November is Doom- King Buffalo : "Doomsayer"

 Like punk bands that become metal after mastering their instruments over the years, doom bands do the same thing when they go prog. Though they were more on the stoner metal side of things, as I don't recall them being all that dark, they are moody as they bust into the rather bluesy jam that pursues blues in a similar way to how Pink Floyd appealed more to the stoner metal side. There are guitar solos that work well to build the dynamics, and you do not have to be a shred nerd to enjoy. There is a jammy vibe to what is going down here. They still cram it in under six minutes. At times the groove brings All Them Witches to mind. 

There is more of a "Stranglehold " vibe to the tension setting "The Slick and the Dead". Lyrically bleaker than you might expect, it proves pretty effective.  "Vagabond" is powered by a marginally more metallic aggression underlying the guitar. They ride the hypnotic tension for the bulk of the song in a Tool-ish sense. But unlike them, they don't feel the need to have the obligatory breakdown. Groove is the name of the game here as"Hell or High Water" pulls from most of the sonic colors they have introduced up to this point. The psyche vibes feel like they are from a 90s grunge filter here. They allow themselves a few more power chords to bask in. They float off on a jammy guitar solo. They have mastered the jam that brings it back around full circle. 

"Into the Foundry" finds the bass trying to replicate the luck they had on the first four songs, and while it does not suck, it feels like they have gone to the well too many times with this formula. I am also stone-cold sober as I am listening to this, so perhaps that factors in. "Ether on the Darkside" creates more of a 'Have a Cigar' feel, with its bass line holding it down, though less funky and more throbbing. A big guitar solo jamming around. It does, however, keep with the album's groove-first formula. The drummer works over time, but it never crashes into heavy. 

As you can expect, they have brought a more metallic riff for the title track, though it's not really doom. It follows more of a Queens of the Stone Age dynamic.  Though a little more metal than them, but not as metal as early Kyuss. I will give this album a 9, it's some impressive jams that work well if you are stoned. This album drops December 4th. 

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