Monday 15 February 2016

Deadsmoke - S/T (Album Review)


Release date: March 25th 2016. Label: Heavy Psych Sounds. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl

Deadsmoke – S/T – Tracklisting
Branches Of Evil
Eyes Of The Blind Man
Liar Behind Me
Tornado
Night Of The Vipers

Band Members:

Matteo - Guitars
Maurice - Drums
Gianmaria - Bass

Review:

Hi folks, Lucas Klaukien here, aka LK Ultra, creator of DoomCharts.com and sometime contributor to my favorite music zine, Outlaws of the Sun. I wanted to try a little something different here. I wanted to share with you my first impression of this record, "raw" as it happened.

The band Deadsmoke was new to me when I got this promo from Steve to review and I had no idea what to expect from them. I didn't know if this was going be doom, stoner, psych, desert, post-metal, whatever it might be. Here's what I found ...

BRANCHES OF EVIL - Here we go with one of the heaviest guitar tones I done ever heard. Less than a minute in and I'm hooked. Getting distracted as news comes to me of a DoomCharts.com knock-off site called StonerRockCharts.de! This is hilarious!

EYES OF THE BLIND MAN - Shit this is heavy. Like, 'Come My Fanatics', 'Dopethrone' level heaviness. Grimy, deep tone. I love this. Vocals are shouty and distant, speckled with the sweat of desperation backed by a longing for violent release. Some clean singing in this one as well towards the end. Doom chart regular Vasilis Durden compares the knock-off site to Adidas knock-off socks with the word "Abibas" written on them, hahaha! Oh and a fucking enormous finish on this song too. This is lovely.

LIAR BEHIND ME - This is pure doom right here. Fuck, this is good shit. Let the riff breathe and beat the piss out of those drumheads. Still chuckling about that "Abibas" comment. Sexy break down towards the middle. Distant sound to the bluesy solo. Listening to this band is like watching a smoke-hazy riot taking place on the next block over. The way things are mixed creates a surreal distance, like it's happening right in front of you but far enough away that it doesn't immediately affect you. Not physically anyway, but it'll warp you on the inside.

TORNADO - Another big number. Seven and a half minute monster. South-Western feel here. Riding out on the desert plains. The badlands. And then the sandstorm of distortion hits. Nice. This part really does have a twister feel to it. Though not an instrumental in the truest sense it has that feel. An aural painting. Very filmic quality to this. Scenes from There Will Be Blood come through. And as we come in for a big landing on this flight I'm still a little distracted as the discussion grows about this erstwhile Stoner Chart on the Doom Charts Facebook Group.

NIGHT OF THE VIPERS - Keeping things low, slow and grimy. At this point I was kind of hoping they'd open things up a little with a clear road ahead of them, but they've kept it under the speed limit. Big echo-y delay on the vocals, I always like that. Never heard it more pronounced than on Saturnalia Temple's 'Aion of Drakon' album, but this comes close. Solid tune, maybe not the best on the album but it gets you where you're going. Which is straight down into a dark, molten paradise. Big emotive finish. I think these guys don't give a fuck about traditional song structures and that's almost always a good thing. Prog bands can tend to take that shit a little too far, but a verse, long instrumental part, bridge/chorus, then peace out over the course of a 7-minute song with no parts repeating is pretty cool and is the Anton Chigurh to boredom. Yeah, for whatever reason I can't separate There Will Be Blood and No Country For Old Men in my head.

Massive, massive album. Highly recommend this to lovers of heavy riffs and doom of the highest order. Because these guys aren't really a big name I wonder if this album's going to take people by surprise. Shit, it took me by surprise.

This album will forever be linked to tone in my mind, as these guys have found the heaviest one possible. It's that deep grimy tone with pendulous, monolithic riffing that brings to mind Spelljammer and Monolord. I'm sure doomsters will go apeshit over Deadsmoke once they get their name out there a little more, and well they should. We've found a new title contender in the heavyweight division, which means motherfuckers are about to get knocked the fuck out. Keep your arms up, your chin down and your ear out for the self-titled album by Deadsmoke, which will be out there looking for your ass on March 25 2016, released via Heavy Psych Sounds.

Words by LK Ultra

Thanks to Claire at Purple Sage PR for the promo. Deadsmoke S/T album be available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl from March 25th 2016 via Heavy Psych Sounds.

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