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  • ALTAR OF THE FUZZ ~ COLOSSAL SUNN ENGULFED EARTH …. review

     


    Canada’s Altar of the Fuzz, Trey Graham (guitar); Caine Albright (bass/vocals) and Isaac McConkey (drums) are a relatively young band in terms of existence but in their short time together they have managed to put out a considerable output. Since their 2022  inception the band have managed to release three full length albums, “V” (2023), “Buffalo Haze” (2024) and “Their Skies Were Lost Gods” (2024), as well as a number of well received EP’s and singles. Altar of the Fuzz have become chiefly known for jamming instrumental grooves of a spacious and heavy persuasion but their latest EP “Colossal Sunn Engulfed Earth” sees the band also experimenting with some vocal flavouring.

    “Colossal” opens Altar of the Fuzz’s latest musical endeavour and it could not be a better named opus, not only does it span a whopping eleven minutes and three seconds but it also sounds COLOSSAL. The guitar work here is a Gilmour-esque merging of searing drawn out notes, crunching riffage and spacious ringing arpeggios that is is backed by a superbly delivered mix of growly and liquid bass work and a truly impressive blend of thunderous and shimmering percussion. The song takes you on a journey in a way that all good instrumentals should, the music swelling to enormous heights one moment then flattening out to become a trickle the next, atmosphere is a must in music of this nature and this track is drenched in the stuff. Next up is “Sunn“, musically this song comes across like a coming together of Elder, Pink Floyd and OM with the OM part of the equation mostly being found in the “weedian” like nature of its vocals which are delivered in a mantra like throaty gargle. The brief but intriguing “Engulfed” has a distant and otherworldly feel, the sort  of musical piece that could easily work as the soundtrack to a space horror movie, something in the vein of  “Event Horizon” or “Pandorum“. For the albums penultimate number, “Earth“, Altar of the Fuzz basically take Black Sabbath’s “Children of the Grave” riff and give it a space rock makeover and maaaan do they make a good job of it, if this had been played at Ozzy’s final gig it would have brought the roof down. The final song of the album “Ton 618” blends sampled space themed narrative and swirling bluesy guitar over spacious musical backdrops before fading out on a wave of hazy cosmic jive.  


    Altar of the Fuzz’s “Colossal Engulfed Sunn Earth” is everything you could possibly ask for from music pitched at the more cosmic end of the metal spectrum, a collection of spacious, heavy and atmospheric tunes that’ll take your mind to places your body could never hope to visit. 
    Check it out …..

    © 2025 Frazer Jones

  • ALTAR OF THE FUZZ ~ COLOSSAL SUNN ENGULFED EARTH …. review

     


    Canada’s Altar of the Fuzz, Trey Graham (guitar); Caine Albright (bass/vocals) and Isaac McConkey (drums) are a relatively young band in terms of existence but in their short time together they have managed to put out a considerable output. Since their 2022  inception the band have managed to release three full length albums, “V” (2023), “Buffalo Haze” (2024) and “Their Skies Were Lost Gods” (2024), as well as a number of well received EP’s and singles. Altar of the Fuzz have become chiefly known for jamming instrumental grooves of a spacious and heavy persuasion but their latest EP “Colossal Sunn Engulfed Earth” sees the band also experimenting with some vocal flavouring.

    “Colossal” opens Altar of the Fuzz’s latest musical endeavour and it could not be a better named opus, not only does it span a whopping eleven minutes and three seconds but it also sounds COLOSSAL. The guitar work here is a Gilmour-esque merging of searing drawn out notes, crunching riffage and spacious ringing arpeggios that is is backed by a superbly delivered mix of growly and liquid bass work and a truly impressive blend of thunderous and shimmering percussion. The song takes you on a journey in a way that all good instrumentals should, the music swelling to enormous heights one moment then flattening out to become a trickle the next, atmosphere is a must in music of this nature and this track is drenched in the stuff. Next up is “Sunn“, musically this song comes across like a coming together of Elder, Pink Floyd and OM with the OM part of the equation mostly being found in the “weedian” like nature of its vocals which are delivered in a mantra like throaty gargle. The brief but intriguing “Engulfed” has a distant and otherworldly feel, the sort  of musical piece that could easily work as the soundtrack to a space horror movie, something in the vein of  “Event Horizon” or “Pandorum“. For the albums penultimate number, “Earth“, Altar of the Fuzz basically take Black Sabbath’s “Children of the Grave” riff and give it a space rock makeover and maaaan do they make a good job of it, if this had been played at Ozzy’s final gig it would have brought the roof down. The final song of the album “Ton 618” blends sampled space themed narrative and swirling bluesy guitar over spacious musical backdrops before fading out on a wave of hazy cosmic jive.  


    Altar of the Fuzz’s “Colossal Engulfed Sunn Earth” is everything you could possibly ask for from music pitched at the more cosmic end of the metal spectrum, a collection of spacious, heavy and atmospheric tunes that’ll take your mind to places your body could never hope to visit. 
    Check it out …..

    © 2025 Frazer Jones

  • BORRACHO ~ OUROBOROS ….. review



    We at Desert Psychlist were a little surprised when it was announced that Borracho, Steve Fisher (guitar/vocals); Tim Martin (bass,/’backing vocals) and Mario Trubiano (drums), were releasing a new album, to us it only seemed like five minutes ago we were lauding praise on their previous release “Blurring The Lines of Reality“, however we soon realised that the reason we still thought of their last album as fairly recent was because it has been a staple on our playlist at Stonerking Towers ever since its release two years ago. This is the beauty of Borracho, they make albums that do not date and stay ever fresh in the memory, we’ve said it before and we’ll say it again…these guys don’t make bad albums. New album “Ouroboros” (Ripple Music) is no different, this is an album that will blow your mind on day one and will be continuing to blow your mind many years down the line.

    Borracho come out of the starting gate ripped and ready to rumble with opening number “Vegas Baby” the song kicking off with chugging riffage interspersed with cool ear-catching guitar motifs and fills, the songs groove really starting to spark when the drums join in but then ferociously catching fire when the vocals enter, Fisher waxing lyrical on the draws and dangers to be found in America’s gambling capital. Next we have “Succubus“, things here start a little dissonant and swirly only then to proceed to get a little jagged and off-centred as the song progresses, there is nothing straightforward to be found here Martin’s bass lines are a mix of spacious and growly, Trubiano’s drumming often borders on tribal and Fisher’s guitar work is a mixture of slurred power chords and dark off centred lead work, the vocals, an exquisite mix of throaty lead and grainy harmonies, are powerfully delivered and also share a similar element of slurriness. “Lord of Suffering” like its predecessor begins left of centre but then settles down into a groove that can only be described as throbbing and LOUD, vocally the song is a trade off of lead singing and backing shouts, musically the song is smorgasbord of thundering bass and guitar riffage driven by Bonham-esque drumming. Fourth song “Vale of Tears” sees Borracho mixing into their unique blending of riff heavy rock’n’roll and distortion drenched stonerized metal smatterings of bluesiness, shades of doominosity and essences of heavy psych while “Machine is the Master” finds the band going full tilt metallic but metallic with just a hint of alt-rock colouring. “Freakshow“, meanwhile, finds Borracho in a playful mood with vocals delivered in the style of a fairground barker over a backdrop of gnarled groove that carries Clutch-like musical similarities, the vocals and lyrical content maybe playful here but the music kicks serious ass! Borracho bring “Ouroboros” to a close with “Broken Man” a song that blends together elements of stoner rock with elements of its close musical cousin southern metal and inserts into that blend swirling keyboard textures and off-the -grid lead work, a feisty finish to a damn feisty album.

     Being consistent and pleasing your fans while also trying to progress musically is no easy task but Borracho seem to have found  a way to balance the needs of their fanbase with their own need to progress musically. Each Borracho album released is a level up on the previous one and when you consider that each and every one of the bands albums is essential listening then that is some feat. “Ouroboros” is the bands best album to date but if they don’t suddenly decide to call it a day and they carry on improving the way they have been up until this point you can guarantee it won’t be their best album ever!
    Check ’em out ….

    © 2025 Frazer Jones


  • BORRACHO ~ OUROBOROS ….. review



    We at Desert Psychlist were a little surprised when it was announced that Borracho, Steve Fisher (guitar/vocals); Tim Martin (bass,/’backing vocals) and Mario Trubiano (drums), were releasing a new album, to us it only seemed like five minutes ago we were lauding praise on their previous release “Blurring The Lines of Reality“, however we soon realised that the reason we still thought of their last album as fairly recent was because it has been a staple on our playlist at Stonerking Towers ever since its release two years ago. This is the beauty of Borracho, they make albums that do not date and stay ever fresh in the memory, we’ve said it before and we’ll say it again…these guys don’t make bad albums. New album “Ouroboros” (Ripple Music) is no different, this is an album that will blow your mind on day one and will be continuing to blow your mind many years down the line.

    Borracho come out of the starting gate ripped and ready to rumble with opening number “Vegas Baby” the song kicking off with chugging riffage interspersed with cool ear-catching guitar motifs and fills, the songs groove really starting to spark when the drums join in but then ferociously catching fire when the vocals enter, Fisher waxing lyrical on the draws and dangers to be found in America’s gambling capital. Next we have “Succubus“, things here start a little dissonant and swirly only then to proceed to get a little jagged and off-centred as the song progresses, there is nothing straightforward to be found here Martin’s bass lines are a mix of spacious and growly, Trubiano’s drumming often borders on tribal and Fisher’s guitar work is a mixture of slurred power chords and dark off centred lead work, the vocals, an exquisite mix of throaty lead and grainy harmonies, are powerfully delivered and also share a similar element of slurriness. “Lord of Suffering” like its predecessor begins left of centre but then settles down into a groove that can only be described as throbbing and LOUD, vocally the song is a trade off of lead singing and backing shouts, musically the song is smorgasbord of thundering bass and guitar riffage driven by Bonham-esque drumming. Fourth song “Vale of Tears” sees Borracho mixing into their unique blending of riff heavy rock’n’roll and distortion drenched stonerized metal smatterings of bluesiness, shades of doominosity and essences of heavy psych while “Machine is the Master” finds the band going full tilt metallic but metallic with just a hint of alt-rock colouring. “Freakshow“, meanwhile, finds Borracho in a playful mood with vocals delivered in the style of a fairground barker over a backdrop of gnarled groove that carries Clutch-like musical similarities, the vocals and lyrical content maybe playful here but the music kicks serious ass! Borracho bring “Ouroboros” to a close with “Broken Man” a song that blends together elements of stoner rock with elements of its close musical cousin southern metal and inserts into that blend swirling keyboard textures and off-the -grid lead work, a feisty finish to a damn feisty album.

     Being consistent and pleasing your fans while also trying to progress musically is no easy task but Borracho seem to have found  a way to balance the needs of their fanbase with their own need to progress musically. Each Borracho album released is a level up on the previous one and when you consider that each and every one of the bands albums is essential listening then that is some feat. “Ouroboros” is the bands best album to date but if they don’t suddenly decide to call it a day and they carry on improving the way they have been up until this point you can guarantee it won’t be their best album ever!
    Check ’em out ….

    © 2025 Frazer Jones


  • VVARP ~ POWER HELD IN STONE…. review


    We at Desert Psychlist are very partial to doom of a more sedate and atmospheric nature, strident up-tempo grooves of course have a place in our hearts and we have much music lining our shelves at Stonerking Towers that meet that criteria but what really gets our blood pumping are grooves that lurch toward the finishing line rather than race to get there. Even better for us is if those grooves have an almost spiritual/ritualistic air about them and Australia’s VVARP, Claudia Sullivan (bass/vocals); John Bollen (guitar/vocals/keyboards) and Scott McLatchie (drums), make music that fits that mould perfectly. The band first came to Desert Psychlist’s attention via their 2020 release “First Levitations” a release we described on their Bandcamp page as “thundering riffs counterbalanced by floating monastic vocals“, while calling it in our full review “a must for fans of Windhand, Dead Sacraments and Chile’s Heráldica de Mandra“. The band return this year with “Power Held In Stone” (DHU Records), an engrossing and atmospheric tome they describe as “an imagined soundtrack for a folk horror film that exists only in our collective imagination“.

    Unaccompanied Gregorian-like harmonies announce the start of opening track “Druid Warfare” and are soon joined by bass, drums and guitar in a thrumming distortion drenched doomic groove that offsets its repetitive nature with subtle swells in volume and intensity, a trick that draws the listeners focus more towards the vocals than the music itself, the music in this case seemingly serving as more of a framework for the vocals with those vocals possessing an almost medieval quality. Swelling keyboards accompanied by droning guitar textures herald the arrival of “A Path Through The Veil“, here the music and the vocals stand on an equal footing, bone shaking bass and pummelling percussion laying down a platform of dank groove for lilting dual harmonies and searing lead work to be launched from. Third track “Equinox Portal” sees VVARP  musically shifting up a gear into proto-doomic territory yet vocally still staying in that monastic occult-like pocket that has become the bands default setting, oh and keep an ear out for swirling Celtic flavoured guitar solo that proceeds the songs droning keyboard outro. VVARP go into full stoner-doomic mode for the pulverising “Iron Cloak” with guitar amps dialled to eleven and drums set to thunderous, the vocals sit a little deeper in the mix here but that does not detract from their impact, in fact the song benefits greatly from allowing the instrumentation to be pushed a little more to the fore. The stoner-doomic dynamics explored on the previous song remain in place for final number “Stone Silhouette” the vocal harmonies here are again floaty and monastic but the musical feel is one of intensity and heaviness, well that is apart from the songs deliciously dank and somewhat lysergic middle section where the vocals once again find themselves the full focus of attention.


    Doom with a floating ethereal quality is what VVARP bring to the altar with “Power Held In Stone”, songs full of intensity and heaviness offset with elements that at times border on folkish and otherworldly.
    Check it out …. 

    © 2025 Frazer Jones

  • VVARP ~ POWER HELD IN STONE…. review


    We at Desert Psychlist are very partial to doom of a more sedate and atmospheric nature, strident up-tempo grooves of course have a place in our hearts and we have much music lining our shelves at Stonerking Towers that meet that criteria but what really gets our blood pumping are grooves that lurch toward the finishing line rather than race to get there. Even better for us is if those grooves have an almost spiritual/ritualistic air about them and Australia’s VVARP, Claudia Sullivan (bass/vocals); John Bollen (guitar/vocals/keyboards) and Scott McLatchie (drums), make music that fits that mould perfectly. The band first came to Desert Psychlist’s attention via their 2020 release “First Levitations” a release we described on their Bandcamp page as “thundering riffs counterbalanced by floating monastic vocals“, while calling it in our full review “a must for fans of Windhand, Dead Sacraments and Chile’s Heráldica de Mandra“. The band return this year with “Power Held In Stone” (DHU Records), an engrossing and atmospheric tome they describe as “an imagined soundtrack for a folk horror film that exists only in our collective imagination“.

    Unaccompanied Gregorian-like harmonies announce the start of opening track “Druid Warfare” and are soon joined by bass, drums and guitar in a thrumming distortion drenched doomic groove that offsets its repetitive nature with subtle swells in volume and intensity, a trick that draws the listeners focus more towards the vocals than the music itself, the music in this case seemingly serving as more of a framework for the vocals with those vocals possessing an almost medieval quality. Swelling keyboards accompanied by droning guitar textures herald the arrival of “A Path Through The Veil“, here the music and the vocals stand on an equal footing, bone shaking bass and pummelling percussion laying down a platform of dank groove for lilting dual harmonies and searing lead work to be launched from. Third track “Equinox Portal” sees VVARP  musically shifting up a gear into proto-doomic territory yet vocally still staying in that monastic occult-like pocket that has become the bands default setting, oh and keep an ear out for swirling Celtic flavoured guitar solo that proceeds the songs droning keyboard outro. VVARP go into full stoner-doomic mode for the pulverising “Iron Cloak” with guitar amps dialled to eleven and drums set to thunderous, the vocals sit a little deeper in the mix here but that does not detract from their impact, in fact the song benefits greatly from allowing the instrumentation to be pushed a little more to the fore. The stoner-doomic dynamics explored on the previous song remain in place for final number “Stone Silhouette” the vocal harmonies here are again floaty and monastic but the musical feel is one of intensity and heaviness, well that is apart from the songs deliciously dank and somewhat lysergic middle section where the vocals once again find themselves the full focus of attention.


    Doom with a floating ethereal quality is what VVARP bring to the altar with “Power Held In Stone”, songs full of intensity and heaviness offset with elements that at times border on folkish and otherworldly.
    Check it out …. 

    © 2025 Frazer Jones

  • RED MESS ~ HI-TECH STARVATION …. review


    Red Mess, Thiago Franzim (guitar), Douglas Labigalini (drums) and Lucas Klepa (bass/vocals), started their musical journey in Londrina, Brazil but after what the band describe as “a decade of messing around” decided to relocate to Europe, the trio finally settling on Berlin, Germany as the base for their operations. A few of you out there will already be familiar with the band thanks to the EP’s “Crimson” (2014), “Drowning In Red” (2015) and “Phantom Limb” (2022) as well as their full length releases “Into The Mess” (2017) and “Breathtaker” (2022), the latter of which we reviewed on these very pages. For those not up to speed with the band however Red Mess jam a blend of rock styles that has led the band to describe themselves as “not your regular alternative grunge psychedelic progressive sludge post-punk hardcore groove garage crimson crooked stoner rock band“. This month (August 2025) sees Red Mess releasing their third full length album “Hi Tech Starvation” (Noisolution) a collection of tunes from a band who have a history of delivering ass-kicking groove’n’roll of real quality


    “Huntress” kicks things off, a fuzz heavy opus that’s part grungy metal and part off-centred desert rock with those grungy elements leaning more towards Alice In Chains than they do Soundgarden and the desert rock part of the deal coming more from a Queens of the Stone Age angle than a Kyuss one. Vocals over this song are delivered in clean and slightly cracked tones that although are not especially powerful are nonetheless both impressive and effective. Following number “Inexistant Colours” finds Red Mess for the most part operating in Nirvana-esque loud/quiet/loud territory around a similarly up and down vocal but then sees the band shifting into a more traditional rock groove for the songs final quarter, this section of the song enhanced with searing bluesy lead work. “Ransomware” is a song that straddles territory somewhere between punk rock and its close cousin hardcore, the vocals here a touch more visceral and raw, the guitar tones a touch more waspish and the rhythms a tad less pummelling, well that is up until just around the five minute mark when out of the blue things take a stoner-doomic turn and we are presented with thick slabs of dank riffage and pounding percussion supporting monastic flavoured vocal incantations. Next song “Intravenous” is an unusual but engaging blend of heavy psych and stoner/desert rock salted with totally unexpected elements of Oasis flavoured Brit-pop in its vocal inflections while its follow up “Xenon“, an instrumental, is full on Kyuss worship. Penultimate tune “Kind Villain” is deliciously rowdy and rocking, this also carries a little Oasis styling in the vocal department. Final song, “Uncanny Valley” is a shapeshifting behemoth with grooves that constantly sway between stoner-metallic and grungy beneath vocals that one minute boast a throaty stoner-ish dynamic and the next are being delivered in a buoyant rap-like meter, as closing numbers go this is a MONSTER!


    Banging from its opening note to its last Red Mess’ “Hi-Tech Starvation” is a delightfully eclectic blend of raucousness, restraint and accessibility, an album that will delight “grungers” and “metalheads” alike…as well as all those who fall in-between. 
    Check it out …. 

    © 2025 Frazer Jones

  • RED MESS ~ HI-TECH STARVATION …. review


    Red Mess, Thiago Franzim (guitar), Douglas Labigalini (drums) and Lucas Klepa (bass/vocals), started their musical journey in Londrina, Brazil but after what the band describe as “a decade of messing around” decided to relocate to Europe, the trio finally settling on Berlin, Germany as the base for their operations. A few of you out there will already be familiar with the band thanks to the EP’s “Crimson” (2014), “Drowning In Red” (2015) and “Phantom Limb” (2022) as well as their full length releases “Into The Mess” (2017) and “Breathtaker” (2022), the latter of which we reviewed on these very pages. For those not up to speed with the band however Red Mess jam a blend of rock styles that has led the band to describe themselves as “not your regular alternative grunge psychedelic progressive sludge post-punk hardcore groove garage crimson crooked stoner rock band“. This month (August 2025) sees Red Mess releasing their third full length album “Hi Tech Starvation” (Noisolution) a collection of tunes from a band who have a history of delivering ass-kicking groove’n’roll of real quality


    “Huntress” kicks things off, a fuzz heavy opus that’s part grungy metal and part off-centred desert rock with those grungy elements leaning more towards Alice In Chains than they do Soundgarden and the desert rock part of the deal coming more from a Queens of the Stone Age angle than a Kyuss one. Vocals over this song are delivered in clean and slightly cracked tones that although are not especially powerful are nonetheless both impressive and effective. Following number “Inexistant Colours” finds Red Mess for the most part operating in Nirvana-esque loud/quiet/loud territory around a similarly up and down vocal but then sees the band shifting into a more traditional rock groove for the songs final quarter, this section of the song enhanced with searing bluesy lead work. “Ransomware” is a song that straddles territory somewhere between punk rock and its close cousin hardcore, the vocals here a touch more visceral and raw, the guitar tones a touch more waspish and the rhythms a tad less pummelling, well that is up until just around the five minute mark when out of the blue things take a stoner-doomic turn and we are presented with thick slabs of dank riffage and pounding percussion supporting monastic flavoured vocal incantations. Next song “Intravenous” is an unusual but engaging blend of heavy psych and stoner/desert rock salted with totally unexpected elements of Oasis flavoured Brit-pop in its vocal inflections while its follow up “Xenon“, an instrumental, is full on Kyuss worship. Penultimate tune “Kind Villain” is deliciously rowdy and rocking, this also carries a little Oasis styling in the vocal department. Final song, “Uncanny Valley” is a shapeshifting behemoth with grooves that constantly sway between stoner-metallic and grungy beneath vocals that one minute boast a throaty stoner-ish dynamic and the next are being delivered in a buoyant rap-like meter, as closing numbers go this is a MONSTER!


    Banging from its opening note to its last Red Mess’ “Hi-Tech Starvation” is a delightfully eclectic blend of raucousness, restraint and accessibility, an album that will delight “grungers” and “metalheads” alike…as well as all those who fall in-between. 
    Check it out …. 

    © 2025 Frazer Jones

  • The Bryden 2-Step (for Amphibians) Part 1 + Part 2 (National Health, 1978)

    National Health is one of the most intricate and jazzy Canterbury Scene bands, strictly linked to Hatfield And The North, keyboardist Dave Stewart’s band from 1973 to 1975 after his previous experiences with Egg and Khan, but also drummer Pip Pyle’s and guitarist Phil Miller’s ex band. For their 1978 album “Of Queues And Cures”, National Health also included multi-instrumentalist John Greaves of Henry Cow fame. The two parts of The Bryden 2-Step (for Amphibians) respectively open and close this record and are two splendid specimens of Canterbury sound, mixing up melodies, jazz-rock passages and folk-rock elements in a warm, diversified and intricate structure. 

    A real cabinet of curiosities…

    The two sections are rather different in mood (the first one being more up-tempo and jazz oriented than the second one), but there is a strong consistency between them, reinforced by the recurring main theme and the presence of the same guest musicians: Phil Minton (trumpets), Paul Nieman (trombones) and Georgie Born (cello), whose instruments give a wider sonic landscape to this split suite. A special mention goes to the main theme, one of the most charming Canterbury-branded compositions ever and to the constant search for originality throughout these overall 13 minutes of unpredictable music.

  • FLORIST ~ ADRIFT …. review

     

    Some may remember back in 2023 Desert Psychlist getting a little excited about “Contact” the debut release of Floridian groovsters Florist, an enthralling blend of stonerized metal and space rock that we described as being “music to skateboard through wormholes to“. Well we are about to get excited all over again because Florist, Frankie Consoli (vocals/guitar,/sitar); Kevin Roy (bass); Mike Amador (drums) and Jer Dillow (theremin, synthesizers, percussion),  have just dropped their second album “Adrift” (Threat Collection Records), a release that takes those ideas explored on previous album “Contact” to the next level.

    Florist kick off their second album with “432Hz” a thoroughly engaging instrumental that splices together eastern motifs and Hawkwind-esque whooshes and swirls over a groove that for large parts of its existence boasts an otherworldly reggae-ish feel but does in its last quarter wade through heavier waters. Next up is “Another Moon” and here we find Florist jamming a mix of stoner-ish and heavy psych grooves beneath clean easy on the ear vocal melodies, the space like whoops and whirls this band are so fond of utilizing still all very much in place but this time applied with a modicum of subtlety. “Out Of Space” follows and is classic space rock straight out of the Hawkwind for dummies manual, in other words hard driven rhythms supporting fairly simple chord progressions over which clipped clean and slightly punkish vocal melodies do battle with electronic synthesised weirdness, it is quite frankly SUPERB!  “Grow” kicks off slightly quirky and off-centred accompanied by an equally quirky vocal melody but then starts pulling into its spacious grooviness elements of the blues and classic rock, the band even sounding a little Deep Purple-ish in the songs closing stages, albeit a Deep Purple with Hawkwind’s Michael ‘DikMik’ Davies on the keys. Last but one comes “Adrift (Part A)” a tome that finds the band sounding like a cross between Nashville’s Howling Giant and 60’s psychedelic cult legends Spirit, it is followed by “Adrift (Part B)” a song which sees the band donning black robes matched with lurid legwear to bring us an instrumental opus that is parts proto-doom and parts acidic rock and is totally on-point in both departments. 


    Those out there holding a flaming torch aloft for the early space rock of Hawkwind and first album era UFO while also harbouring a deep love of 90’s desert rock and mid 70’s proto-metal will love what Florist bring to the table with “Adrift“.
     Looks like its time to fire up the old “orgone accumulator” and jump aboard the “silver machine” because there are some new “psychedelic warlords” in town.
    Check ’em out …..

    © 2025 Frazer Jones