Wednesday 7 March 2018

Black Rainbows - Pandemonium (Album Review)



Release date: 06th April 2018. Label: Heavy Psych Sounds. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl

Pandemonium – Tracklisting

1. Sunrise
2. High On Hell
3. The Sacrifice
4. Grindstone
5. Supernova & Asteroids
6. Riding Fast Til The End Of Time
7. I Just Wanna Fire
8. The Abyss
9. 13th Step Of The Pyramid

Members

Gabriele Fiori – Guitar & Vocals
Giuseppe Guglielmino – Bass
Filippo Ragazzoni – Drums

Review

Greetings All,

Music, especially underground/indie music, can be weird, especially in regards to discovering new music. I have been given the amazing opportunity to listen to tons of music that without Steve and this awesome adventure he has allowed me to tag along on I would never have found on my own. The situation I often find myself in is that either I am familiar with and in love with a band from what seems like day one, or I completely miss the boat and feel like the oldest, most out of touch dude on the planet.

Sadly, the latter applies to Italy’s killer Black Rainbows. Pandemonium is the bands 6th full length in over 10 years of existence and somehow this is the first I am hearing of them. Dammit, I feel like I have been missing out for the last decade!

If you are in the dark, like I was, Black Rainbows plays an absolutely smokin’ acid soaked, fuzzed out stoner space rock that is addicting to say the least. Pandemonium flies from beginning to end with an up tempo nature that somewhat shields the darker, doom laden lyrics throughout. The album sounds amazing. The recording is top notch and the sound is textured. Black Rainbows enhances the standard guitar, bass, drums and vocals with tons of effect, vocal clips, and organ that add the complexity and dynamic sound.

Black Rainbows roll masterfully from the beginning to the end of Pandemonium. The album kicks in right away with Sunrise, which is full of Fuzzed out, doom-laden swagger. The opening line of “Sunrise, you gotta die..” is tremendous. High to Hell follows with a groove heavy driving beat. It is the perfect track to drive your ’69 deep into the heart of the desert. It leads in to one of my favorite tracks. The Sacrifice is dark, rocking beast that is catchy as hell!

Grindstone is yet another killer track. It brings the heavy before breaking down into a 70’s inspired groove. Supernova and Asteroids is a brief bit of spaced out pop rock. The organ heavy Riding Fast ‘Til the End of Time follows and brings it still. A rather lengthy instrumental intro opens I Just Wanna Fire with it’s phaser heavy riffage keeps the good, dark times rolling.

The Abyss is another amazingly catchy, heavy ass piece of perfection. The riff heavy groove keeps your head above the pessimistic, sinking lyrics. There is also some amazing fret work and killer organ swirl to close out this beast. 13th Step of the Pyramid closes the record with a slightly slower psychedelic groove. The track is heavy on phaser and effects and is a wicked, acid-soaked ending.

Black Rainbows kick around in the same territory as bands like Kadavar, Graveyard, and Fu Manchu. If you are a fan of these bands, then find Black Rainbows. Much like Fu Manchu’s excellent Clone of the Universe, Pandemonium deserves solid consideration for the Stoner/Fuzz rock record of the year. It is amazing that we are only in the beginning of 2018 and we have so much Heavy Fuzzed out goodness to be thankful full. Dig on Black Rainbows, I know I do (now)!

- Todd S

Instagram @alltheghoststhathauntyou

Words by Todd Stealey


Thanks to Claire at Purple Sage PR for the promo. Pandemonium will be available to buy on DD/CD/Vinyl via Heavy Psych Sounds from April 06th 2018.

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