Wednesday 10 May 2017

Dustrider - Event Horizon (Album Review)


Release date: May 19th 2017. Label: Argonauta Records. Format: CD/DD

Event Horizon – Tracklisting

1.Warped
2.Cosmo
3.They Live!
4.Fallout Criminal
5.Agartha
6.Stratosphere
7.Event Horizon
8.Ultima IV
9.Dust Devil

Members:

Bruno ‘Brüno’ Bellisario - Guitar
Andrea ‘Keoma’ Romano - Bass
Francesco ‘Krundaal’ Romano - Drums

Review

Dustrider's debut album - Event Horizon - manages to avoid the usual clichéd route and pitfalls of Instrumental Psych Doom/Stoner Rock by offering a fresh perspective on things. Event Horizon creates a more distorted sound as Dustrider take their time in bringing heavy riffs to the party.

Opening track - Warped - is a doomier and psychedelic affair that you weren't possibly expecting. 

The production has a dramatic flair that allows Dustrider to create a sound that is both professionally produced and one that has a DIY based feel. Dustrider add moments of classic Desert/Stoner Rock sound towards the end of the song. As you can tell by the excellent album cover and song titles, Dustrider are heavily influenced by science fact and science fiction in general.

The whole feel album has a more spaced out/apocalyptic feel compared to other Instrumental Stoner Rock bands. I know some people can find Instrumental Rock bands a hard thing to listen to. Not with me as I've grew up on a steady diet of classic Instrumental Rock/Metal bands over the years. Dustrider manage to stand on their own convictions and create their own highly intriguing sound.

Songs such as Cosmo, They Live!, Stratosphere, Event Horizon and Dust Devil is where the band show their most inventive work with heavy psychedelic riffs becoming the main focus of their music. The instrumental work is superb throughout as the band take influence from bands such as Karma To Burn, Monkey3 and other important bands form the instrumental rock/metal scene. 

I've heard a couple versions of this album now. As the band kindly let me listen to the very early rough mixes. The first version I heard wasn't the finished article but I was impressed way back then.
The final version of Event Horizon is a more well-rounded experience as Dustrider have added different sound effects to create a more out of world sound. There are a few progressive parts that I missed from the early demos. One of the standout tracks on the album has to be Fallout Criminal as Dustrider play a more frantic style of Desert/Stoner Rock spliced with spaced out grooves.

With Dustrider being an Italian band it's good to see Argonauta Records releasing this album. Those guys are the perfect fit for each other. Bruno B (Lead Guitars) is a writer here at the blog.

You may think I'm praising this album because of that though I assure you I'm not. Dustrider have created a genuinely exciting album with Event Horizon. it may take some time for the Stoner Rock scene to ""discover"" Dustrider and see what they're all about. I implore you now to take a chance on Dustrider as Event Horizon is a thrilling style of Psych/Stoner Rock that you'll find very hard to beat. If you're a serious fan of Psych/Stoner Rock then I advise you to buy this album now.

Words by Steve Howe

Event Horizon will be available to buy on CD/DD via Argonauta Records from May 19th 2017.