Reviews: Voivod, Druidess, Tidal Wave, Mascot Moth,

Voivod

Symphonique

Ranking: 9

It seems these days a lot of people, who may not have known before, know now how awesome Voivod is. The entire back catalog is anywhere from very good to God tier, and their influence is blabbered about by countless musicians.  Even their latest studio releases are essential listening. I am not sure if anyone saw this release coming from the Montreal legends. Not because it is a new live record, but because Symphonique is a live record of all the Voivod classics with the. Quebec Symphony Orchestra. Now, metal bands doing live records with orchestras is old news, but what makes Symphonique unique to this particular form of live records is how complex Voivod compositions are and how hard it seems the band had to make the orchestra work to keep up. This is no string section playing along to Enter Sandman, this is some serious virtuoso stuff.

I mean just listen to the perfect opener for this record, Experiment (indeed). Everyone is playing crazy shit with insane changes and nothing straightforward. Oh, and it’s killer.  You get the chug of a track like Holographic Thinking while the orchestra builds behind it. There is so much to love on here, but my favorites are the huge Forgotten In Space, which sounds like a deranged 50s sci fi movie soundtrack, Nuclear War, from their classic first record, and, of course, their take on the Pink Floyd classic, Astronomy Domine, which is even more mind blowing with an orchestra. The recording sounds amazing and the band(s) are super tight.

Voivod fans will love this, because we are nerds and Voivod rules. This is no gimmick and no retread. The Voivod classics come alive (again) on Symphonique, breathing new life into songs we have been loving for decades as fans of one of the best and underrated bands out there still today.

Druidess - Trip Meadow (Self Released)

Once More we plunge into the world of psychadelic stoner doom with Newcastle based Druidess present their debut album, Trip Meadow, having shared stages with some of the riff world's best and brightest. 

The band follow up their 2024 EP Hermits And Mandrakes with a a record that pulls more sonic inspiration than just Iommi worship, though of course you can hear Tony all over this record in Daniel Downing's guitar playing, his tone is sharp and fuzzy (Descended From Giants), rarely going fully clean, though he switches to sax to bring a slight jazz flair on Witches Sabbath, it's the riffs though that matters most. 

With Trip Meadow they taking more mind altering route through 60's psychedelia (Mandragora) as James Hill's keys/organs as muscular as the thunderous riffs on the Green Lung-like Title Track which shifts from heavyweight classics rock thunder to bass/drum driven grooves. 

Sam Armstrong's drums are huge, setting the steady doom pace on the title track while on Knightingales there's a drive to them. Shonagh Brown meanwhile gives us the head nodding bass rhythms and reverbed, otherworldly vocals, drawn from the astral plane. 

Druidess fit comfortably into the modern occult doom crowd, guitars and organs bleeding together, lyrics drawn from Albion's history/mythology all wrapped in retro trappings. Trip Meadow defines Druidess' journey so far. 8/10

 Tidal Wave

Volume Tree

Ranking: 8

Tidal Wave started like a good morning, with Blueberry Muffin, their debut record that blew people away. It was a hard act to follow but The Lord Knows they were able to with The Lord Knows. Now, Ripple Music brings us their latest record, the cleverly named Volume Tree. It took me a second, but their take on doomy stoner rock once again has these guys from Sundsvall, Sweden stand out amongst the throngs of bands doing this today both with their excellent playing and witty lyrical stylings.

The Orb kicks it off, a doomy number with the great vocals we have come to love from Tidal Wave. You even get a nice death growl. The album is recorded expertly, really capturing the band’s sound, and a special shout to 'Raz' Sundberg who kills it on the drums throughout Volume Tree. I love the groove on the next one, Hangman, that is until it gets a bit trippy to make the riff even more filthy when it returns as he is swinging his axe so hard. I love the different tempos on this one. Earth is some serious Sabbath worship done Tidal Wave style, and it works so very well.  Temple Of Humanity is an interesting one. It almost reminds me of one of those slowed down early 80s metal tracks, and it works very well within the confines of the record. Good stuff. The dual guitar adds to that 80s metal vibe. Sideburns is where the sense of humor comes out, but it comes with a killer riff and excellent vocals (as usual with these guys). Shapeshifter has this rawness to it and kicks ass while Manuscript: 512 is the stoner rock banger everyone expects from Tidal Wave. Skitliv closes the record out in an interesting and chill way, with more 80s vibes from which I hear Scorpions all over it. Oh, and that solo.

Volume Tree is another great record from Tidal Wave. Don’t compare the previous works from the band because they are all great, just let Volume Tree live on its own and enjoy it for all that it is; a very cool imagination of the genres of heavy music these guys love.

Mascot Moth - MOTHerSHIP (Self Released)

Since 2015 Mascot Moth have been the premier prog, jazz. rock combo from Cymru (that's Wales for you non Welsh), they cross musical boundaries several times on all of their records. 

Journeying into the outer reaches of space with psychedelic wandering of Hawkwond, the depths of the earth with blues, through smoke filled clubs with sax driven jazz of Krautrock and into the gardens and rolling hills of their homeland with pastoral folkisms drawn from the Canterbury scene. 

Their new album MOTHerSHIP is another hour of sonic exploration that sees this experimental crew of Sioned Camlin (drums/vocals), Rob Harrison (flute/saxophone), Eric Heath (synths), Jack Hunter (bass/keys/vocals), David Thomas (guitar/trumpet/vocals) and Gavin Williamson-King (synths) combining their powers.

Ellis The Horn comes from Captain Beefheart jazz, while (I Think I'm) Grooving It goes into some funk shaking, Whatever It Was combines Frank Zappa with Can and with just three songs you can hear the sort of band Mascot Moth are, paying homage to a particular era when prog was daring and leaned into other genres. 

The dreamy Lullaby In Giliminour the first prog rock masterclass on the record with sweeping guitars against flutes, You're On Your Phone meanwhile puts funk with Styx synth/vocoder, it's an alchemic mix of styles that keep things quirky but catchy. Fans of Krautrock, Psych and Canterbury prog will love this record, the MOTHerSHIP has landed and if this is your first contact be not afraid. 8/10