Psychedelic Metal

King Bastard – It Came From the Void Review

By Doom_et_Al on January 13, 2022 in Reviews, Doom Metal, 58 comments

“It’s become a joke in the AMG tea-room that stoner doom, while often quite enjoyable, very rarely stands out. The languid, hazy riffs and easy atmosphere make for music that flirts cheekily with memorability, but rarely commits to it. Part of the reason, I suspect, is that most of this music operates in a slightly blunted emotional frequency, reflecting the effect being stoned has on the listener. Enter New York foursome, King Bastard, with their debut It Came From the Void. Crashing in with all the subtlety of day-old bong water, it’s a trip all right. But it’s one you should consider taking.” Void bastards.

Epiphanic Truth – Dark Triad: Bitter Psalms to a Sordid Species [Things You Might Have Missed 2021]

By Huck N Roll on December 16, 2021 in Things You Might Have Missed 2021, Black Metal, Post-Metal, Progressive Metal, 28 comments

“A funny thing happened on the way to the Forum this year; I started listening to a handful of albums that had the black metal tag affixed to them. I don’t know if it was my mindset, the evolution of musical taste, or the fact that some of this music was actually really good, but three of these albums made my list (four, if you count the sweet little Sea Mosquito track), and today I’m going to tell you about my second-most favorite of the bunch: Dark Triad: Bitter Psalms to a Sordid Species, by the mysterious collective called Epiphanic Truth.” Psalms for the poor.

Domkraft – Seeds Review

By Huck N Roll on May 8, 2021 in Reviews, Doom Metal, Sludge Metal, 32 comments

“This album cover might be enough to scare away the more discerning fans, but we here aren’t paid to run away in fear or confusion. Nor are we paid enough to afford a pair of 3D glasses, which might be handy to see this artwork in its intended form. It is a messed-up, psychedelic trip of an image, to be sure, and in some ways it foreshadows what is to come on Seeds, the third album from Swedish doom/sludge/psych trio Domkraft.” Seedy fuzz.

Book of Wyrms – Occult New Age Review

By TheKenWord on May 4, 2021 in Reviews, Doom Metal, Psychedelic Rock, Stoner Metal, Stoner Rock, 9 comments

“In my review for sophomore effort Remythologizer, I criticized the band’s use of fluffy instrumentals, the lack of structure in their songwriting, and propensity to abandon their best ideas before they had a chance to bloom. Most of those detractors are absent from Occult New Age, and it makes a world of difference.” Diet of Wyrms.

Neptunian Maximalism – Solar Drone Ceremony Review

By Dear Hollow on April 22, 2021 in Reviews, Ambient, Doom Metal, Punk, 17 comments

“Neptunian Maximalism took the metal world by storm last year. Éons was an absolute monument of an album, fusing drone, jazz, and psychedelia into one of the most evocative listens in recent memory. It spoke to something primal, something ancient that lived at the bottom of a listener’s subconscious, and snuck its way into my year-end list at number 2. Conjuring the likes of Sunn O))), Sun Ra, Swans, and Miles Davis, it was a concept album regarding the fate of Earth and its inhabitants, resulting in mass extinction and planetary destruction. Only nine months later, we’re treated with a new offering; can Solar Drone Ceremony continue where its predecessor left off?” Maximal effort.

Suffering Hour – The Cyclic Reckoning Review

By Saunders on February 22, 2021 in Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, 75 comments

“The dreaded sophomore slump is always a concern after a band bursts out of the blocks with a stellar debut. Expectation and pressure mounts, at least from a fan perspective. In the case of the mysterious Suffering Hour, 2017’s debut LP, In Passing Ascension, created a deserved underground buzz and well and truly placed Suffering Hour on the map as a band to keep a close eye on. With just the intervening Dwell EP in 2019, Suffering Hour took their time in fine tuning and honing their signature sound in preparation of unleashing The Cyclic Reckoning.” Vicious cyclic.

Psychonaut – Unfold the God Man Review

By TheKenWord on March 4, 2020 in 2020, Belgian Metal, Pelagic Records, Post-metal, Psychedelic Rock, Reviews, Post-Metal, 33 comments

“I love the color purple. Such a rich palette of hues lie within this particular segment of the spectrum, all of which pair well with an extensive array of complements. Purple can convey royalty, seduction, obliteration, depression, and damn near everything else provided a competent application thereof. Of course, that holds true for most colors, but just seeing purple is more exciting to me than seeing any other color. This brings us to Belgian post-metal trio Psychonaut, whose debut album Unfold the God Man features a gorgeous cover warmly ensconced in my current color of choice.” Do not tear, fold or mutilate.

Hex A.D. – Astro Tongue in the Electric Garden Review

By Doom_et_Al on February 19, 2020 in 2020, Doom Metal, Norwegian Metal, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Doom Metal, Progressive Metal, 28 comments

“I’d never heard of the band, but for the next two weeks, I listened to the album at least 25 times. I lived it. I breathed it. The review I produced was no Tolstoyan masterpiece, but the score was correct, and I remain weirdly proud of it. Netherworld Triumphant was a cool, bluesy amalgamation of a whole bunch of 70s and 80s hard rock influences, performed by talented musicians having a lot of fun. It wasn’t original, but it worked. It was also my ticket out of the Skull Pit. Now, a mere 15 months later, the Norwegians return with the ridiculously titled Astro Tongue in the Electric Garden.” Tongue AND groove.

Ryte – Ryte Review

By Twelve on January 16, 2020 in 2020, Doom Metal, Heavy Psych Sounds Records, Psychedelic Rock, Reviews, Doom Metal, 13 comments

“New year! New you! Oh, how I hate that creed. At midnight on New Year’s Eve, I was sound asleep and alone, joyously flaunting my disregard for this most nonsensical of global traditions. I made no resolutions for the new year either. Yes, this edgiest of numbers started the year in unbearably cool style, so much so that the Master of Muppets itself will be admitting to knowing me any day now. I entered the Field of Desolate Promos with confidence… and somehow, I left with Ryte, the self-titled debut of Ryte, a doom-inspired psych rock/metal project from Austria.” New year, bad attitude.

Blut Aus Nord – Hallucinogen [Things You Might Have Missed 2019]

By Roquentin on December 20, 2019 in 2019, Black Metal, Debemur Morti, Experimental Metal, French Metal, Melodic Black Metal, Reviews, Things You Might Have Missed, Things You Might Have Missed 2019, Black Metal, Melodic Black Metal, 48 comments

“Whichever the style, the quality of <'sb>Blut Aus Nord output never faltered. They could and have done whatever they wanted. Yet even in such a varied discography, their thirteenth LP Hallucinogen arrives as a sharp and expectedly unexpected detour. An ascendance to a higher celestial plane.” Black trip.