Psychedelic Metal

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.

Den – Iron Desert Review

By Doom_et_Al on November 21, 2019 in 2019, American Metal, Corpse Flower Records, Doom Metal, Drone, Doom Metal, 15 comments

“Think about running a marathon. Through the desert. On one leg. With gastroenteritis. And no map. This is how difficult it is to forge a unique and compelling sound in the saturated world of metal. Bands generally either go super heavy, or adopt a hybrid sound of some kind. But when you have bands like An Autumn for Crippled Children combining dream-pop with black metal, and Devourment making music so dense it almost absorbs light, what is a band to do? Well, if they have the balls, they could try to do both. Enter Den, a band that wants to offer you a joint, then smash it unceremoniously through your skull after two tokes.” Heavy sand.

Blood Incantation – Hidden History of the Human Race Review

By Saunders on November 18, 2019 in 2019, American Metal, Dark Descent Records, Death Metal, Progressive Metal, Psychedelic Rock, Reviews, Death Metal, Progressive Death, 74 comments

“Blood Incantation’s 2016 debut, Starspawn, catapulted the sci-fi loving Denver crew into underground stardom. The album’s ambitious fusion of progressive and psychedelic elements into a beefy old school death core was incredibly well executed, smartly written, and addictive to boot, marking Blood Incantation as kindred spirits with legends Morbid Angel and Demilich, along with modern trailblazers like Horrendous. Some three years later Blood Incantation’s sophomore LP comes with a magnitude of hype and anticipation. Bottom line, Blood Incantation are considered a big fucking deal.” Mars needs metal.

Wizard Rifle – Wizard Rifle Review

By Kenstrosity on August 29, 2019 in 2019, American Metal, Psychedelic Rock, Reviews, Sludge, Svart Records, Thrash Metal, Psychedelic Rock, Sludge, 53 comments

“What is a ‘wizard rifle,’ exactly? It is a rifle that shoots magic missiles? Perhaps a rifle that spawns wizards propelled to impossible velocities (which does not bode well for said wizards, I suppose)? Maybe it’s something simpler, like a rifle made specifically for wizards that stores itself magically inside their hats. Or it could be something more complex, such as a rifle whose first shot pops out a smaller wizard who holds his/her/their own miniaturized wizard rifle, and so on.” Spell spewing.

Elder – The Gold & Silver Sessions EP

By Dr. Wvrm on July 19, 2019 in 2019, American Metal, Blues Funeral Recordings, Psychedelic Rock, Reviews, Stoner Metal, Stoner Metal, 37 comments

“But the New England outfit aren’t just the next indie darling, were never just metal for metal’s sake. Their proggy tendencies always lurked beneath the surface to some degree; Reflections was simply the unveiling. With a new LP on the horizon, The Gold & Silver Sessions takes Elder in a direction I didn’t expect, but perhaps should have. This isn’t just prog; it’s out-and-out jam.” Peanut butter and jaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaam.

Waste of Space Orchestra – Syntheosis Review

By Roquentin on April 3, 2019 in 2019, Avante Garde, Black Metal, Doom Metal, Drone, Experimental Metal, Finnish Metal, Reviews, Sludge Metal, Svart Records, Black Metal, Doom Metal, Experimental Metal, Sludge Metal, 134 comments

“A certain thespian poise dominates throughout Syntheosis, the piece originally commissioned for Roadburn Festival 2018 and then turned into a proper studio recording. Highly conceptual, Waste of Space Orchestra narrate a quite demented story somewhere between magical realism and occult horror. The album develops intently and purposefully, tracing the lines of an imagined ritual and its performers, three mysterious creatures that aim ‘to open a portal that will suck them into a different reality of brain-mutilating color storms and ego-diminishing audio violence.’” Waste not, want more.

Chubby Thunderous Bad Kush Masters – Come and Chutney Review

By Master of Muppets on July 22, 2018 in 2018, British Metal, Doom Metal, Psychedelic Rock, Retro Metal, Riff Rock Records, Stoner Metal, Doom Metal, 30 comments

“I mean, really. Come and Chutney? By fucking Chubby Thunderous Bad Kush Masters?? Well played, you Chubby London fucks; you have my attention. Billed as FFO Weedeater, Bongzilla, Black Sabbath, and… and fucking Vengaboys?! Well now, I’m as elated as a child at an amusement park.” Don’t come round here no more.

The Atlas Moth – Coma Noir Review

By Saunders on February 20, 2018 in 2018, American Metal, Prosthetic Records, Reviews, Rock, Sludge, Stoner Metal, Rock, Sludge, Stoner Metal, 2 comments

“Shape-shifting Chicago act The Atlas Moth exorcised some particularly nasty personal demons on 2014’s bleak, The Old Believer album. Although failing to hit the glorious highs of predecessor An Ache for the Distance, it proved a mature, emotionally raw and harrowing chapter in the band’s career. Not content to repeat themselves, The Atlas Moth return in a decidedly more chipper mood, by their despondent standards, serving up an energetic and refreshingly upbeat collection of tunes that widens the scope considerably beyond the psychedelic sludge tag they are frequently saddled with.” Like an Atlas Moth to the flame of judgment.

Motherslug – The Electric Dunes of Titan Review

By Master of Muppets on November 6, 2017 in 2017, Australian Metal, Doom Metal, Psychedelic Rock, Reviews, Stoner Metal, Doom Metal, Sludge Metal, Stoner Metal, 54 comments

“In a faraway corner of the Southern hemisphere belonging to radiant women and men who loot (and labor), a storm is brewing. A seething swarm of stoner sludge swirls and simmers in the starless sky, and my advice, should you hear that thunder, is the same as Colin Hay’s: you better run, you better take cover. A scant 2 years after dropping a self-titled pseudopodian riff bomb on an unsuspecting world, Melbourne’s Motherslug have added a second full-length to their cornucopia of doom, and all the salt in the world won’t keep you safe from this slugger.” Slimin’ and stealin’.