Review: Big Scenic Nowhere – Vision Beyond Horizon

The fruition of Bob Balch and Gary Arce’s Big Scenic Nowhere project was 2019’s Dying on the Mountain EP, three songs showcasing their mix of prog rock and desert psychedelia. With their other bands still in full rotation I had no expectation for the band to regroup at any time soon, so the news of their return to the studio and the penning of an album deal with Heavy Psych Sounds showed that they meant business and the collaboration of the various players had already come together to work on something rather special.

With this recording the line-up consists of Gary Arce (Yawning Man), Bob Balch (Fu Manchu), Tony Reed (Mos Generator), Mario Lalli (Fatso Jetson, Yawning Man), Per Wilberg (Spiritual Beggars, ex-Opeth), Nick Oliveri (Mondo Generator, ex-Kyuss, QOTSA), Bill Stinson (Yawning Man) Lisa Alley and Ian Graham (The Well), and Alain Johannes (Them Crooked Vultures, Chris Cornell, Eleven).

I had read a couple of reviews of the record before its release and they talked about this super group had produced a desert rock or stoner rock classic, but after a few listens I have to question if they have really listened to it properly because the core of the band take the listener in several different directions and Vision Beyond Horizon offer so much more than expected. To say it’s just stoner rock or Fu Manchu or Yawning Man can be heard in all the writing does this collaboration a dis-service. As much as I like both the bands, this is a collaboration and release that cannot be pigeon holed or compared to anything else. The first time you listen to the record, you will understand.

The Glim starts with a big stomping riff that hooks you straight in before one of several quick guitar solos. The song as a whole has a mid-pace loud David Bowie channelling a psychedelic space rock Soundgarden kind of vibe, if that makes sense? It sounds big and bold with layer after layer of guitars that roll over you like the oceans tide and the waves of dark psychedelia already have you hooked. 

If your still somewhere between the layers of The Glim then The Paranoid grabs you by the throat for the next ninety seconds with something that took me by surprise. I remember a few years ago talking to Gary about his love of 80’s punk rock and this is definitely a homage to the likes of The Exploited, UK Subs and GBH. Fast, manic and in your face.

Then I Was Gone has a really fuzzy guitar tone to it with the bigger riffs sounding like they’ve been turned up to eleven. Between the surges of guitar, the over-layered dual male/female vocals add a more complex melody to the haunting wizardry that Master of Reality continuously perfected, mixed with the darker vibe that played heavy on many of the tracks from QOTSA’s Lullabies to Paralyse. I really like how the appearance of a few keyboard lines hang nicely off the vocals and fill a gap that you don’t even realise is there.

Mirror Image starts ever so slightly up in the clouds before the big mantra chanting vocal lines implant themselves deep in your mind. Half way through a huge slow monolithic like riff starts with one guitar, then the second guitar adds to it and that’s it, this is the band that I keep subliminally hearing but can’t quite put my finger on, its Cathedral. The riff is pure Cathedral at their finest. The vocals kick straight in after that before the epic sounding guitar solo and it all makes sense now. In no way is this replicating something Cathedral have written, it just has that vibe and gives me that feeling of doomy rock n roll with that haunting like Lee Dorrian voice. 

Hidden Wall floats you to a laid back place that I picture as those moments before the dawn sun appears from the night sky. It’s trippy, it’s psychedelic and it takes you on an adventure across the sprawling landscapes that are seeing the first glimmers of the light. If you wanted a reference point away from any of the members’ bands then the band the King Buffalo have blossomed into is definitely it. The song grows and evolves and has sown the seeds in to what could be an epic 15-20 minute opus, unfortunately it ends on seven minutes.   

Shadows from the Altar slides back into the doom n roll with the deep layered drifting vocals that sit between two riffs which the song is built around. The first being something of a rolling wave and the other being big rock riff that deserves a fist pump and “oi” chant after it. 

En Las Sombras is again going into the territory of King Buffalo but this is the song that takes all the drifting magical waves of the desert mystery courtesy of the Yawning Man connection. The trippy verses roll in and out against the deep meandering baseline which creates a magical journey, taking you “in the shadows”. To top this off, there’s a combination of two kick ass guitar solos.

Tragic Motion Lines is a mix of psychedelic stoner rock and some riffs and melodies that come from the darker side of an Alice in Chains record.

As the album draws to a close with The War Years, the channeling of their inner Pink Floyd concludes what is a quite magical collaboration. The strumming of acoustic guitars, the tapping of keys, the light yet powerful drums and a variety of keyboards and synthesizer work that builds a small passage into the inner mind. You can almost picture the setting on a small boat on a small stream, drifting slowly towards the horizon.

Vision Beyond Horizon is full of musical surprises and will hold its own for many years to come. With the incoming success of the record and a debut live performance planned for Stoned & Dusted, I really hope 2020 see’s Big Scenic Nowhere bring their live performance over the pond in some way or another. I can also honestly say that each of the nine songs has something for the listener, meaning that there is no filler on this record, it’s that good. Shout out for the quality album artwork as well.

Bandcamp – Facebook – Heavy Psych Sounds 

Review: Zone Six – Kozmik Koon

Zone Six have appeared, disappeared and reappeared several times over the last two decades with some classic live shows thrown in the mix producing several recorded moments of psychedelic magic. After last year’s split record with Arc of Ascent I didn’t imagine that a full record would be following so soon after, but here it is.

I will mention the title of the record and how the meaning of the title’s second word has been lost in translation. Here in England, the word spelt differently is a derogatory term that I absolutely hate but hand on heart, these dudes/hippies/cosmonauts only spread love around the world. The title Kozmik Koon was inspired by friend of the band Kozmik Ken from England, founder of Kozfest, and that they live in an area full of racoons.

The first two times I listened to the album where in totally different settings. The first time being played very loudly on the way from a gig, driving in the raining through the very small hours and you can really feel the atmosphere of what Zone Six deliver and the emotive power of their space rock journey. The second time I was sat in the dark with headphones on and this is when you experience the depth and feeling of the recording as the more psychedelic and ambient parts really take you on a trip to a place beyond space and time.

Maschinenseele starts off with an ambient feeling of loneliness, almost something quite dark that could sit on the soundtrack to one of the Alien films with the repetitive sounds of deep space and the space between those sounds, which in turn ties in well with the black and grey mechanical artwork to the record. As the sound starts to evolve, a light drumbeat and acoustic guitar starts to strum a more upturned and positive sound of movement as though your journey has begun. A journey of repetition that is taking you way out in to the outer realms of the solar system. The electric guitars create walls of sound that you can feel approaching before they make impact again and again as Maschinenseele turns into an epic space rock jam. The mellotron adds to the adventure and you can feel the distant voice of Lulu hauntingly appear on a few occasions deep in the mix. Definitely a jam that could last for many hours when played live.

Kozmik Koon brings you straight back to planet earth with an upbeat feeling of a rocking out Hawkwind live experience coming from a tent in a field in the English countryside. You can see and feel it with bassline that drives the whole song. Several hippies on stage all tuned in to the rhythm and pushing their instruments to levels beyond what they should and lots of hippies losing their minds whilst trippin’ out. Later on in the song everything quietens down and the mix of percussion, keyboard and the more psychedelic guitar brings everything to a mellow conclusion. With the fact that the song is dedicated to Kozmik Ken and his Kozfest, they really have captured the live festival vibe and think they have achieved the outcome they set out to find.

You need to lie back, close your eyes and open your mind to experience Raum. For three minutes and twenty eight seconds a guitar rides upon a wave and does exactly what it wants to do. Mix it with synths and mellotron and that classic 50’s alien invasion noise and you have something between psych and ambience.

Still follows on as a second short track and creates the feeling of 1960’s England that Pink Floyd were oh so good at. Very slight sounds of psychedelia that could come from the bottom of the garden compliment the simple and effective keyboard work that has you meandering along the smallest of streams. The guitars do a little bit, the mellotron does a little bit, the bass does a little bit and all the little bits create something that feels small delicate and very precious.

Song for Richie is the longest track on the album at nearly fourteen minutes and is dedicated to their friend Richard Van Ess who had sadly passed away. The whole shape of the track builds quite quickly over a sample of Timothy Leary’s “Turn on, tune in, drop out” words, and you can feel everything magnetically pull towards the light. There is definitely a lot of emotion in the song which can be felt in how the band have written it. For some reason I keep getting a sense of The Doors in the first few minutes with the way everything meanders. All instruments feel as though they are working overtime again as the song feels big and deep and full of raw power that is waiting to really let go and take off towards the stars, which of course it does. The tempo builds and builds before everyone freaks out for a few minutes in a burst of raw emotion as you take to the sky and spend the remaining time drifting from star to star to moon and beyond. A song full of deep emotions that I hope was a fitting tribute.

If you haven’t already become a follower of what Zone Six do, this is another trip in to the minds of three very creative individuals who will have you hooked on their unique mix of psychedelic and ambient space rock.

Bandcamp – Website – Facebook – Sulatron Records

Monster Magnet: "Powertrip" Celebration - Leeds Stylus 23.01.2020

The second date to the full European tour celebrating the 25th anniversary of Powertrip. I remember the original tour for Powertrip and this was just as good.....

Tractor

3rd Eye Landslide

The Right Stuff

Look to your Orb for Warning & Negasonoc Teenage Warhead

Review: Electric Moon – Cellar Overdose Live LP

Cellar Overdose is one of several CD-R’s release by the band that are like gold dust now for collectors. Released back in 2012 as CD-R on Sulatron Records and then an extended double vinyl version on the same label, it is now released again on a lovely white slab of wax on Komet Lulu’s (Electric Moon bassist) new label Worst Bassist Records.

Having already listened to versions of the show many times, it does feel a little strange reviewing this as a re-release, so I am basically going to wax lyrical about how good it is.

If you want a record that will literally blow your mind with its dark brooding outer space psych rock, this is it. Look no further. Set the controls towards the outer limits of your mind.

The Soul Feeder drifts through time and space slowly as the track evolves again and again. The bassline slowly creeps along with the guitar quietly soaring in and out, hooked with some wah-wah before a raw, almost magnetic sounding riff begins to take shape. Your journey through space continues at a head-nodding, rhythmic chanting pace as your sense of cosmic being turns darker and heavier. At around the eleven minute mark, the bass line that has now well and truly warped your mind, makes a slight shift and totally blows your mind. Lightening off for a few more minutes you can see yourself being drawn towards something else in the sky before you come hurtling back into the atmosphere. No matter how many times you listen to this song, the trip never follows the same path twice. 

The Idle Glance starts lighter as a more spacious track, feeling as though both feet are still on planet Earth even though you are still moving at a fast pace. The drums and cymbals crash whilst guitar riff soar above it and the bass takes off and everything is launched into the cosmos and beyond. At around twelve minutes you feel as though you have reached your planetary destination, and circumnavigate its atmosphere to realise what has brought you there. After that you will need to draw your own conclusion to where the journey ends.

On the CD and digital version only you get the bonus track Lost and Found Souls which is another sonic trip through the heights of German space rock and its trance inducing finest.

This is the first release on Worst Bassist Records and you have to check out the next few releases and re-issues as they all look rather special.

Bandcamp – Facebook

Review: Fever Dog – "Freewheelin’" Single

Danny Graham and Fever Dog have been hinting at some new music since the Mainframe EP came out back in 2017 and finally here have it in the form of Freewheelin’, the first song to drop as a single from the upcoming album Alpha Waves.

They did seem to be slightly moving away from the Pink Floyd psych last time round but Freewheelin’ has made a huge leap towards the world of 70’s proto rock and glam rock. Think Thin Lizzy Jamming with The Sweet, Suzi Quarto and The New York Dolls.

Four minutes built around a rockin’ riff with all sorts of memorable harmonies and some sweet synthesiser action. It starts to go “out there” but the guitars pull you along at 100mph. The vocal harmonies really are special though. Think a black backdrop, lots of lights, glitter and some strobe lights. I really hope a promo video comes out for the single.

Freewheelin’ is not the type of song that I thought I would hear from them but it’s a proper rocker. I dare you not to be tapping that foot. I am interested to see what the rest of the album does when it drops later this year. You need to own this song now.

Bandcamp – Website - Facebook – Instagram – Twitter

Review: OKO – Haze EP

There is always something special about the moment you check out a band blindly and within two minutes they’ve already ticked every box, your foot is tapping and a riff has implanted itself in your brain for the foreseeable future.

Hailing from Adelaide Australia, OKO are an instrumental 3-piece that have already set their bar high with the one track EP Haze. You don’t often hear the term one track EP, but the 15 minute epic is my kind of one track.

The players are Nick Nancarrow (Guitar), Tyson Ruch (Bass) and Ash Matthews (Drums) and they bring you a long winding heavy psych jam.

Haze drifts in slowly and softly as though you’re floating out to see under the stars. Over the light percussion, the guitar takes you away, then back, then away again like the waves of the tide would, with Colour Haze being a good point of reference. Everything starts to build with an increase of cymbals before the introduction to one of the main riffs the song is built round, and as the riff really kicks in with its warm fuzzy power for the first time, I defy anyone not to be blown away by it.

Haze keeps rolling with the riff before it breaks for an alternative riff before launching back in. This is a trick that Elder have perfected and what you have here stands up with the best of them.

From here the deep fuzzy warmth of the song keeps rolling along before various musical interludes with breaks and musical depth that has the emotive feel that Rotor have delivered over the years. 

As Haze comes to a close, the last couple of minutes brings you some big soaring guitar solos which live, no doubt, would bring some heavy amplifier worship. 

For a debut song, this is already head and shoulders above what many others have tried to perfect and if this was on a full record, Haze would be their Dead Roots Stirring.

I also have to mention the quality production of the song, mixed by Justin Pizzoferrato (mixer of Elder and Dinosaur Jr).

Haze is available on all the digital platforms and hopefully it appears on something vinyl in the future as its one of those songs that made to be played at 33rpm.

Website – Bandcamp – Facebook – Instagram

Review: Lowrider – Refractions

I remember getting a mixtape done for me around 1999 with all sorts of new music on that was loud, fuzzy and Black Sabbath related, and whoever did it ran a highlighter over the Lowrider tracks written in the letter they sent with it. I’m sure that tape is in my house still somewhere, if only I could find it. Anyway, that’s what turned me on to the Swedish sound and in particular Lowrider.

A million listens later, getting to see them in 2013 at Desertfest and in London in 2014 was quite a treat and the talk of new material kept coming up. It may have taken a few more years after that, but here it is, Refractions, in all its Postwax release version glory.

Red River takes ten seconds before the drumstick hits the snare drum and you are confronted with a huge wall of fuzz that comes at you from both sides. The groove to it is apparent straight away with its huge mid-paced “head nodding” riff that makes me remember why I loved the band so much the first time around. Everything sounds pure Lowrider but with a killer production and the vocals sound as unique as they ever did, and there’s even a shredding guitar solo half way through!

It doesn’t take long for the guitars to start talking to you in a darker way as Ode to Ganymede takes off. The drums begin to build with the bassline and the guitar riff sounds almost haunting as it winds in and out with the vocals before the big fuzz n roll riffs kick in to the mix. A single guitar line then steps in to pull the song in a different direction before everything slowly builds and makes you think of huge open roads surrounded by massive mountains topped with a sea of slow moving wind turbines. Some 70’s Hammond organ work crosses your path as the song keeps driving before handing off to more big riffs and groovin’ guitar work. Wow!

Sernanders Krog starts with a lighter positive sound to it and a cool bassline/drumbeat combined with vocals that sounds like a song I’m sure Dave Grohl would love to have written. Everything moves along at a slower pace which melts in to soaring guitar work the heads into the land of heavy psych and takes you way up there above the sky and out beyond the atmosphere. I cannot wait to see or hear a live version of this.  

Ol’ Mule Pepe is a perfect example of the band doing massive Swedish stoner rock. It has a stomping riff for nearly 5 minutes, loads of big drums and cymbals crashing, lots of “yeah” vocals, wah-wah guitars and killer solos. I can see many a crowd going wild to this later on in the night, bodies all over, drinks spilled, denim, hair…..you know what I mean!

I thought we may have some quiet time after that, but Sun Devil /M87* strums in before another huge wall of sound completely floors you. The guitars go big again and again, more wah-wah, crashing cymbals and the super heavy riff machine just won’t let up. I know they’ve had 20 years to collect a wealth of riffs and it shows here as they just keep coming.

The album ends on the 11 minute opus Pipe Rider that takes you on a long epic journey in to the unknown. From the start everything is big, bright and taking you off through the mountains and in to the dusk of the desert. This time round it sounds more expansive with every instrument adding to what turns in to a “jam” that starts to kick back more as the journey continues on through the night. As the song concludes everything ramps up again just to remind you that Lowrider have returned to reclaim their crown.

This is the album that many bands wanted to write. It really is that special. The band have returned and taken that special thing they always had and raised it to a whole new level. Yes, when listening to Lowrider I still think of desert roads, 70’s cars and fields full of wind turbines, but this record is so much more and it deserves all the plaudits it will probably get over the next few months. Let’s hope that 2020 sees more live action again as well. 

If you have the Postwax version you will know about the extra special packaging, the liner notes, the playing cards, the killer artwork, special vinyl and the bright orange flexi disk with a demo version of Leaning Times from back in 2003. If you don’t then February 21^st is the day when it should be everywhere on Blues Funeral.

Blues Funeral - Lowrider