Blank Spell : "Miasma"

Getting ready for Halloween I wanted more death rock in my life, so I went on the inner webs looking for what I had missed in this regard...note of reader fell free to hit me up with suggestions , I'll except darkwave, death rock , industrial or pot-punk though when it comes to post punk it needs to really be rucking dark and not too punk. Not too punk is also a problem you can run into with bands claiming to be death rock. Not that I have a problem with punk when I am in the mood for it , but there is a difference. The first song comes close to being the more anarcho-version of death rock, but then the album pretty much devolves into punk. It's very straight forward , the only darker element is the effects on the guitars. The vocals are a shrill shouted little girl. They make more of an attempt to give me something to latch onto with "Plastic Devil which has a more jagged riff that jerks you around.

The drummer is pretty talented and all over the place. I think the bass player could step up their game and play something catchier and then we would be closer to being death rock, though the guitars are the dominate force here, with the vocals just kind of happening. The title track is an instrumental with nothing special happening. They do get a little darker on " Nervous Language". The singer better be really hot in order to make their live show interesting as she can not sing to save her life which is why she must avoid doing so by shouting. After clicking around on Facebook I find she is not , but is also the bass player , making her both of this band's weak links. This drummer and guitarist are really wasting their time as they are both talented.

I'll round this down to a 4.5. I think I pretty clearly outlined the bands problems. With that said there are some interesting guitar parts so if you are just bored with you current selection of female fronted punk and very 1,2,3,...go still no non sense punk then give them a listen, this was not what I was looking for and was a waste of my time but it might not be a waste of yours if this is your thing.



4.7

Ecstatic Vision : "Sonic Praise"

For some reason I had it in my head these guys were an industrial band. Not a stoner jam band. Not really sure where the first song ended and the second song began it ran together in one jam. These guys are good at what they do , the mix seems like it could more balls to it. The vocals are throaty but sung, very similar to Lemmy's backing vocals in Hawkwind, with more effects on them.They hang on a bass line in "Astral Plane" which at twelve and a half minutes is the longest song. They throw in some sax to further the Hawkwind comparisons. At times the drone comes across like the live version of "Dazed and Confused" when the bongo linger in the back ground its more "Sympathy for the Devil".

The have more drive on the chanted "Don't Kill the Vibe" , but still I can't help but think a more organic sound in the production department would put this more in your face. More atmospheric than Monster Magnet's trippier moments, but not as effective as the Devils Blood. The title track and the last song also run together though the last song runs into more kraut rock thing and while it drones it hits a different groove.The guitar goes into a Indian scale while the bass latches onto a more Tool like riff, the combination is pretty effective. They close it with a very pyschonaut lyric about freeing their minds.


 If I still did drugs I would be all over this , but seeing as how I haven't touched them in 13 years I can appreciate this but don't feel the urge that this album is pulling me back to it .I am well adapted to psychedelic music and prefer that elements in music as long as it is dark and I think the thinner digital sounding production takes away from capturing a darker vibe, which Hawkwind had, to the point of where they eventually crossed over and influenced many latter day goth bands. I'll still go ahead and round this one up to an 8.




3.9