Monday 16 October 2017

Motherslug - The Electric Dunes Of Titan (Album Review)


Release date: October 31st 2017. Label: Self Released. Format: CD/DD

The Electric Dunes Of Titan – Tracklisting

1.Electric Dunes of Titan 02:23
2.Downriver
3.Followers of the Sun 07:47
4.Stoned by the Light
5.Serpents
6.Staring at the Sun 05:13
7.Tied to the Mast
8.Cave of the Last God

Members

Regan: Guitar
Cyn: Bass
Nick: Drums
Cam: Vocals

Review

Aussie Psych Doom/Stoner Metal crew - Motherslug - finally return with their new album. The Electric Dunes Of Titan is good as its huge title suggests. Parts Psychedelic Doom/Stoner Metal with a slight nomadic vibe. The album is a highly confident and sometimes stripped back approach that you don't really hear too often.

Opening track - Electric Dunes Of Titan - is an instrumental doom/stoner rock opus with a haunting sci-fi/space rock edge. Imagine Kyuss jamming their trademark Desert Rock sounds but in the vastness of outer space. The song soon transcends into another warped psychedelic journey through the excellent second track - Downriver.

The vocals of Cam appear adding a more grizzled and earthly feel. They can be quite raw at times but Cam provides a superb performance throughout. The music becomes heavier, dirtier and grungier as time goes by. The instrumental work has a huge sound of its own and that's down to the band playing vintage sounding Desert/Stoner Rock riffs that are given a more cosmic doom metal makeover.

Third track - Followers Of The Sun - does take some time to fully get going. As the band slow the mood right down and the music doesn't really go anywhere until the heavier sounds appear. This allows Motherslug to create a heavier and more vibrant atmosphere. Though I appreciate the band trying to try different things with the album's sound. I did enjoy lead vocalist different style of vocals on this song. As they veer into Heavy Metal territory than your usual Doom/Stoner Metal. Throughout the album, the sound does have a distorted sound on different parts of the album.

The second half of the album sees Motherslug adapt a more doom metal approach to their sound with harsher vocals and desolate riffs becoming the main focus. Songs such as Stoned By The Light, Staring At The Sun and Cave Of The Last God is where Motherslug enhance their already well-deserved reputation. The psychedelic parts of the album come on strongest here with a crunching bass line keeping the whole atmosphere of the album flowing more naturally.

Maybe the lyrics could have done with some more work on certain songs of the album but it's nothing major for the listener or band to worry about. Motherslug do experiment with their music and it's good to see the band creating individual songs that sound very different to each other. The Electric Dunes Of Titan is still a brilliantly entertaining and huge sounding album with Motherslug on fine form from the start.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Curtis at Dewar PR for the promo. The Electric Dunes Of Titan will be available to buy on CD/DD from October 31st 2017.

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