Miss Lava : "Under a Black Sun"

You never know where your next favorite new band might be hiding, so I try to check out at least one track from every band in my inbox, so give fate a chance. The "Under a Black Sun" track hooked me in the first few minutes, so I decided to check this one out. Melodic vocals that carry a trippy drone as they ride the bass line are a staple of their sound. The chorus kicks into a fuzzed-out stoner rock rumble with some Sabbath infused weight behind it. This makes me think of bands in the 90s that came out after grunge who struck big, who might have been on the more metallic side of things, so they merged doom with the loud-to-soft formula that Nirvana made popular. The Portuguese band finds itself in good company in this approach. 

The throb of "Neon Gods" is catchy and sets the stage for the groove that possesses the verse for the vocals to drip Alice In Chains-like harmonies over. The vocals belt out more aggressively for the chorus to make the most of the dynamics. "Eye Evil Eye of a Witch" finds the vocals beginning to create a uniform feel to this album, and putting the band in a position where they need to switch things up a bit in this regard to keep my attention. Granted, you could argue there are bands such as HEALTH or REZN, who have one made of vocalist that defines their sound as well, but I think the vocals for those bands are more of an atmospheric layer that provides perhaps more of a hook. In other words, it's not what you do but how you do it. 

The minute and fifteen seconds of "Chaos Strain" is a more punk moment, but when a band veers greatly from their sound into something like this that feels out of character, it always makes me wonder what the point was. It seems that the drummer wanted the momentum to carry over into "Woe Warrior". This song, however, has more going on than flows from the whole of what they do. "The Bends" is not a Radiohead cover, but a song that is more like a grunge version of Queens of the Stone Age. You think that would be Kyuss, but this comes across differently. The darker, palm-muted tension of 'Fear in Overdrive" makes it one of the album's best songs.

The Alice In Chains comparisons grow stronger on "I Drown". The album is also produced in a way that captures more of a '90s sound. "Blue Sky in Mars" moves a little differently, and the guitar melody is not your typical Alice in Chains minor key ambiance. It feels more like "Load" era Metallica to me. 'Elara" is more of a song than an interlude, even though it features female vocals and is only a minute and a half. Then we know the title track that closes this album is a banger, as it's the reason I decided to check out this album in the first place. I will give this album a 9, it's a solid grunge grunge-tinged album that would be great for long sessions of bong worship. 

 

 

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