: The Twelfth Trip. This one brings you ten tunes that stretch from Hawaii to Belgium in terms of their places of origin.

First up is the fuzz-filled “Mother Samwell” by Louisville, Kentucy’s The Water. It’s like T. Rex meets The Guess Who and 1969 southern rock. It fades out far too soon and makes you wish The Water had stuck around after 1972. Hamilton, Ontario’s Village S.T.O.P. brings us the trippy, melting, fuzzy freak-out “Vibrations.” The drums sound like they were recorded in another room with walls of chicken wire and mud, and I mean that in the best way possible.

The bass on White Lightning‘s (hailing from Minneapolis) “1930” is so fat you could stick it on a Parliament track. Shane drops the funky, yet heavy “Woman (Don’t You Go)” from the San Francisco Bay area in 1968…and nothing else. They broke up not long after releasing the track, which is a shame because it sounds like they could’ve been a pretty successful psych-funk band.

Dallas’ Ace Song Service unleashes a hefty Hammond B3 organ on “Persuasion,” and combines it with a sizzling guitar solo. Opus Est is the Belgian band on the record, and their heady song “Bed” is about sex and, apparently, and drugs and rock and roll (Go figure.). The aforementioned Hawaiian band is The Mopptops, who are described in the liner notes as “the Blues Magoos meets Iron Butterfly.” I don’t think I can sum it up better than that (or that wild guitar solo!).

Do you need more cowbell? Youngstown, Ohio’s Artist gives you plenty of it (and plenty of mega-riffs) on “Every Lady Does It.” “Comin’ Home” by Carthage, Missouri’s Stagefright is akin to a MC5 track with its wild drumming, fuzzy vocals, and heavy guitar and bass. The closing track is the wonderfully bizarre, ultra-rare “Don’t Talk About My Music” by Dickens – a band made up of members of and roadies for NRBQ who barely knew how to play the instruments they jam with and recorded in an impromptu session after Jim Nabors cancelled some studio time. The result is a trippy, fun jam of which only fifty or so known copies are in existence. It’s a great treat to end a wild anthology.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Dave at US / THEM Group.]

The 12th Brown Acid Trip is scheduled to arrive on, when else, April 20th.

The forthcoming latest edition of the popular compilation series featuring long-lost vintage 60s-70s proto-metal and stoner rock singles, Brown Acid: The Twelfth Trip will be available on April 20th, 2021. Today, hear and share the latest single, the maniacal 1969 rocker “1930” by White Lightning via YouTube and Bandcamp.
Previously, “Mother Samwell” the 1969 rocker by The Waters was launched via YouTube. And, “Woman (Don’t You Go)” by Shane followed in March on YouTube.
The Brown Acid series is curated by L.A. label RidingEasy Records and retailer/label Permanent Records. Read interviews with the series curators via Paste MagazineHERE and LA WeeklyHERE.
About The Twelfth Trip:
The Waters start this Trip off right with swampy fuzz- and phaser-soaked dueling guitars oozing from the grooves of their 1969 single “Mother Samwell.” The Louisville, KY trio somehow failed to make much of a splash however, only issuing two 45s, one in ’68 and this rocker the following year, before eventually evaporating in ’72. The bassist went on to play in Hank Williams Jr.’s band for a couple of decades, so the band’s fortunes weren’t entirely sunken.
Hamilton, Ontario launched the Village S.T.O.P.’s freak-out heavy psych marauding, but it was after frequent trips to NYC that the Canadian band really learned to let their freak flag fly. Sometimes the band played with their faces painted black & white, other times draped in fluorescent ink & blacklight, with strobe lights and the whole nine yards of theatrics… occasionally even adding a few extra inches of male nudity. Musically, their 1969 track “Vibration” is a bopping number nodding to Frank Zappa, Hendrix and some really brown acid doses.
White Lightning’s blazing double-kick drum, sizzling melodic riffs and Jim Dandy howls on “1930” is a power metal rocker from 1969 that perfectly epitomizes the raison d’être of this series. The Minneapolis, MN band formed by guitarist Tom “Zippy” Caplan after he left garage psych heroes The Litter, later shortened its name to Lightning. The group only issued one proper album before disbanding in 1971. However, with the late 1990’s reissues and revival of The Litter, Lightning’s bevy of unreleased recordings also surfaced as a self-titled LP and Strikes Twice 1986-1969 CD compilation.
The blues runs deep in the veins of “Woman (Don’t You Go)” by Bay Area rockers Shane. The biracial group may have borrowed its heavy syncopated groove and lead singer/organist aesthetic from locals Sly & The Family Stone, but their troglodyte fuzz riffs and beastly drums owe just as much to blazing proto-metal hellfire. Sadly, they only released this 1968 single before these men decided to go.
Ace Song Service probably thought they were pretty clever with their risqué acronym name, but it’s their B-side “Persuasion” that really kicks A.S.S. Rollicking, relentless drums, walking bass, staggering guitars and shimmering Hammond organ shake the foundations while crooning blue-eyed soul vocals remind you that this is still the late-60s. The Dallas, TX band only issued this lone (star) 2-song single before crawling back up from whence they came.
Opus Est’s strange 1974 headbanger “Bed” has a bit of “Hocus Pocus” by Focus style mania — and we mean that in the best lunacy inducing way. However, it’s the Belgian trio’s heavy panting and squealing vocals in the amorous breakdown that nods to a particular whole lotta nub that gives this song its, um, thrust. After just two singles, Opus Est came and went.
The Mopptops’ heavy riff of “Our Lives” starts of sounding like Greg Ginn’s frantic guitar work on Black Flag’s Nervous Breakdown, before wah-wah and high harmony vocals turn it into more of a Blues Magoos-meets-Iron Butterfly tune. This Hawaiian Islands based quartet took its inspiration more from the British Invasion than local traditions and were quite popular for their gritty long-hair R&B but remained isolated from the world at large. They did however release a handful of 45s between 1965 and the early 70s. This 1968 banger on Fantastic Records is, well, fantastic.
Youngstown, OH artists Artist weren’t too creative with their band name, instead saving that energy to create meaty midwestern rock’n’roll like “Every Lady Does It.” Harmonized guitar leads and driving cowbell power their hook-filled lone 1977 single. Not much is known about the obscure band, other than singer/guitarist Al Tkach later fronted something he called Reality Rock.
Rural hard rock bar band Stagefright hailed from Carthage, MO and their 1980 album D-Day is a highly collectible selection of landlocked rippers. Album opener “Comin’ Home” is a barnstorming romp led by vocalist/drummer Jim Mills who somehow smoothly sings while simultaneously playing wild Keith Moon style drum rolls.
Dickens “Sho’ Need Love” / “Don’t Talk About My Music” 45 is one of those record collector’s Holy Grail type of releases. The 1971 single only exists as a demo, printed as a white label promo pressing for Scepter Records. Dickens were, essentially, a mockery of the era’s hard rock shenanigans, comprised of NRBQ’s road crew and some band members all playing instruments they didn’t know how to play. This recording happened essentially by accident when studio time became available after Gomer Pyle actor and balladeer Jim Nabors cancelled a session. The group quickly cut a few songs, which an enthusiastic A&R man had pressed up, before the label president nixed it and fired the VP for allowing such nonsense. It’s believed that only about 50 copies survived. It’s a shame, since this Flipper-before-Flipper dirge-metal freakout was way ahead of its time.

Brown Acid: The Twelfth Trip will be available everywhere on LP, CD and download on April 20, 2021 via RidingEasy Records. Pre-orders are available for digital (with immediate download of the firstsingle) at Bandcamp, physical pre-orders at RidingEasy Records.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Dave at US / THEM Group.]

Review: Dry Cleaning – New Long Leg

British post-bunkers Dry Cleaning have a way of combining angular, jagged, rollicking chords, riffs, and drum fills with spoken word vocals that is difficult to describe and even more difficult for anyone to attempt to emulate. Front woman Florence Shaw is one of the wittiest and most enigmatic lyricists out there right now, and her bandmates (Nick Buxton – drums, Tom Dowse – guitar, and Lewis Maynard – bass) are wild craftsmen in their own right. Their first full-length album, New Long Leg, is a cool record that’s a little tighter than their previous EPs, made so by having plenty of time to tweak tracks and explore new sounds thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic cancelling their 2020 tour, but no less intriguing.

Maynard’s bass is something the Delta 5 would love on the opening track, “Scratchcard Lanyard,” while Shaw tells us, “It’s okay, I just need to be weird and hide for a bit and eat an old sandwich from my bag.” Haven’t we all felt like that at some point since March 2020? “Unsmart Lady” starts with a wild cacophony and then settles into a solid rock groove from Dowse that reminds me of good Foreigner tracks. Shaw also lets you know how to find a girlfriend: “If you like a girl, be nice. It’s not rocket science.”

My favorite lyric of Shaw’s on “Strong Feelings” is “That seems like a lot of garlic.” It comes out of nowhere among Buxton’s tight, yet slippery beats. “Leafy” seems to be about a break-up with Shaw singing about cleaning out a house (“What about all the uneaten sausages?”) while her bandmates seem to be playing a different song in another room. This is the kind of song Dry Cleaning does so well. Shaw seems to be doing her own thing while Buxton, Dowse, and Maynard are jamming on their own, but both elements somehow perfectly combine.

It will be a crime if Dry Cleaning doesn’t produce merchandise that reads “More espresso, less depresso.” – a great lyric from the jangly, yet smooth “Her Hippo.” The title track, with its stabbing guitar riffs, has Shaw musing over the idea of going on a cruise while she’s stuck at home due to every travel plan getting cancelled last year. “If you’re an Aries, then I’m an Aries,” Shaw says, perhaps flirtatiously, on “John Wick” – which has nothing to do with an Uber-assassin and more to do with old men griping about things that don’t matter. Dowse’s guitar on it is almost the sound of these men bitching about Antiques Roadshow and the trash truck running late.

Shaw’s vocals sound slightly electronic / robotic on “More Big Birds,” almost turning her into a computer voice. It’s a slight touch, but instantly intriguing. I’d love to know the story behind “ALC” because it starts with Shaw telling someone, “You can’t just come into my garden in your football kit and start asking questions about who lives here. Who’s asking?”

The closer, “Every Day Carry,” is a wild, psychedelic trip that has Dowse, Maynard, and Buxton playing a cool psych-jazz / post-punk blend in a dark club in the back of a former clock factory while Shaw sings / speaks about topics ranging from chocolate chips cookies and imminent domain construction to cab drivers and geese. There’s a great breakdown about halfway through when the band dissolves into a noise rock jam and then kicks back into gear with swirling sounds and Shaw’s voice and lyrics being the eye of their hurricane. It ends like a power outage.

New Long Leg is setting the bar high for other post-punk bands (or any other genre, really) to follow in 2021. Dry Cleaning’s forced vacation did wonders for their creative energy and focus, and for our ears.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Jacob at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Review: Open Hand – Weirdo

Ten years in the making, Open Hand‘s newest album, Weirdo, has plenty of appropriately weird stuff, psychedelic fuzz, vintage synths, and seriously cool chops. The album opens with someone saying, “I’ve got a message for you, and you’re not going to like it.” Okay, Open Hand. You have my attention.

“The People’s Temple” has guitarist / vocalists Justin Isham encouraging us to leave because he’s feeling much better. It’s an interesting suggestion after a decade, and even more so as Isham sings that he’s considering running away from something (Stardom? A relationship? People in general?). It’s difficult to take him too seriously, however, because the opening track bumps and jams with funky keys by Kyle Hammond and damn funky drumming by Gil Sharone.

Mike Longworth‘s rapid bass chords open the danceable “It Takes Me,” which reminds me of the dance-funk stylings of !!!. Isham and Ryan Castanga‘s guitars shimmer on the fuzz-heavy “Again?”, showing off the band’s deftness at switching from dance-funk to shoegaze and doing both genres well. They go back to dance-funk on “Like I Do,” and Hammond gets another chance to strut his stuff with formidable synth bleeps, bloops, and beats.

“Return” (with guest drums from Mike Levine and guest vocals from Lisa Loeb) is a neat, spacey track, and “In My Way” gets us firmly back into shoegaze territory, reminding one of Hum and Failure cuts. Sharone puts down some of his fiercest beats on the track. Seriously, some of his fills will knock you back in your chair. Isham, Longworth, and Castanga crank up the fuzz on “I Think So,” and it mixes well with Sharone’s rocket fuel drums and Hammond’s sunshine synths.

“Loved,” with guest co-vocals from Brittany Snow, has a bit of a prog-rock feel to it that changes things up a bit. Bill Gaal takes over on bass on “Chances,” and proceeds to get his money’s worth by thudding us with glorious fuzz and low end as the rest of Open Hand unleash a track that Josh Homme would envy. “Draw the Line” ends the album with some space rock and, I think, samples from the weird John Carpenter horror film, The Prince of Darkness.

I don’t know why Open Hand took a decade off from releasing new material, but I’m glad they’re back in 2021. Everyone needs good music nowadays, and stuff as good as Weirdo is more than welcome.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: Holy Monitor – Southern Lights

Hailing from Athens, Greece, Holy Monitor (Alex Bolpasis – bass, Dimitris Doumouliakas – drums, Stefanos Mitsis – guitar, Vangelis Mitsis – keyboards, and George Nikas – vocals and guitar) combines psych-rock, kraut rock, stoner rock, space rock, and even ambient music on their new album Southern Lights.

Opening track “River” has fuzzy guitars, psychedelic organ chords, and heavy drums telling a lovely tale of the night sky reflected in moving waters. “Naked in the Rain” has a great 1960s garage-psych groove to it as Holy Monitor calls for us to “shine on” through tough times.

“Blue Whale” is a tale of a mystical creature or woman (perhaps one and the same) that exists in the mind of Nikas. The title track lays on the reverb, both on the guitars and the vocals, creating a hypnotizing brew. “The Sky Is Falling Down” seems to be a reaction to a large portion of the world going for each other’s throats in the middle of a pandemic (“It sounds like madness, but I know you’re feeling lonely. It sounds like madness, but we’re falling in a state of slumber.”). The song starts chaotic, then drifts into a neat dream-space before it fades out…and then rockets forth again with some of Doumouliakas’ biggest cymbal crashes and Vangelis Mitsis’ heaviest synth-stabs.

“Hourglass” is a nice, synth-based, instrumental palate cleanser before the heavy psych of “Ocean Trail” (with Stefanos Mitsis and Nikas upping the fuzz on their guitars even more). The album ends with another water-themed track, “Under the Sea.” It’s a nice slice of cosmic rock that, like “The Sky Is Falling Down,” talks about the COVID-19 pandemic, but with hope instead of concern. “One summer night, a stranger approached me, like people did before they got sick. He touched my hand and told me his story. I always had a curiosity,” Nikas sings. We all dream of returning to times when we could at least have the chance to engage in a meaningful conversation with a stranger.

We all dream of drifting away and leaving COVID-19 behind us, and albums like Southern Lights make the waiting easier.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Stratos Psilos.]

Review: Bantha Rider – Binary Sunset Massacre

I’m not sure if you’re aware of this, but Star Wars-themed stoner / cosmic metal is a thing. I don’t know how much of a thing it is, but apparently it’s a thing in Warsaw, Poland – home of Bantha Rider. The name lets you know that the members envision themselves as Tusken Raiders on the desolate desert wastes of Tattooine. Their newest album, Binary Sunset Massacre, is as fierce as the album’s cover and subjects appear.

The title track is a brief instrumental introduction (the album is entirely instrumentals) that unleashes the power of “De Wanna Wanga” (a phrase known to Star Wars: Return of the Jedi fans) like a horde of charging Sand People attacking a surprised Storm Trooper outpost near the Sarlac pit. The bass alone on “The Gammorean” (the horned “boar-men” of Star Wars) hits as heavy as an axe sharpened on the bones of its enemies.

The guitar solo on “Boonta Eve” is positively cosmic, and the song starts with what sounds like spacecraft revving up for travel. “Sagittarius” is also pure cosmic rock. “Rancor’s Delight” starts with sounds of the massive beast’s footfalls and roar before it erupts into heavy, heavy riffs that channel the sense of dread Luke Skywalker felt upon being dropped into a pit containing the monster.

I love the way the bass and drums seem to stumble around a bit at the beginning of “March of the Banthas.” Banthas are huge, horned, furry beasts who take their time across the desert, and the song takes its time with chugging riffs and hefty beats. The album ends with “Pazuzu” – a psychedelic trip enshrouded in dark mystery (it is named after the Mesopotamian king of demons, after all) that lasts over thirteen head-trippy minutes.

It’s a wild ride, and enjoyable for Star Wars and stoner metal fans. It’s a win-win if you like both.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: Slift – Ummon

There are times when YouTube’s algorithms make a good call. Ummon, the latest album from Slift, is a good example for me. I kept seeing this record and live performances by the Toulouse, France cosmic rockers in lists of suggested videos. I finally gave Ummon a listen several months after it was released and was about knocked over by how damn heavy it is. The cover image of a naked man dragging a massive sword across what looks like a hot asteroid sums up the heft of this album pretty well.

The title track opens the record with guitars and drums sounding like ancient warriors taking armor off racks and strapping it on before charging over a drawbridge to repel invading ogres…on Titan. The lyrics about an army emerging from the Earth’s core (“Set the controls for the Earth’s surface. From the night we have waited. Bring the fire to your sleeping brothers.”). How much more metal can you get? “It’s Coming…” is a bright, shining epic tale of a white city in heavens that rushes to greet us. Is it a song about death? Probably, but it’s lets us know that death is a cosmic journey we will all find fascinating…and loud and crazy if the song’s end is any indication.

“Thousand Helmets of Gold” has Slift leaving the Earth for better times in space (“We’ve left this world of violence. Stars aren’t that far at all.”), propelled there by the power of rock riffs. What lies there in space? Well, according to “Citadel on a Satellite,” it’s a “calm and serene vista of wonders” where “time signifies nothing.” I can’t argue with that, or with the psychedelic guitar solo that weaves throughout the song. The way it softly drifts out and then slaps you awake with “Hyperion” is stunning. The song is about either an ancient warrior or an elder god – or both – and epic enough for either.

“Altitude Lake” is a psychedelic tale of a warrior seeking a mystic sword in a forsaken land of mist and mystery. The track moves back and forth between hypnotic jams and epic shredding. “Sonar” is a cool instrumental suitable for your next video game session or late night drag race with a UFO. “Dark Was Space, Cold Were the Stars” is a tale of death told by a groovy bass line, spacey synths, lock-tight drumming, and booster rocket guitars. “Aurore aux Confins” (“Dawn at the Edge”) is another wild, trippy instrumental that sounds like a laser refracted through a lava lamp.

“Son Dông’s Cavern” is a short, trippy affair that leads into the Oh Sees-like “Lions, Tigers and Bears,” which clocks in at thirteen minutes and eighteen seconds – and it’s worth every moment of that running time with its massive riffs, guttural vocals, and wild drums as they sing about a cosmic race of lion-pulled chariots across the cosmos to usher in a glorious age throughout the universe.

Ummon is an impressive piece of work, and one of those albums that makes you say, “How are three people putting out this much sound?” I don’t know the answer. My guess is that they tapped into some sort of cosmic energy well while meditating in a cave full of ancient crystals placed there by aliens. You’ll understand this when you hear it.

Keep your mind open.

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