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.
Links:
