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Thursday 2 June 2022

Reviews: Las Cruces, Gramma Vedetta, Witchfinder, Afterimage (Reviews By Rich P & Matt Bladen)

Las Cruces - Cosmic Tears (Ripple Music) [Rich P]

Underground Texas doom legends Las Cruces are back after more than a decade hiatus. Full disclosure: I was not familiar with these guys until after Ripple Music mentioned them as a new signing about a year ago, but when Ripple says these guys are worthy of partnering with, I jump all in. Their back catalog is filled with excellent traditional doom with some grungy/stoner overtones and all their stuff is top notch. I think of a band like Apostle Of Solitude as a comparison. So this “research” combined with the teasers from Ripple make this a top target on my new release radar. The band has been through a lot, including losing a member to Covid, and you can tell there are all sorts of emotions on display on Cosmic Tears, the band’s fourth full length, and possibly their best.

The more and more I listen to Cosmic Tears the more Alice In Chains I hear. Specifically, the AIC slower songs, like the Rain When I Die type stuff. I hear a lot of Jerry style riffing, and that slumbering, slimy pace that AIC perfected on their first three records. Las Cruces has a lot of that going on, which is not the first thought you have when you think of a classic style doom band. Was Alice a doom band then? This is material for a different review, but Las Cruces has some serious Dirt vibes going on. The opening track, Altar Of The Seven Sorrows, however is more of your traditional doom offering, an Instrumental with some Sabbathy riffage and Candlemass vibes. But on song two, the title track, try to tell me you can’t hear the Cantrell influence. 

Vocally it is nothing near what Layne gave us, but musically absolutely. The trio are super tight, and the rhythm section is nicely right up front but not overwhelming in the mix. Doomy grunge for sure. The track Stay is maybe my favorite on Cosmic Tears, with a sweet rumbling base line opening leading you into some killer riffage that reminds me of Dio-era Sabbath, but also just enough grunge influence (I hear some Soundgarden here…). This may also be the strongest vocal performance on the record as well. Wizard From The North is another standout track bringing some early Trouble vibes, and of course, a wizard “from fire crimson shores”. All doom albums should be contractually obligated to have a song about a wizard. It’s an epic doom journey where you meet all sorts of characters along the way. Egyptian Winter is another epic slow burner that will put you right into the story and brings more of the Sabbath/AIC love. Overall, the ten tracks on Cosmic Tears are all killer, with absolutely zero filler.

Traditional doom album of the year? A strong contender. But there is more depth to Cosmic Tears, and as I am on my most recent listen, I hear more and more great and unique stuff that makes this one stand out amongst what the doom scene is doing today. A strong recommendation and an album that will be on my year end list. Go check out this and all the stuff Las Cruces has delivered. You will not be disappointed. 9/10

Gramma Vedetta - The Hum Of The Machine (Self Released) [Matt Bladen]

Intergalactic prog stoners, Gramma Vedetta, crash back into the Earth with a new selection of mind expanding heavy rocking. The Hum Of The Machine is a collection of short stories, that they stress is not a concept album but more a transitional journey into becoming a digital entity (though many of my friends would say I am already!), embracing the ideas of individuality over conformity. However long Gramma Vedetta have been traversing their universe, they have certainly picked up some tricks from seminal stoner riff masters such as Monster Magnet (A Chance To Win The Orb), The Sword (Starlight Portal Show) and Mastodon (Robots For War) amongst many more. 

Comprised of three humanoids; Dan (guitar/vocals), Marco (bass/synths) and Teo (drums), this record also brings in a bit of 70's progressive rock the obvious comparison being the psychedelic explorations of Pink Floyd, which comes in strongly on the trippy A Broken Time Machine. The music feels as if it's much more than just a trio, though so often they forgo the prog for the simplicity of fat, freaking riffs. Not that there's anything wrong with that, just that bands such as The Sword, have nailed this sci-fi stoner rocking, so other bands doing it will always feel a little like they're trying to impersonate rather than do something different, The Future Of The Past is a great case study for this sounding exactly like a QOTSA song and a Black Sabbath song simultaneously. 

Still if you like your riffs with a side order of dystopian sci-fi ala Philip K Dick, Aldous Huxley or Ray Bradbury, then you'll delve into these short stories with aplomb. 7/10   

Witchfinder - Endless Garden EP (Mrs Red Sound) [Rich P]

Witchfinder is back with a new EP, Endless Garden, and the band has never sounded better. The French doomsters offer up two psych-tinged doom rippers to keep us excited in between full lengths, with a new one expected in the fall of this year. For now, we get some excellent doomy riffage to tide us over until then. The two tracks on Endless Garden are both excellent and would be a worthy add to said full length. What I am getting from both songs is a band that is growing and expanding their horizons. 

While I really dig their last full length, Hazy Rites, it is somewhat one dimensional from a song standpoint. Now that one dimension is excellent, but there was not a lot of straying from the album’s formula. The two tracks on Endless Garden take Witchfinder to the next level. First, the production is a few steps up from their previous work; these songs sound great. In the first track, The Maze, you get what you love about Witchfinder; the doomy goodness, the heavy riffage, and that thunderous rhythm section. But you get some more complexity to the song structure. Now we are not talking like Witchfinder went all Dream Theater on us, but there are more tempo changes and instrumentation going on during the nine or so minutes of The Maze

The ten-minute Eternal Sunset is where the band really steps it up, with keyboards layered over the heavy riffs to create an almost dream/doom soundscape with the (very) clean (harmonized?!?) vocals and an almost Type O feel in the second half of the track that makes Eternal Sunset probably their best song yet in all their discography. While only two tracks, this EP is worthy of your time is you love the stoner doom stuff. Witchfinder is starting to hit their stride, and this is a nice appetizer before the new full length main course. 8/10

Afterimage - II: Beyond Horizons Infinite (Steel Gallery Records) [Matt Bladen]

I'm not sure what to say about the second album from Syros Island based progressive metal band. They have apparently upgraded to a three guitar line up also adding more keys to make for a wider sound. That comes from the US/UK style of prog metal favoured by Fates Warning, Dream Theater, Shadow Gallery, Threshold etc. Musically it is pretty decent progressive metal, however there is a colossal elephant in the room, II: Beyond Horizons Infinite has some of the worst singing I've ever heard. Even in the progressive metal genre where certain singers never really deliver in the live arena, the screeching, unhinged often flat vocal that is given to us on this album ruins any chance of enjoyment for me. 

Apparently the singer has been described as mixture of John Arch, Geddy Lee and Buddy Lackey and yes I can hear why but it's almost it's as if he's attempting to be all of those at once without trying to be too accurate. With the numerous instrumental breaks you can just about manage but when it comes to the 15 minute An Overture To Mystic Arts I finally lost it and shut the album off. I tried again and managed a second listen but the voice is too distracting for me. There's lots of potential but christ the flaw is pretty fatal. 4/10 

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