Tuesday, May 17, 2016

High Priest Of Saturn - Sons of Earth and Sky (2016)

A four-piece mix of doom and heavy, psychedelic rock from Norway; this release marks the quintet's second since their demo in 2011. “Aeolian Dunes” comes on pretty thick right from the start with it's obvious Sabbath influence, but then Martin Sivertsen (guitars) and Ole Kristian Malmedal (keyboards) take it right into proggy Pinky Floyd territory, where trippy whirls, light keys and soft guitar nodes make for a trip through the subconscious. Andreas Hagen (drums) follows in tune along with bassist and frontwoman Merethe Heggset, as the band bring us right into church organs and groove that send us straight into the fourth dimension. When I first heard the piece, it sounded kind of like any female fronted doom (Demon Lung, for example) but when the band opened the window and let the air in a little, I had no idea that the wind was going to blow so strong that it pulled me literally outwards into the fucking stratosphere. It's also a pretty safe bet that I liked that feeling and hope that the other thirty minutes of this record will deliver the same or at least a similar feeling to that ten-minute metaphysical monster. “Ages Move The Earth” has a lighter vibe from the start, with an odd trippy effect coming from Heggset's vocals that make her feel like she's trying to communicate from another dimension entirely. There are still some thick parts to be had, but nothing that takes away from the atmosphere, which is most important. “Son Of Earth and Sky” continues to totally chill me out, while “The Warming Moon” has a little more thump, which doom fans will appreciate. Despite the fact that there are doom fans here, you've really got to accept the fact that most of the material here is really trippy, proggy and psychedelic as hell. There are comics I'd like to read while listening to this kind of stuff, just to enhance the trippy and metaphysical nature of them. When we come to the end, we're faced with another very slow moment in “The Flood Of Waters” which I can certainly say will extend your journey. The disc itself comes in at about forty minutes, so it's not quite a full hour of psychedelic doom/rock fare, but you're definitely going to appreciate what has happened here and I'd definitely consider it one of the best psychedelic experiences I've heard from a doom act in a while. If you liked that Tusmorke I reviewed earlier, pick this one up for a little more meat coupled with yet another amazing trip.

(5 Tracks, 40:00)

8/10

No comments:

Post a Comment