Review: The Cosmic Dead - Scottish Space Race

I remember when I first heard The Cosmic Dead around 2013 when Inner Sanctum was released and how I couldn’t believe that Scotland’s finest had escaped my radar, blowing my mind with what they were doing. Fast forward to 2014 when they headlined the Black Heart at Desertfest on a Saturday night and it seemed like a life changing moment in music for me. I don’t know if it was the sonics of what they did that night or just the festival atmosphere and how the place had a complete psych out that night, but since then I have been completely hooked.

Scottish Space Race had been in the making for a while with a couple of new members and the magic touch of John McBain, whose history of music and mastering speaks for itself. 

Portal is big and bold and spends the first six minutes bringing together psychedelic sounds, drones and deep space riffs from the four corners of the galaxy, before the drums slip into a rhythm that makes the “mantra chanting” sound doomy, dark and huge. A very unique sounding lap-steel scrapes itself all over the beat of the song, pulling you deeper and deeper into the chaos, then its freak-out time. Guitars, riffs, wah-wah, 100mph non-stop craziness that doesn’t let up for several minutes. As Portal hurtles back towards Earth, the drums and cymbals take control, but even after the first track, you are absolutely flawed! 

Ursa Major is the albums laid back trippy 17+ minute track that floats in from an inter-cosmic space like domain. The bassline strings everything along in an almost hypnotic repetition of itself and gives the space for the drums to keep building in the background quietly whilst guitars give you that space like vibe, the vibe though being a complex movement of a million stars before the guitar walks off into a dimension of its own. Everything begins to build and speed up and all the connections are made toa point where the song takes off like a spaceship hurtling into the beyond on a mission that only The Cosmic Dead are capable of. The space like vibe turns to a Hawkwindesq crescendo and every member uses their instrument too go off into the unknown. Itsa real driving psych affair that you cannot sit still to whilst listening. It’s as though Colour Haze crashed into The Greatful Dead.

The next 12 minutes though have a completely different feel to them as the band draw many fine punk and hardcore influences into what they’re doing and pummel you with the Scottish Space Race. After a few minutes of big heavy psych that turns into something like Hawkwind on speed impersonating Oi Polloi. In unison, every instrument almost grinds along with chanting, singing and lyrics that would make any Scotsman proud. I have found myself chanting the line "can you dig it?" too myself over and over for the last two weeks. The layers of this song are quite incredible. It’s loud, abrasive and possibly not a song you would think The Cosmic Dead would write but it fits perfectly on the album. As the song roars towards the last couple of minutes you can feel the freak-out coming with more and more cosmic keyboards and this will be a live one that literally pulls the venue down into itself.

The Grizzard finishes off the album with another 24 minute epic. Big doomy riffs ala Sleep with lots of cymbals kick everything off and continue along a mantra-like path of heaviness. It slowly feels like its speeding up with more and more drums and cymbals eager to get in on the action, before everything lets loose around the 4 minute mark. The noise is chaotic with a keyboard riff that drops in and out that reminds me of the writing style of 90’s Florida or Sweden Death Metal. If you know what I mean ala Morbid Angel or Entombed, that keyboard makes sense. After this the song just goes off in a direction that takes the guitar work to the beyond. Its fast, manic and a journey through a trip that only The Cosmic Dead could have. This is the finale of the Scottish space race that comes hurtling back towards Earth, probably ending up somewhere in the River Clyde. At this point you think it’s over but off we go again with more vocals, chanting like screams that blend deeply into the psych of the song as the layers get bigger and thicker again before The Grizzard doubles then triples in speed to an absolute manic rage, before imploding on itself to a close.

Scottish Space Race is a little different to their previous albums but this is by far their most “out there” cosmic trips into the beyond. Between the band and the label Riot Season Records, the whole package, layout and vinyl colours make this a raging piece of Scottish magic.

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HRH Stoner Vs Doom Festival Videos

Video footage of Gonga, Psychlona, Black Rainbows and Orange Goblin from the HRH Stoner Vs Doom Festival in Sheffield. Rock out.....

Review: Sons of Alpha Centauri - Buried Memories

After taking over ten years to write and release 2018’s Continuum, finding out that they had twinned the release with another 6 tracks the following year, in the form of Buried Memories, was more than a welcome surprise. If you had asked me how they would do this, getting Justin K. Broadrick (Godflesh, Jesu, etc.) to remix the same song 3 times and have James Plotkin (Khanate, Jodis etc.) mix 3 other tracks, is a million miles away to what I would have expected. With this I had no idea what to expect and dived straight into the abrasive darkness…..

The Justin K. Broadrick mix of Hitman starts with a pulsing heart beat like vibe as the track strums its way forward and evolves with the guitars filling out, giving you that sense of driving through the night. Not the driving into the desert feel but more like driving the length of the UK in the dark in the rain kind of feel. Instrumentally it has a buzzing electric vibe to it that plays so well against the keyboard that winds along behind everything, giving it a real feel of it being played live right before you. At this point Hitman kicks into gear and pulls you in to its beat for a couple of minutes before the keyboards take over with a load of reverb, taking you into a darker more psychedelic place that you feel yourself slipping in and out of before a big dark old school Sabbath riff kicks in and I defy anyone not to move their head from here onwards.

The Jesu remix is a slower darker affair. The basslines are really brought into the forefront as every strum has a thundering grinding sound that shakes the speakers. The keyboards and organs combine to give you the floating sensation that falls somewhere between the dark and the light. The industrial sound that appears then disappears has the feeling of big robotic machines crossing the land before something that feels like a ball of dark energy that is fighting to implode or explode. It’s near impossible to explain what this feeling of sound is doing but there is a real dark magical feel to it. At times you forget that it is the same song but this mix really pulls something from beyond the track itself and lets the basic structure take on a complete new life of its own as it rises up into the clouds.

The third mix of Hitmen by JK Flesh stars off with a warmer softer feel as though the track has lifted itself above the clouds and is floating away above the light. The beat feels a lot cleaner and electronic as it folds into itself with a feeling of ambience. The mix then pulls the guitars and drums back in to give you a feeling of orbiting the earth and the cosmic like mix of the tone begins to pick up pace as though you are speeding towards Earth. Finishing off with the repetition of a riff that sounds like an alarm or a warning, the track leaves you wondering if you ever made it through the atmosphere.

James Plotkin starts his trio of mixes with the track Warhero which builds and creeps along with a definite SOAC feel to it before it spreads itself into something wider, making you appreciate the noise between the sounds. With some eerie keyboards floating around the noisier breaks held together with some huge reverberating bass lines, Warhero flits between a huge stomping gloomy monster and something that feels like an alien lifeform trying to reach you.

Remembrance is a short low end dark couple of minutes that hangs around like a metallic beast that has hold of you. Possibly a soundtrack to a nightmare of some sorts.

The remix of SS Montgomery has James Plotkin really casting his wizardry over a track by making it come alive in an almost magnetic way, with each instrument thrusting its way into your eardrums. The song stomps along in electronic form with a dark space like feel that pulls the buzz of the guitars towards the thumping bass and the harsh crashing of cymbals. It’s something that has to be played loud through your headphones whilst sat in the darkness.

The 6 tracks are quite an experience and sometimes a long way from what Continuum was, but I really enjoyed what I heard, and it really works well as the antidote. The band seem to be constantly evolving and having seen their last couple of live performances, they have a real magic spark that hooks you in and keeps you in their mesmerizing dream. Hopefully the live video below, from the Black Heart in London, shows you something of this.

Buried Memories has been released through the following labels in a variety of beautifully put together packages.

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Review: Jesus The Snake – Black Acid, Pink Rain

I have no recollection how Portugal’s Jesus The Snake came to my attention as I had never heard their earlier material but I am stoked that we have now crossed paths. My first thoughts that come to mind are the laid back vibes of a hot sunny day somewhere out in the fields of Portugal and that infamous Pink Floyd video in Pompeii.

They have a rich fuzzy sound that melts away to a classic 70’s sprawl backed up with a lot of keyboards and each track is around 10 minutes long which is just how I like it.

The first track Karma opens slowly and drifts in with each instrument floating along together. The keyboards start and there’s a 70’s proggy jazz feel to it as it builds and builds until it stops, then starts again and begins to walk along giving you that feeling of looking out the car window whilst driving out into the desert. Then the guitar kicks in with a really raw fuzzy sound and duals with the keyboards for a few minutes for your aural pleasure. Then everything drops off and the band show their ability to create that sound that fits in with the near silence which I can imagine really holds the audience when played live. Following that I’m treated to a build-up of fuzz and keyboards that really takes you out there.

Floyds I starts with 4 minutes of rolling waves of 70’s prog and makes me think of a certain Pink Floyd track (you can decide which one) with some awesome guitar work. You can almost feel that warm sunshine setting at dusk with every chord played. Then the bass and keyboards do their bit to build the song up that has a jazzy feel to it but I can definitely feel some surf rock in there as the guitar goes off again. At 6 minutes the driving fuzzy guitars kick again and backed with the keyboards they really start to do their thing. I also have to mention that the guitars manage a few times to do that deep fuzzy “do do do do” sound ala Colour Haze (you must know what I mean).

Floyds II starts with a slow Sunday morning “kick back and relax” vibe. The drums have a jazzy feel to them, the bassline really pulls everything together, the keyboards in the background are always just there and the guitar slowly walks away at its own pace. After this the song really enhances how good the band are as musicians and manage to do their Pink Floyd thing but with their own twist on it. As it draws to a close it gets heavier and heavier showing that they’re not afraid to rock out.

Duna is a slow winding song that has a deep sound to it and a slight jazzy feel as it drifts about (think those soaring videos over the mountains, lakes and beaches) before an awesome riff drops in, then out, then it’s back again. This time everything has a slightly darker feel to how the song is composed, but you really do feel that deep fuzzy sound again. Now unlike the other tracks, Duna gets more mellow as it goes on and the keyboard work towards the end feels like lounge music from an American city in the mid 70’s, which fits perfectly with the vibe.

Black Acid, Pink Rain kicks straight in and the percussion really drives the song with a much faster pace before the fuzzy end of the guitar opens up with the keyboards before the guitar goes walking off sky high again to counteract the pounding bassline. Then that deep silence thing happens again and the band manage to create that up close and personal with the instrument feel which illustrated how well this has been recorded in the studio.

I know that I have talked about the guitars taking you out there before dropping back in with the fuzz and how good the keyboards are, but I have to mention how well the drums and bass just keep this thing going throughout.

If you have bought the CD of Black Acid, Pink Rain then you will have every song except Karma as the recording is too long for the CD but the digital version has everything. I have read that a vinyl version is coming in the future which is good as this recording deserves its place on record as I’m sure the crackle of the needle will only add to the magic. 

If you haven’t already checked this out, I cannot urge you enough to buy it. It has that 70’s feel with a lot of Pink Floyd influences mixed with the sleepy drifting feel of My Sleeping Karma and Sungrazer mixed with the heavier fuzzy feel of a band like The Samsara Blues Experiment.

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