Release
date: January 13th 2016. Label: Suicide Records. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl
Seaweed
– Tracklisting
Taxbear
Heavy Chase
Seaweed
Cavity
Backwoods
Pure Cold
Saturnday
Peninkulma
Band
Members
Lauri Pikka - Drums
Jaakko Heinonen - Vocals
Eetu Lehtinen - Bass
Toni Raukola - Guitar
Review
Demonic
Death Judge have been playing their brand of Psychedelic
Sludge/Doom/Stoner Metal since 2009 and they show no signs of
stopping with their new album – Seaweed. The album carries on the
same laid back psychedelic sounds found on their last album –
SkyGods – though with the band returning to the heavier riffs they
made their name with.
Seaweed
has a great balance moving between the heavier sludgier riffs and
then to the more groove laiden psychedelic stoner vibes. Opening
track – Taxbear – sees Demonic Death Judge play a crunching riffs
steeped in heavy psychedelic rock. It's a welcome return from the
band with Jaakko menacing vocals giving a true sense of DOOM to the
overall feel of the album. The band inject some heavy fuzz riffs at
different parts of the song. The interplay between the members is
perhaps one of the albums strengths as the band are a well organized
unit.
As
you can tell by the album cover, the main theme is about the sea or
the overall state of the sea and oceans of the world. You can read
the interview here with more information about the album. This album
is quite complex at times both lyrically and musically. Demonic Death
Judge have put their heart and souls into this album and you can tell
every time you listen to the album.
Seaweed
carries on the psychedelic odyssey with tracks such as Heavy Weed,
Seaweed and Cavity. These early tracks grab you by the throat and
pull you into Demonic Death Judge's volatile world. Seaweed and
Cavity are two of the strongest tracks on the album showing how
creative the band can truly be. As Seaweed and Cavity sees the band
venture into more Ambient/Post-Rock territories. They've done this
kind of thing before but not as good as this.
If
you're not interested in understanding the overall theme of the album
then Demonic Death Judge will impress you with the loud and heavy
riffs they have at their disposal. Each song on the album is a major
highlight. As the band build new sounds we haven't heard from before
but they also play familiar sounds from their excellent back
catalogue.
The
band are known for creating epic progressive songs and Seaweed is no
different. As four of the tracks run near the seven minute mark. This
allows the band to add many different effects and sounds. Seaweed is
perhaps Demonic Death Judge's most complete album to date. As the
album has a beginning, middle and an end. Everything fits together to
tell a highly intriguing story that only adds to the hypnotic effect
of the album.
The
production is superb and this is what I always expect from the band.
As they always release a superbly produced record. If Seaweed was
released in 2016 then I would have easily classed this as one of my
top five albums of 2016. It's seriously that good. Seaweed is an
album you cannot ignore. If you're new to the world of Demonic Death
Judge then this album is the best place to start. If you're a
long-time fan then be prepared for their best album to date.
Words
by Steve Howe
Thanks to Demonic Death
Judge for the promo. Seaweed will be available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl
via Suicide Records from January 13th 2017.
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