Psychedelic Rock

Sacri Monti – Waiting Room for the Magic Hour

By El Cuervo on July 2, 2019 in 2019, American Metal, Progressive Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Reviews, Tee Pee Records, Progressive Rock, Psychedelic Rock, 23 comments

“July of 2015 was a good time in my life. I had recently discovered Wilderun, I was getting my first real taste of the work which would become my profession and I was spreading my wings in the capital of my great nation. It concluded with a decent self-titled record by Sacri Monti, a Californian psychedelic rock band paying tribute to the 60s and 70s. The passage of 4 years has seen little new material until now, with the release of the rather excellently-entitled new album, Waiting Room for the Magic Hour. Will it bode the beginning of a strong July of 2019?” Boys of Summer.

Pinkish Black – Concept Unification Review

By Huck N Roll on June 12, 2019 in 2019, American Metal, Doom Metal, Psychedelic Rock, Relapse, Reviews, Doom Metal, Psychedelic Rock, 12 comments

“I have a soft spot for this band: they went through hell back in 2010 when, as The Great Tyrant, their bass player committed suicide. The remaining duo carried on as Pinkish Black, a morbid reminder of the color of the bathroom where Tommy Atkins killed himself. 2015’s Bottom of the Morning was their strongest release, a haunting, propulsive, cathartic album where all of the duo’s ideas meshed beautifully. How will they follow that?” Cinema metal.

Lykantropi – Spirituosa Review

By Carcharodon on June 8, 2019 in 2019, Folk, Lightning Records, Progressive Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Blues, Folk, Progressive Rock, Psychedelic Rock, 26 comments

“There are many threats facing our world today. Some are man-made (climate change, for example), while other dangers manifest as actual men and women. But is there any threat less talked about than that facing Sweden today? The time vortex seemingly whirling across that Scandinavian country, spitting out 70s alt-rock bands left, right and center? From Witchcraft, Horisont, and Graveyard to my subject today, Lykantropi, and, let’s be honest, recent Opeth too, there is a significant number of them around.” A plague of the past.

Bright Curse – Time of the Healer Review

By GardensTale on May 20, 2019 in 2019, British Metal, Progressive Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Reviews, Ripple Music, Stoner Metal, Progressive Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Stoner Metal, 36 comments

“I’ve never made it a secret that I’m a big fan of Pink Floyd. Nor am I alone in that adoration. The Brits had a huge influence on music in every genre, and their footsteps still impact artists across the globe. Their biggest crater is of course left in their home country, where Bright Curse sprang up over half a decade ago. With only vocalist Romain Daut remaining from the debut’s line-up, the young band has evidently been through some tumultuous times, but this hasn’t stopped Daut nor his three compatriots from hitting the studio and cranking out sophomore album Time of the Healer.” Floydcore.

Gone Cosmic – Sideways in Time Review

By Kenstrosity on April 17, 2019 in 2019, Canadian Metal, Hard Rock, Kozmik Artifactz, Progressive Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Reviews, Stoner Rock, Hard Rock, Progressive Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Stoner Metal, Stoner Rock, 41 comments

“My brain over-complicates just about everything. At times—and in fact most of the time—it feels like thoughts are running through my head too fast and loose for me to make sense of any one of them. As a result it’s utter cacophony making even the simplest decisions, such as what to eat for breakfast in the morning. Medication helps. Music helps too, keeping the most unruly parts of my mind occupied so I can focus on whatever task I have in front of me. Stoner metal and psychedelic rock in particular are highly effective, what with the trippy atmosphere and plodding riffs. Gone Cosmic, a four-piece from Calgary, Alberta, are poised to drop their debut, titled Sideways in Time, filled with such atmosphere and riffs. Will it be enough to assuage my overactive grey matter?” A stoner in time.

Glitter Wizard – Opera Villains Review

By Cherd on April 15, 2019 in 2019, American Metal, Hard Rock, Heavy Psych Sounds Records, Non-Metal Metal Things, Psychedelic Rock, Punk, Stoner Rock, Hard Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Stoner Rock, 45 comments

“The AMG higher-ups fancy themselves benevolent despots. That’s because they allow us relative freedom to choose our own promos and surprise us with pizza and hobo wine office parties now and then. Occasionally they’ll even offer tepid praise after our reviews are published. Sure, the quarterly beatings leave marks, but they rarely break the skin. Then again, if they see us getting too comfortable, they’ll assert their authority by assigning reviews that leave us just enough rope to hang ourselves. They might make brutal boi Kronos review symphonic power metal, or give our morose Muppet a jaunty pirate metal sing-along. For reasons beyond my understanding, they saw the words Glitter Wizard in the promo sump and thought, “Now there’s a stop-bang pooper doop if we’ve ever seen one, and we know just the writer for the job.”” Feel the opera.

Cracked Machine – The Call of the Void Review

By Huck N Roll on April 12, 2019 in 2019, British Metal, Post-Rock, Psychedelic Rock, PsyKa Records, Reviews, Psychedelic Rock, 36 comments

“Back in the olde days, if a band took two years between releases they were considered to be “on sabbatical.” Nowadays, if a band puts out an album faster than every two years, we wonder why they’re rushing things. An album a year used to be the rule, and that’s a rule that Cracked Machine seem to be adhering to early in their career. The Call of the Void comes hot on the heels of the Wiltshire quartet’s 2018 debut, I, Cosmonaut. Maybe it’s easier to write post-rock songs with psychedelic overtones, or maybe these fellows just have a lot of ideas swimming around in their heads.” Grinders.

Superlynx – New Moon Review

By Cherd on March 16, 2019 in 2019, Dark Essence Records, Doom Metal, Norwegian Metal, Occult Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Reviews, Stoner Rock, Doom Metal, Occult Rock, 47 comments

“Stoner doom can frequently be heard in the House of Cherd. I enjoy it in my rotation, being, as I am, of Doom. Mrs. Cherd, however, takes particular delight in it. Whenever we’re doing housework to one of her playlists, it’s not uncommon for three Windhand songs from different albums to be followed by Bongzilla, then Electric Wizard, all while she promises that there are other genres in there and the next song probably won’t be stoner doom.” Family friendly doom.

Deathchant – Deathchant Review

By Huck N Roll on January 7, 2019 in 2019, American Metal, King Volume Records, Proto-Metal, Psychedelic Rock, Reviews, Stoner Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Stoner Rock, 27 comments

“Let’s ease into 2019, shall we? After a climactic December that saw about a million Things You Might have Missed posts, nearly two dozen Top Ten(ish) lists, and a few more outstanding releases, it’s time to let our collective breath out, sit back, and strap in for what we all hope will be a stellar year for metal. And while early January might not be blessing us with any albums that will stick around until list season, there are a few that are worth digging into. Is this shorty (a mere seven songs and 30 minutes) from Los Angeles’ Deathchant one of those? If you’re into psychedelic proto-rock, with all sorts of other spices added in, then this eponymous debut just might kick-start your year.” Death the halls.

New Light Choir – Torchlight Review

By Huck N Roll on November 25, 2018 in 2018, American Metal, Occult Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Reviews, Svart Records, Occult Rock, Psychedelic Rock, 22 comments

“The occult/psychedelic movement has been quiet this year, and when it has made noise, that noise has been like bathwater: tepid and lukewarm. Aside from a small handful of notable exceptions, when you search the site for occult rock or psychedelic rock, you find a ton of 2.5s and 3.0s. Not the most fun in the world. But North Carolina duo New Light Choir aim to change that here with their third album, Torchlight. While their first two albums showed promise, there was obvious room for growth, both in production and songwriting. But as is the case with pretty much every genre, it is easy to take things into parody range. Worshiping too hard at the retro altar usually doesn’t work out.” Worship the olden riffs.