Saturday 10 August 2019

Ecstatic Vision - For The Masses (Album Review)


Release date: September 20th 2019. Label: Heavy Psych Sounds. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl

For The Masses – Tracklisting

1 Sage Wisdom
2 Shut Up And Drive
3 Yuppie Sacrifice
4 Like A Freak
5 For The Masses
6 The Magic Touch
7 Grasping The Void

Members

Doug Sabolik
Michael Field Connor
Kevin Nickles
Ricky Culp

Review

Ecstatic Vision new album – For The Masses – takes the freak-out and psychedelic sounds of Raw Rock Fury and matches it against the Heavy Psych Stoner Rock backdrop that appeared on their celebrated 2015 debut album Sonic Praise.

For The Masses is a more focused album with the band finally settling down for a clearer and more diverse sound. The album is quite compact and doesn’t waste a second within it’s 35 minute run time. Ecstatic Vision blend Psych, Classic Rock, Space Rock, Stoner Rock and Doom Rock for one massive Psychedelic Freak Out that bring back memories of Hawkwind and early-era Monster Magnet.

The production is excellent and the 7 songs on offer show a band who are happy and willing to experiment with every part of their overall sound and still leave you wanting more.

The vocals are quite SHAMANIC in places and have a mad preacher vibe to them. The riffs are built on a wild mix mix of ZEN LIKE CREATIVITY and Stoner Rock Weirdness. This is how a classic Psychedelic Rock album should sound like. Bold, Brave and willing to take risks at every single opportunity.

The album does see Ecstatic Vision play a wide range of different sounds and instruments on this album. Perhaps from their time recording Raw Rock Fury which sounded vastly different to Sonic Praise. It’s good to see the band blend those two different sounds onto this album and still sound vastly different as well.

Standout songs include – Shut Up And Drive, Yuppie Sacrifice, The Magic Touch and Grasping The Void.

Ecstatic Vision have found the perfect home with Heavy Psych Sounds and this albums proves that Ecstatic Vision are one of the smartest, weirdest and most exciting voices within the Psychedelic Rock/Stoner Rock scene today.

Overall, For The Masses is a gloriously hip and fresh sounding album that will rank as one of the best albums of 2019.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Claire at Purple Sage PR for the promo. For The Masses will be available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl via Heavy Psych Sounds from September 20th 2019.

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