Monday 21 May 2018

High Priestess - S/T (Album Review) and Video Premiere of Firefly


Release date: May 18th 2018. Label: Ripple Music. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl

High Priestess – S/T – Tracklisting

1.Firefly 10:11
2.Despise 08:03
3.Banshee 04:08
4.Take The Blame 06:36
5.Mother Forgive Me 05:04
6.Earth Dive 06:40

Members

Katie Gilchrest - guitars, vocals, organ
Mariana Fiel - bass, vocals
Megan Mullins - drums, percussion

Review

High Priestess self-titled album sees the band play a heavy blend of Psychedelic Doom/Stoner Metal that walks a fine line between classic sounding Doom Rock and modern sounding Psychedelic Riffs. With razor sharp production, High Priestess impress from the very start with haunting melodies. The album is very progressive in places with the band creating songs running from six, eight and ten minutes in length.

Opening track - Firefly - sees High Priestess opt for dark progressive doom and gloom style of music. The psychedelic elements are slowly added with the heavy Stoner Metal vibes appearing with the vocals making a welcome appearance. The whole flow of the album is addictive and flows with absolute confidence. Maybe a little bit too much at times. High Priestess never outstays their welcome as the heavy progressive sounds will keep you entertained from the start. There is a twinge of Blues Rock contained on the album and is perhaps best encountered from the gloomy and wonderful lyrics the band have written for the album. Firefly is without question the standout track on the album.

Though the other tracks held on the album are just as good with Despise, Banshee and Earth Dive being the main ones to fully experience. The vocals on Despise and Banshee took some time for me to get used to. The clean vocals are superb though the higher pitched growls that appear almost throw the song off course but they soon won me around after a couple of more listens of actual song itself. High Priestess are not your normal Psychedelic Doom/Stoner Metal band as they like to experiment with their music and perhaps even play on the listeners expectations of what a Doom/Stoner Metal band should actually be.

The main strength of the album for me is the bass playing of Mariana. Mariana provides a heavy and thunderous backdrop for High Priestess to fully function from. High Priestess takes the best parts from the Doom/Stoner Metal scene that has appeared over the last thirty years or so and injects some much needed vitality and musical creativity.

This album is already starting to win plaudits from within the Doom/Stoner Metal community and it's richly deserved. As High Priestess provide a no-holds musical experience you'll find very hard to ignore. Ripple Music are releasing this album and it's good to see High Priestess signed to the label. As I don't know who else could release this album other than Ripple Music. You know what Ripple Music is known for.

Though this is High Priestess time to shine and they've created something truly special here with their debut album.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Richard at Sheltered Life PR and Carl at Action PR for the promo. High Priestess debut album is available to buy now on CD/DD/Vinyl via Ripple Music.

You can check out the exclusive Video Premiere of Firefly from High Priestess spellbinding new album. Thanks to Todd and Matt over at Ripple Music.



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