Wednesday 14 December 2016

Demonic Death Judge - Seaweed (Album Review)


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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