November Doom- Ecstatic Vision :" For the Masses"

Doom is a color these guys trade in, the other genres they encompass are all next door neighbors to doom, stoner rock & psychedelic so they belong here. They remind me of Monster Magnet more often then not. A little warmer and  more organic sound than Monster Magnet but in the same sonic sphere. They boogie and groove along, often making me wish I did not quit smoking pot as they would sound great high.. "Like a Freak" is pretty straight up rock n roll and too much of a Camaro party to make me want to give it a ton of replays. The vocals are pretty manic, they come forward in the mix where on the previous song they were buried further in the mix.

The title track is mainly trippy noise . It is not until "the Magic Touch" that they actually get back in the business of songs. I appreciate the darker hypnotic atmosphere the song works off of. The slinking bass gives it a slithering groove befitting of the mood This is a common theme of the album for the bass to really set the bass. The bass player must be the main songwriter as it feels like all of the songs are written around the bass line. This is not a complaint as I am more of a bass player than guitarist myself . In fact I think it is the bass and drums that actually makes music heavy and it's the guitars and vocals that make it metal. This also is reason that these guys might not meet the hard and fast definition of metal as the vocals are not aggressive and the guitar is warm and retro owing more to perhaps garage rock than Black Sabbath. On this song it proves this point as the vocals are  lower and ore Tom Waits like it their ranting rasp.

A fuzzed out bass propels the seven minute "Grasping the Void" . The guitar holds a static riff to bring the tension to more of a boil. The vocals take on the throaty sneer that really makes me think of Monster Magnet. I like it's ballsy attitude that adds some heft to some of the other whacked out hippie vibes they have going.I will give this album a 9. As far as the actual songs go the only one that did not fully click with me is the one that is also the most garage rock, so it might just be a matter of personal taste with that one, but for the most part me and this band are on the same page. This was released on Relapse Records.