HEAVY TEMPLE (Estats Units) presenta nou àlbum en directe: "Live from the Inner Sanctum" #HeavyTemple #PsychedelicDoomMetal #Octubre2026 #EstatsUnits #NouÀlbumEnDirecte #Metall #Metal #MúsicaMetal #MetalMusic
#psychedelic-doom-metal — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #psychedelic-doom-metal, aggregated by home.social.
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DOOMSAYERS (Estats Units) presenta nova demo: "Basement Tapes Vol. II" #Doomsayers #PsychedelicDoomMetal #Octubre2026 #EstatsUnits #NovaDemo #Metall #Metal #MúsicaMetal #MetalMusic
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DRUIDESS (Regne Unit) presenta nou àlbum: "Trip Meadow" #Druidess #PsychedelicDoomMetal #Rock #Juny2026 #RegneUnit #NouÀlbum #Metall #Metal #MúsicaMetal #MetalMusic
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ASTRAL FUNGUS CULT (Polònia) presenta nou EP: "Astral Fungus Cult" #AstralFungusCult #PsychedelicDoomMetal #Abril2026 #Polònia #NouEp #Metall #Metal #MúsicaMetal #MetalMusic
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L'IRA DEL BACCANO (Itàlia) presenta nou àlbum: "The Praise of Folly" #LIraDelBaccano #PsychedelicDoomMetal #SpaceRock #Febrer2026 #Itàlia #NouÀlbum #Metall #Metal #MúsicaMetal #MetalMusic
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SQUIRREL DESECRATOR (Estats Units) presenta nou single: "The Trenches" #SquirrelDesecrator #PsychedelicDoomMetal #Drone #Febrer2026 #EstatsUnits #NouSingle #Metall #Metal #MúsicaMetal #MetalMusic
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SUNDECAY (Canadà) presenta nou àlbum: "The Blood Lives Again" #Sundecay #PsychedelicDoomMetal #Febrer2026 #Canadà #NouÀlbum #Metall #Metal #MúsicaMetal #MetalMusic
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INDICA BLUES (Regne Unit) presenta nou àlbum: "Universal Heat Death" #IndicaBlues #PsychedelicDoomMetal #Gener2026 #RegneUnit #NouÀlbum #Metall #Metal #MúsicaMetal #MetalMusic
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PSYCHEDELIC WITCHCULT (Suècia) presenta nou EP: "Auld Ones Wake" #PsychedelicWitchcult #PsychedelicDoomMetal #Setembre2025 #Suècia #NouEp #Metall #Metal #MúsicaMetal #MetalMusic
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SQUIRREL DESECRATOR (Estats Units) presenta nou single: "Reclaiming the Oak" #SquirrelDesecrator #PsychedelicDoomMetal #Drone #Setembre2025 #EstatsUnits #NouSingle #Metall #Metal #MúsicaMetal #MetalMusic
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BLACK CAPRICORN (Itàlia) presenta nou single: "Solitude / Son and Daughter" #BlackCapricorn #PsychedelicDoomMetal #Juliol2025 #Itàlia #NouSingle #Metall #Metal #MúsicaMetal #MetalMusic
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By Killjoy
Of all the genre labels, doom metal is probably the one that most often prompts me to investigate further. This isn’t because it’s my favorite per se, but rather because doom and its myriad subgenres can sound so wildly different from one another,1 so I try to ensure I don’t miss something good. This time it paid off when I found Aganoor, a brand new doom group from Rome, Italy. Formed as recently as summer 2023, they wasted no time writing and recording a debut LP, Doomerism, which promises an intriguing blend of classic doom, stoner, heavy psych, and goth rock. With an album title that’s maybe a bit on the nose, Aganoor sets out to bend multiple time-tested styles to suit their doomy whims.
Like forebears Black Sabbath or Pentagram, Aganoor doesn’t skimp on weighty, down-tuned guitar riffs. The majority of these riffs are infused with a sense of vaguely bluesy stoner groove peddled by the likes of Wo Fat, with just enough grit and fuzz around the edges. At times, the guitars also take on a darker inflection when vocalist Dan Ghostrider dips into surly Type O Negative goth rock territory. It’s not all doom and gloom, though. Aganoor also has a penchant for luxuriant psychedelic explorations like Elder or (later) REZN, albeit more concise and less indulgent. A slight reverb effect on the guitars lends the music a cosmic vibe and augments the sense of psychedelia. The key takeaway is that Aganoor enjoys jamming across multiple styles.
However, to describe Doomerism as a “jam” may be misleading because it implies that the music is directionless or unplanned. Aganoor never succumbs to the autopilot tendencies commonly associated with stoner and psych groups. In fact, all of Doomerism’s tracks sit in the 6 to 8-minute range, but they feel more like 4. This is due to a keen sense of flow and an intuition of when to go harder with the doom riffs and when to ease off the throttle for an entrancing psychedelic passage. “Icarus” exemplifies this dichotomy best, where an irresistible groove dominates the first half, then smoothly settles into a smoky bass-led segment. This isn’t to say that it’s always either-or; there are plenty of times when the lead guitar goes on a short excursion while tethered to a solid rhythm guitar or bass line (“Morbid Skin,” “Bury My Soul,” “Mind Shadowing”). In this way, not a single minute feels wasted, and even the meandering bits feel vital.
Perhaps the most appealing quality of Doomerism is how easy it is to listen to while simultaneously offering enough to chew on during repeat visits. Aganoor does this by keeping just enough of the familiar popular music song structure but strategically omitting or lengthening components to form something more novel. The more rock-oriented numbers feature traditional choruses (“Bury My Soul” and “Emerald Lake”), but rather than relying too heavily on them for memorability, Aganoor leans more on quality hooks and recurring melodies. They’re also happy to write long, elaborate intros (“Nadir”) and instrumental bridges (“Mind Shadowing”) without ever approaching proggy excess. Doomerism’s 6-track, 39-minute runtime is the perfect amount to feel satisfied but still wish for one more song. If I must nitpick, it can sometimes feel like Aganoor are a bit too secure in the shadow of their various influences, but it’s hard to complain when their execution is this good, and they still undeniably put their own spin on this retro flavor of songwriting.
Aganoor came seemingly out of nowhere with an enchanting combination of doom metal and adjacent styles. Doomerism feels like the best of both worlds; the riffs-first approach and gothic tendencies keep the psychedelic elements focused and grounded in reality, while the stoner rock grants the perfect amount of levity to an otherwise stifling atmosphere. The net effect is warm and refreshing like a summer breeze. Each song has a smooth, buttery flow that’s easy to zone out and get lost in. I would not have guessed this to be a debut album; the band members sound as comfortable as if they’ve been playing together for years. As such, things already look promising for a future Aganoor sophomore record.
Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: My Kingdom Music | BloodRock Records
Websites: aganoor.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/aganoorband
Releases Worldwide: June 6th, 2025#2025 #40 #Aganoor #BlackSabbath #BloodRockRecords #DoomMetal #Doomerism #Elder #GothicMetal #ItalianMetal #Jun25 #MyKingdomMusic #Pentagram #PsychedelicDoomMetal #PsychedelicRock #Review #Reviews #REZN #StonerMetal #TypeONegative #WoFat
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MOUNTAIN OF MISERY (Polònia) presenta nou àlbum: "Shades of the Ashes" #MountainOfMisery #PsychedelicDoomMetal #Abril2025 #Polònia #NouÀlbum #Metall #Metal #MúsicaMetal #MetalMusic
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Entdeckung des Monats und läuft momentan in heavy rotation, Year of the Cobra: https://album.link/i/1779070657
Nur Bass und Schlagzeug!
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L'IRA DEL BACCANO (Itàlia) presenta nou Split: "Tempus Deorum" #LIraDelBaccano #PsychedelicDoomMetal #SpaceRock #Març2025 #Itàlia #NouSplit #Metall #Metal #MúsicaMetal #MetalMusic
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YEAR OF THE COBRA (Estats Units) presenta nou àlbum: "Year of the Cobra" #YearOfTheCobra #PsychedelicDoomMetal #Rock #Febrer2025 #EstatsUnits #NouÀlbum #Metall #Metal #MúsicaMetal #MetalMusic
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#doomtober #Saturdoom #doommetal #stonermetal #PsychedelicDoomMetal
#Lunavieja is a really cool band from Malaga. Their lyrics are about primitive witchcraft and local folklore and ancestral stories. Check them out!
Desdoblamiento from Lunavieja
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Eyes of the Oak – Neolithic Flint Dagger Review
By Steel Druhm
Written By: Nameless_N00b_90
One look at the cover of Neolithic Flint Dagger, the second album by Eyes of the Oak, and it should be no surprise that they play a mix of psychedelic doom, stoner rock, and traditional metal. That means fuzzy guitars, gruff cleans, and brief psychedelic passages of the kind that Pink Floyd plays on Dark Side of the Moon. These Swedes have previous experience in genres ranging from black metal to power metal, yet you’ll hear nary a trace of either on Neolithic Flint Dagger. Instead of high energy and soaring choruses, you’ll find an album with a mellow, laid-back sound that can sometimes pack a wallop. Is this a recipe for a good time, or does this drug-influenced concoction risk becoming overcooked?
Eyes of the Oak sounds like a mix between Somnuri and old-school Black Sabbath. Yet they are not as consistently high energy or heavy as Somnuri, and they’re not as exploratory or psychedelically weird as the classics. I found them most enjoyable when taking the heavier route, but their ability to blend styles adds a lot of depth to their overall sound. Guitarist Holger Thorsin, whose past work includes thrash (Chaosys) and black metal (Noctes) shows here that he has the chops to play any style. Drummer Hugo Thorsin (Noctes) shows off his work with an impressive intro on “Way Home.” Andreas Sjöström, who has experience on guitar with a couple of power metal bands (Wyvern, Diverge), contributes the necessary layers and rhythm that give the songs a little extra seasoning. Despite their disparate backgrounds, these musicians sound right at home playing stoner doom.
Whether Eyes of the Oak plays fast and heavy or takes it nice and slow, this album is fun. Opener “Cold Alchemy” is a heavy, rousing track that is sure to get your blood pumping, and it builds momentum for the first half of the album. “The Burning of Rome” is the other heavy hitter, combining wobbly guitars with a surprisingly bruising chorus. It’s the sort of song that will have you alternating between a gentle head sway and a forceful headbang. The mellower tracks, such as “Way Home” and “In the End,” reward patience and repeat listens, while “Night Visions” has a surprisingly catchy chorus. The variety within songs helps keep them fresh and enjoyable, even as most fall into the 5-6 minute range.
The second half of Neolithic Flint Dagger does suffer from uneven songwriting, however. Closer, “Offering to the Gods,” is the only song to extend past the six-minute mark, and while it does have some nice ideas, they are not developed enough to fill up the song’s nine-minute length. But the worst offender is “The Masters Hide.” This song doesn’t feel as cohesive as the other tracks, and the album’s vocal weaknesses are most pronounced here. Vocalist Andreas Sjöström does have a voice well-suited to the genre, and for the most part, he’s on point. However, his execution is inconsistent: sometimes flat, sometimes sleepy, sometimes talky.1 The promo materials for Eyes of the Oak say they recorded their debut album, The Stone Vortex, live in a studio. I wonder if they did the same here, and perhaps this approach puts a strain on Sjöström’s vocal cords.
Eyes of the Oak play a fun, accessible form of psychedelic rock mixed with stoner doom. From the giant glowing dagger on the album cover, you get the sense they don’t take themselves too seriously, and the album sounds like the band had fun recording it. It helps that they have some great ideas and capable musicians to carry out their vision. There may be a few kinks to work out, but I look forward to seeing how they develop their sound on future albums. So sit back, relax, and get high on… life? as you absorb the music of Neolithic Flint Dagger.
Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: X | Format Reviewed: Stream
Label: Self-Release
Websites: eyesoftheoak.bandcamp.com | eyesoftheoak.com
Releases Worldwide: August 23, 2024#2024 #Aug24 #BlackSabbath #EyesOfTheOak #NeolithicFlintDagger #PinkFloyd #PsychedelicDoomMetal #Review #Reviews #SelfReleases #Somnuri #StonerDoom #SwedishMetal
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AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö: Sunnata – Chasing Shadows
By Dolphin Whisperer
“AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö” is a time-honored tradition to showcase the most underground of the underground—the unsigned and unpromoted. This collective review treatment continues to exist to unite our writers in boot or bolster of the bands who remind us that, for better or worse, the metal underground exists as an important part of the global metal scene. The Rodeö rides on.”
Does Poland evoke the heated and stinging breeze of the open desert to a lost mind? No? Sunnata likes to think otherwise, or at least it’s their life’s mission to expand on the ideas of exotic scales, eerie harmonization, and chanting repetitiveness to match the power of shifting sands in their homeland. Back in 2021, our very own Cherd had a tough time coming to terms with what these Eastern bloc mystics conjured on Burning in Heaven, Melting on Earth. But now a few years wiser, ever iterating,1 and pursuant of their own self-produced visions, can Sunnata sway both our grumpy grandpa Cherd and his crack rodeo crew with Chasing Shadows? – Dolphin Whisperer
Sunnata // Chasing Shadows [May 10th, 2024]
Cherd: I wasn’t terribly keen on Sunnata’s 2021 record Burning in Heaven, Melting on Earth, so I passed on reviewing their follow-up when it landed in the promo sump. Then Dolph decided to go and write a whole damn Rodeö about Chasing Shadows, so I figured I’d better give my two cents after all. Chasing Shadows is a definite step up, thanks to the heavy dose of 90s grunge these Poles have injected into their psych/stoner doom. I’m sure you’ll be sick of reading the name Alice In Chains by the end of this article, but good god do the vocal harmonies call them to mind. The strongest tracks, like “Torn” and “Saviour’s Raft” rely heavily on these. Meanwhile, when the band leans into their “exotic” side—vaguely Middle Eastern motifs—as they do on “Wishbone” and “The Tide,” the songs drag. There’s fat to trim across the album’s 60+ minutes, especially the throwaway closing quasi-dance track. That said, the eight-minute “Hunger” earns its entire runtime with a hypnotic tempo and the record’s best build up. There’s a lot to like in Chasing Shadows, even if there is some bloat. 3.0/5.0
Maddog: Sunnata’s Chasing Shadows is an hour of shameless psychedelia. Take Dvne riffs, add a pinch of Mayhem in Blue-era Hail Spirit Noir, and pour a bucket of fuzzy stoned melodies on top, and you get the gist. This recipe is a blessing and a curse. Chasing Shadows’ most well-formed pieces hit hard. When Sunnata focuses on developing melodies, they hold me transfixed, like on album highlight “Torn.” When Sunnata focuses on buildups, they whisk me out of the world and onto a dramatic ride (“Chimera”). When Sunnata focuses on rhythmic sections that hypnotize the listener, they conjure a beautiful soundscape, like the primordial chorus of “Hunger.” When Sunnata focuses on rock-solid bass lines, they add power and depth to their atmosphere (“Adrift”). But sometimes, Sunnata focuses on nothing. Even the strongest cuts overstay their welcome with meandering fuzz. As the album progresses, some full tracks get swallowed by tedium, and the moaned vocals become grating; neither undivided attention nor psilocybin can save songs like “The Sleeper” from fading into the background.2—Still, Sunnata has a talent for writing sludgy psychedelic passages that stand out from their peers. If they can trim some low-hanging fat and focus on their strengths, their next record could be a gem. 2.5/5.0
Dolphin Whisperer: Chasing Shadows seems to know exactly what it is—a dry, desert-wandering, bass-heavy affair that leans into psychedelia via shifting repetitions. And Sunnata seem to have figured out exactly how they want to explore this meditation—heavy and dark Alice in Chains vocal melodies, twangy stoner guitar refrains, and song drives that creep ever faster into their snaking swirl. Though, throughout this dusty adventure, guitar passages resemble less of the easy-to-digest percussive draws of a band like Kyuss and more of the modal and trilling explorations of similar sounds that you’d hear in an occult act like Sabbath Assembly. (“Chimera,” “Wishbone”). And on longer cuts, at least before Sunnata achieves maximum throttle, doom inflections, fat bass rumbling, and laser-pointing drone that bubbles and bakes and broils the experimental madhouse of Obake. But most importantly, as a fever dream like this sound, Chasing Shadows maintains a warping yet consistent tonality that slowly and sneakily lures as the rattle of a hissing pit viper to a lost and dazed traveler. It does, however, require a hefty dose of patience and practice to maintain a footing the whole way through its hour-long trial, its various interludes and strange darkwave closing adding little. To curious ears, though, Chasing Shadows will be an easy listen, despite its limited bag of tricks and hefty presence, and those who buy in fully to its tonal landscape may find even more rewards. 3.0/5.0
Itchymenace: Chasing Shadows reminds me of the Albert Camus story, The Adulterous Woman. In fact, the cover art seems plucked directly from the final scene in which the protagonist runs out into the Algerian desert a changed woman after realizing life with her husband will never fulfill her. The music provides the perfect soundtrack for the existential metamorphosis she goes through, or that anyone might go through when they peel back the delicate layers of life and search for deeper meaning. I did not expect to like this as much as I do, but Sunnata has created a masterpiece. This album drags you across a jagged desert landscape and drenches you in rich, dreamlike musical passages that leave you questioning your very existence. The music is complex, varied, heavy and meditative. The arrangements are deceptively simple to make the journey seem easy—until you realize you’re not in Kansas anymore. Especially noteworthy is how the bass guitar drives the compositions. Bassist Michal Dobrzanski’s tone is massive but somehow leaves plenty of room in the soundscape for Szymon Ewertowski and Adrian Gadomski’s intricate guitars and vocals. Drummer Robert Ruszczyk keeps a ritualistic tempo that seamlessly moves the caravan forward through the heart of darkness. If I were to try to describe this to a metalhead, I’d say imagine Alice in Chains trying to play Gorguts by way of Earth. Brilliant! Original! Frightening! And a new experience with every listen. 4.5/5.03
Mystikus Hugebeard: True to Sunnata’s desert prog premise, Chasing Shadows is a mirage: captivating, frustrating, and an incomplete vision of something spectacular. At sixty-two minutes long, the length will likely prove to be as controversial as it is intentional; repetition is key to Sunnata’s songwriting, as it weaves a surreal soundscape through thick, drawn-out riffs. Sometimes, it’s entrancing. Other times, I’m just bored. The more evolutionary tracks are where Chasing Shadows come to life. The off-key vocal layers and thick, fuzzy guitars are in “Chimera” and “Saviour’s Raft” take their time to progress into explosive riffs that feel earned by the buildup. Even a less progressive track like “Torn” works just by nature of how palpable the desert atmosphere is, with the chugging bass, elusive guitar lines, and hallucinatory vocals hypnotizing the listener. “Hunger” and “The Sleeper” also have a satisfying chug to them but feel emptier, with resolutions that are satisfying in the moment but still less memorable than those from earlier tracks. The worst offenders, “Wishbone” and “The Tide,” are almost completely aimless and are fully devoid of the strong atmospheric qualities that makes the rest work. The emulation of an endless trek through an endless desert is uncanny, and the aimlessness can work when paired with hypnotic songwriting like in “Torn,” but overall the lack of a meaningful destination or payoff within the already less engaging tracks only gets worse as the album drags on, and it slowly begins to drown out the parts that work well. I really love the thematic intent behind Chasing Shadows, which only makes the final result all the more frustrating that it falls short of being a truly great desert odyssey. 2.5/5.0
#2024 #AliceInChains #AngryMetalGuySUnsignedBandRodeo #AngryMetalGuySUnsignedBandRodeo2024 #ChasingShadows #DoomMetal #Dvne #Earth #HailSpiritNoir #IndependentRelease #Kyuss #Obake #OccultRock #PolishMetal #PostMetal #PsychedelicDoomMetal #PsychedelicRock #SabbathAssembly #SelfRelease #StonerRock #Sunnata
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By Dolphin Whisperer
When choosing things to review, many of us choose based on genre affinity, name affinity, vibe affinity—just about any calling works.1 REZN’s whole concept of providing heavy shoegaze-laden psychedelic doom speaks deeply to me, even if the waters where music that self-describes this way provides an often less-than delivery, I accepted the band on their terms. With a DIY aesthetic that has built REZN a following over the past seven years, their hard work has paid off and brought them to the Sargent House family to release Burden more widely as a partner album follow-up to the critically good Solace. But with an experience that’s so entwined, the two cover arts even connected, can Burden prove an experience worthy all to its own?
Despite its lush guitar textures and breathy, dreamy vocal work—reminiscent both of the nasally drift of jam bands like Elder or the infiltrating snap of Smashing Pumpkin’s Billy Corgan—Solace felt like a smooth and level experience that was building to some sort of darker drama. In Burden, the opening chimes that give way to a present and grinding bass that rattles into industrial snare hits signal where Solace feared to go, or rather that to which it aspired. And as this tonal descent persists, Burden carves out a defined spot in the wobbling REZN discog with a glistening but rock-dragging edge. This act has gone a long way in using their pedal exploration and watery vocal modulations to define a sound that rings both true to the continually hazed-out scene of psychedelic doom while retaining a few traceable REZN nugs.
Most importantly, though, throughout Burden REZN maintains a sense of forward motion, which can be tricky in a lane that prides itself largely on “tone porn” and iterative sounds. Several jangles recall refrains from their previous work (“Indigo,” “Collapse” specifically), but the careful construction of each song as thicker and more hissing entity gives even similar characters an extra YOB-y edge—a little more earth in REZN’s air, if you will. And, much like those legendary long-form, slow-burn performers, REZN uses percussion that snaps from rock-driven and playful to heavy-handed doom crushing on the calculated and cascading roll of a riff. Only on “Bleak Patterns” does Burden wander about a mode that places too much value in a tempo-crawling repetition, which feels out of place among the fuller in frolic attitude that fills so much of the album.
Yet for all of this album’s immediacy in riff impact and success in moody hypnotism, a lack of sonically stunning and memorable peaks continues to define a REZN trend. The introductory puff that pulls through “Indigo” threatens the cool and calm demeanor that this band normally possesses with a welcome turbulence. Similarly too does the near-heroic guitar wailing that closes “Instinct” and the Pink Floyd-ian sax crooning that tags a dark side to “Soft Prey.” But, even after as many listens as I’ve sunk into Burden—probably too many given how comfortable the ride is—its space between these climactic posts becomes notably drifting and atmospheric in an attention-dropping manner. Undoubtedly, many of you dear readers and listeners are the kind of dreamer who may swirl about each modular oscillation or track the trajectory of each space-bound, dissipating lead. However, I find myself often rudely awakened from the peace of happening by the train whistle guitar squeal2 that screeches forth the call of the closing and fuzzed-out “Chasm.”
If it sounds like I’m being a touch tough on the exploratory and serene sounds that these Chicago psychmongers offer with Burden, forgive me—I never expected to be reviewing REZN three times now in the span of about fifteen months. But I do think that it is a marker of success that even in that tight calendar turn, REZN has managed to stay consistently good, if just a tad over-consistent. Burden, as each record in this quick sequence has, adds another fold into the inward-gazing reflections that this musical tribe prizes. REZN may not have re-aligned the stars with riffed-out yet atmospheric tone summoning, but they give me all the reason to still try and wait for whatever it is they do next.
Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Sargent House | Bandcamp
Websites: rezn.band | rezzzn.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/reznband
Releases Worldwide: June 14th, 2024#2024 #30 #AlternativeRock #AmericanMetal #Burden #DoomMetal #Elder #Jun24 #ProgressiveRock #PsychedelicDoomMetal #Review #Reviews #REZN #SargentHouse #Shoegaze #SmashingPumpkins #Solace #YOB
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#MetalSucks
Review: Ufomammut Get Weird with Hidden
They're more psychedelic and heavier than ever.https://www.metalsucks.net/2024/05/13/review-ufomammut-get-weird-with-hidden/
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Megaton Leviathan – Magick Helmet Review
By Dear Hollow
Look, I love drone. I love getting lost in the swaths of noise and soundscapes that pervade its classics, as albums like Earth’s Earth 2, Sunn O)))’s Black One, and Boris’ Flood offer otherworldly and mammoth wilderness to explore. Riffs don’t offer adrenaline, but mountains instead, while vocals and percussion, if there are any, are the last semblance of humanity amid the utter saturation of sound. Its utter overwhelm of sound makes it controversial, its void of relatability offers little reprieve, and its slow depiction of devastation is hypnotic. All that to say, while I was maybe hoping for the next Holy Fawn with Megaton Leviathan’s talk of shoegaze, drone, and doom, I don’t know what the fuck to make of Magick Helmet.
While the gone-but-unforgotten Huck offered an optimistic 2.5 for the act’s third full-length 2018’s Mage, praising the song “Within the Threshold” for its ability to fuse sprawling drone with psychedelic soundscapes, things change in five years. Most notably, Megaton Leviathan is now a solo project of mastermind Andrew James Costa Reuscher (credited as Reuscher), responsible for every aspect of the hour-long monstrosity of Magick Helmet. As such, gone are the vocals and drone entirely in favor of an instrumental psychedelic rock session, comprised of fuzzed-out bass, wailing guitars, and pounding drums, attempting to channel “a maximum Doomgaze and minimalist approach embracing change and employing [Reuscher’s] love for things gritty, CVLT, and mind-altering.” It’s a minimalist approach to be sure, but the only thing conjured here is a maximalist headache.
Megaton Leviathan still manages to be drone, but to be frank, it’s in the bad way your parents describe your favorite music. Four tracks, over an hour long, with two tracks comprising over forty-six minutes of the runtime – it all sounds like something Sunn O))) would do. But if mammoth waves of drone is what you’re after, you will be sorely disappointed. Megaton Leviathan’s songwriting is comprised of a single fuzzed-out bassline and drum pattern that courses through the entirety of a song, while scathingly bright guitar wails comprise the melody. Magick Hammer is minimalist and rooted in vintage tones of psychedelic rock, which is Reuscher’s intention – I love that for him. Its only real highlight consists of centerpiece “The Belly of the Beast,” which departs the formula in favor of a Swans– or Merzbow-esque descent into noise and madness, which feels darker and more intense than anything Reuscher has accomplished. The flipside of this highlight, however, is that while Swans’ song “The Seer,” for instance, layered performances atop itself with an intense collusion of vocals, guitar, bass, drums, and noise, Megaton Leviathan’s noisy tendencies sound more like a new guitar player trying out a pedal at a Guitar Center – only guitar trilling away, feeling random and directionless.
The two sides of Magick Helmet are damning, because one sees the bass and drums locked into an unwavering and wearisome sequence, while the other is psychedelic upper fretboard brain-scorching randomness that is supposed to be the main attraction. While this certainly achieves a drug-fueled psychedelia, it also is derailed by a bad combination of boredom and tinnitus. The bulk of Magick Helmet consists of the aforementioned dully repeated basslines and scathing Jimi Hendrix-esque upper fretboard gymnastics interpretive dancing, making the nearly thirty-minute long “Helios Creed Magick Helmet” and openers “The Final Form of Nothing is Final” and its utterly unnecessary sequel “The Final Form of Nothing is Final (A Slight Reprise)” unbearable. While many more atmospheric or post-rock acts rely on a single motif to build a dynamic or crescendo upon, it is a building process. Megaton Leviathan’s is not: just repetition in hopes the guitar does the heavy lifting. Psychedelia is also a worthy aspiration, but other adjacent acts like Dark Buddha Rising or Space Coke do it better.
Megaton Leviathan talks a big game, with talk of “doomgaze” and “industrial drone” spilling out of previous releases. While often misguided, previous releases capitalized upon this ambition with sprawling compositions with many players’ formidable talents. While I understand the minimalist ambition, simple songwriting techniques need to be employed beyond “playing this shrill psychedelia until I get tired of it.” The Magick Helmet refers to the throbbing that covers my entire head upon listening, so maybe Megaton Leviathan should provide a dose of Tylenol with each purchase.
Rating: 1.0/5.0
DR: 61 | Format Reviewed: 256 kbps mp3
Label: Volatile Rock Recordings
Websites: megatonleviathan.bandcamp.com | megatonleviathan.com | facebook.com/MegatonLeviathan
Releases Worldwide: December 8th, 2023#10 #2023 #AmericanMetal #Boris #DarkBuddhaRising #Dec23 #DoomMetal #DroneMetal #Earth #MagickHelmet #MegatonLeviathan #Merzbow #Noise #Psychedelic #PsychedelicDoomMetal #PsychedelicRock #Review #Reviews #SpaceCoke #SunnO_ #Swans #VolatileRockRecordings
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Spaceslug - Eye the Tide
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