The Black Drum Set ; " Frineds in Dark Places"

There is something hypnotic about this project that matters, early 90s dream pop with a more narcotic electronic pulse. It's like Stone Roses remixes without the guitar solos. The title track that opens the album drew me in; now the challenge is, can they keep my interest? Where the second song floats in a bong-laden haze with nothing grounding it by the surreal atmosphere it flows through, "The Ice Melted, We Had to Swim" has more of a backbone with its solid pulse. The formual for their songwriting seems to be to get high and jam.

 There are some exotic Indian influence chord progressions to "From a Different Place" to continue to mesmerize as this album keeps dripping past you in it's lsd drenched ooze.It can't be argued that they do not have a cool sound, but I am going to need them to hook me in. Instead, they fall into the ambiance as the more krautrock bubbling of "Moment Moment Moment Moment" unwinds into another slow burn. This vocal style works for a few songs, but midway into the album, you need to hear more. The are jsut another layer in this drone. Speaking of drones, I hope yo uare not sobering up soon as things jam on with "Open Flame," which sounds cool, but it wanders around. 

The atmosphere does not diminish for the last song if yo uare waiting for them to rock out, it is not happening. They instead float around in the smoky haze of the ethereal guitars. While this album was in many ways a pleasant surprise it's good for the rainy morning when yo uare not waking or the afternoons that you get really stoned, for that I am going to give it an 8.5, as this is the album they wanted to make, it's just something you have to be into the proper headspace for. 

6.6

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Blackwater Holylight : "Not Here Not Gone"

 

So far, I have really dug everything this band has done, and it does not take long for me to conclude it is not likely Blackwater Holylight is going to steer me wrong with this album either. Driven by fuzzy overdrive and the languid croon of Sunny Faris, coasts in the middle of the bong worshipping rumble. Sure, elements of shoegaze and psych rock come together at varied points as the song progresses, but it moves more conventionally than previous efforts. Thankfully, not abandoning the jammy flow that has characterized most of what I have heard from them before, is still very much in play to create a more organic feeling. 

Things get maringally darker on "Involuntary Haze", but that, along with the tension lurking under the bass line, is all I really needed from them. It is a very well-mixed album, as many sounds coexist, with room to breathe. Sometimes Faris's voice sits further in the layers of guitar than what you might expect from your average radio rock band, but here it makes perfect sense. "Bodies" has a heavier groove, but not in a more metallic manner, just driven with more sonic heft. "Heavy, Why" is heavy as the name suggests, but from a little different angle of the throb as the vocal melody casts a more dreamy shade onto the canvas. 

"Giraffe" is an interlude with a more trip-hop feel. This contrasts "Spades," which is the most metal song on the album thus far. 'Void to Be" is a darker indie rock feel with moody, haunted guitar parts. There is a more sluggish drawl to "Mourning After." It drifts into an atmospheric drone that swells into the sunset. This is where the albums eneds wit ha folk touched flavor of post-rock that is not unlike what Emma Ruth Rundle does. While these final two songs might have to grow on me mood-wise, as they contrast the more grooving drive of the album as a whole, everything is balanced out, so I will go ahead and give this one a 10 as it feels like their most solid work yet. Dropping on Suicide Squeeze Records. 

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Looking Back in Anger at The Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds"

Oddly, I was just defending the genius of Brian Wilson in a discussion on classic rock I was having with a friend a few days before Wilson's death. It's only fitting to review this album now.  "Wouldn't It Be Nice " works off the kind of harmonies and sunny pop melodies that are the band's trademark, though there is a 1966 feel to some of the instrumentation coloring the background. When I go back and listen to this album, it's funny how you can hear how it influenced so many artists that came after in how things sit in the mix. 

There is a more depressive undertone to "You Still Believe in Me". They do some pretty stunning things with the vocal arrangements here. Lyrically, "That's Not Me" continues to show the beach party has been over for some time as they are more introspective. "Don't Cry' continues to slow dance into melancholy, as the same exuberance that once possessed their songs has mellowed into something with more depth. They shift more toward their upbeat pop sound with "I'm Waiting For the Day". You can certainly hear their influence on indie rock here. 

"Sloop John B" might be the song that feels the most like the Beach Boys, in terms of where the vocals sit, despite being a folk song from the Bahamas that Wilson arranged and adapted. "God Only Knows" is a classic, and it makes sense that Brian was influenced by Burt Bacharach going into this album as much as he was by his LSD trip. There is a touch of rock to "I Know There's an Answer," but there is more tambourine on this album than drugs, decreasing its rock sensibilities. "I Wasn't Made For These Times" is the most oddly deprecating, making it one of the most unique songs in the lyrical tone, though the arrangement is odd as well. The title track is an instrumental that is experimental for who they were at this time.  "Caroline No" is a ballad that fits well with their overall persona. I will give this album a 10, it's way ahead of its time and bears a significant influence on music to come. 

 Check the album out below ... and visit our  YouTube & Facebook Pages as well! Thanks for Reading  

https://www.youtube.com/@abysmalhymns666

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Blackwater Holylight : "If You Only Knew"

 The Portland shoe-gazers take things in a more organically jammed direction. There is a brooding underbelly to the verse that finds them taking off in a more stoner rock direction. The dreamy vocals counterbalance when they dig and go into more aggressive riffs that steer toward a more metal direction. But one heavy riff does not make a band metal. There is a brighter, almost 90s glaze to "Torn Reckless." There is a drive to this one, and a swathe of sounds layered here, but it is not as sonically dense or heavy as the first track.  

This is fine as the EP carries a dynamic breadth, which is important when there are only four songs in the presentation, as all of them need to count. So it's interesting that they end this EP with a cover, but we will get to that later"Fate is Forward" finds the lilted vocals coasting over the backbone the bass provides, as the song takes on a more deliberate rock throb. I can't praise the production enough, and tell you how perfect all the tones are. The mix is a masterclass for this kind of rock-based shoegaze, as it's organic yet heavy, with all of the sound given its rightful place, which can be a lot to work with as synths coexist with the guitar in a similar sonic zip code. 

This is one of Radiohead's more notable post-"Ok Computer" songs. It might be the best song on "In Rainbows' and an interesting choice of a song for the band to cover. They capture the groove, then the vocals do Yorke's melodies and mood justice without becoming a tribute band. I was unsure about how I was going to feel about this one when I saw it was being done and not dropping the song title on you, so there are no spoilers in that regard, but they do a great job with it and capture the spirit of the song. I will give this EP a 10. I wish this were a full-length, but if they are making you want more, then something is working. Out on Suicide Squeeze Records. 

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The Other Sun : "Daimon, Devil, Dawn"

 

This is the debut from this Swedish band that plays a mesmerizing blend of psyche rock run through the jangling wanderlust of the Wild West. The vocals are sedate and hover in the middle of the mix, at more than a murmured whisper but not quite a croon on the opening track. This Scandinavian take on the sounds of California in the 60s certainly sets itself apart. These guys all have backgrounds playing in metal bands, but that aggression is just a shadow of an undercurrent lurking in the subconsciousness of these songs, making them not much more metal than the Doors. There are a lot of guitar solos and that adds some fire to the proceedings, as well as the grittier rasp applied to the vocals when things climax, though it is not a metal growl. 

The more surf-rock side of the band does not break the surface until the second song. This song is inspired by a poem penned by Octavio Paz. Another example of their fascination with Western culture. Aside from spoken recitation of the excerpts of the poem the song is largely instrumental, though it is still an effective song. 'Black as Gold" features a wonderful reverbed-out guitar tone. The smoky baritone vocals sit back in the mix enveloped in the guitars. They serve more as texture than a focal point, This is clearly a guitar-centered album. When passages are phrased with the exotic chord voicing found here, that makes guitar-centered fine by me. 

"Lion Spell" is an ominous piece of neo-folk that marches across the same bleak forests as Death in June, with the wailing of the guitar solo that erupts as the only thing anchoring into a rock context. There is more of a Nick Cave-like swagger to "Horizon Between the Eyes". It rolls along with a rambling strum. The bass line carries a creeping feeling with it. Even with its cowboy sentiments, no one is going to mistake this for country music. 'Conjuring Other" finds the vocals reaching into a higher register as things grow in intensity, as the drums stir up thunder from under the guitars. Some more aggressive accents flirt in creating a more metallic attack. The guitar shifts enough for a harder rock mood to put its foot on the monitors in a manner that might invoke listeners to salute with devil horns. They hold you with that tension rather than indulging the release a metal band would give in to.  

The mood of "Pan" brings Orville Peck to mind, minus the homoerotic imagery the singer uses to further titillate his fan base. They are also less mainstream with their intentions and carry things to a darker place. Think Johnny Cash if he had been obsessed with HP Lovecraft. The last song which also features Erik from Beseech leading his voice carries a more staccato rock groove. However, the vocals do not come in until midway into the song as they leave room for some stellar guitar solos to be jammed up. The vocals are once again more spoken, as the guitars do most of the talking. I will give this one a 9, this is a great guitar album that could have shared the spotlight more with the vocals, but for what they are doing it is a great deal of gloomy fun. This is being released on July 23rd on Invictus Productions. 

 

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Sunnata : "Chasing Shadows"

last album earned the number three spot on 2021's Top 10 Sludge Albums list. The vibes are more psychedelic on 'Chasing Shadows". The Polish band continues to push their sonic boundaries but with less aggression. In fact, it feels, more like grunge at times, as the droning baritone vocals remind me a little of Mark Lanegan this time around. It sounds great so I am not going to complain about this not being as metal as past releases since it has progressed in a very organic manner, and things are still intense. The vocals build into a more throaty belt, but not a growl. 

"Torn" is largely the band jamming around a sustained tension. While the vocals are improved from the previous album and crooned with palpable melancholy, they do not really give the song structure but add another layer of sound. The winding spiral of the guitar lures you into "Wishbone". This finds the band stepping into the direction of progressive, not a huge surprise considering their previous album did not conform to what you expect from the sludge or doom genres. The chorus to "Wishbone" finds a hookier dynamic in place. The vocal layering to "Saviours Raft" slants the song in the Alice In Chains direction. Though unlike Alice in Chains it drones of a jam more than creating vocal hooks. They do build the song really well into a heavier pound, that is still not quite metal.  

There is more of a hypnotic chant to "The Tide" which finds them highly effective at creating a mood, though it's more of a song to zone out to rather than an earworm you return to. "Hunger" is more brooding in its storm-building tension. The bass payer is the key to this here and in other songs, with a hefty tone that holds the backbone down. Even a simple strum is an effective blueprint for them to follow 'the Sleeper" combines the brooding grunge melodies with the pulse of early Pink Floyd's dark speculations. The last song is the album's most experimental moment rides an odd ambient groove. I will give this album a 9 it achieves what it set out to do here, which is create its own sound that is possessed by a surreal intensity. 

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