There is an interesting increase in stoner rock coming from northern Europe. A case in point is this band from Norway. They are on the doomier side of the genre. The second song finds mellow vocals coasting over fuzzed-out guitars, which creates a nice juxtaposition. It also gives the band a more original sound rather than just being another Black Sabbath tribute band. They are smart to use more grooves on 'Cabin Fever' which helps break things up.
They also lean into their more indie rock tendencies at times. There sound is not aggressive, making them almost not metal, but the guitars have enough heft, and the casual chug leads them in that direction."Red Thundra" feels like Hum jamming with Kyuss which is a pretty good combination in my book. It has the heavy thundering drive, but tempered with atmosphere. The uptempo droning jangle of 'Battling Guns" works well enough, it moves things more in the indie rock direction, and I prefer the songs before it. However, I do not hold it against them for trying different things and not pandering to the Camaro crowd. "Monomann" had to get a second listen before I fully digested it, It's more of a Queens of the Stonage-like boogie
"MJ" goes into a hypnotic riff that reminds me a little too much of 'Demon Cleaner". They fix this during the chorus. But it's not just the riffs it's the cadence of how the vocals sit on the guitar. 'Dune" kinda takes the Kyuss vibe and jams it out a little more. I will give this album a 9 and see how it grows on me, I like that it does not always try to conform to the expectations of the genre, the only thing going against it is the heavy Kysus influence.
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