Sunday 13 December 2020

Praÿ - Hemerith (EP Review)


Release date: December 04th 2020. Label: Self Released. Format: DD

Hemerith – Tracklisting

1.Faithless Goddess 11:55 
2.Widow Of Light 12:21

Members

Guitar: Maud Gibbons 
Bass: Jason Rols 
Drums: Antoine Berthet-Bondet


Review 

French Instrumental Psych Stoner Rockers Praÿ burst onto the scene in 2018 when they released their superb Heretic Eye (Demo) but the band really turned heads with their acclaimed 2019 self-titled debut album. The album offered 4 tracks that stretched the boundaries of Psych Stoner Rock with a magnificent French flair which only added to the overall heaviness and experience of the album. I never did find the time to review the album but I can redeem myself by reviewing their new EP – Hemerith. 

Hemerith like the bands previous releases offers two epic compositions which sees Praÿ play a blend of Instrumental Stoner Rock bounded by Psych Rock, Doom Metal and good-old fashioned Space Rock just for good measure. 

Opening song – Faithless Goddess – wastes no time in bringing a heavy Doomed Out Guitar Riff to the play and Praÿ start adding little pieces of Doom/Stoner Rock to entice listeners with. The instrumental work is genuinely exciting and creative from the start. There are many different types of HEAVINESS included on this song which allows Praÿ to be more Progressive than you initially expect. The song does become quite Freaky on the later stages and even almost Post-Rock like but it’s the Doom/Stoner Rock parts that makes Praÿ such a great band to chill even meditate to. They know when to slow things down and bring inner-peace to the overall feel of the records before unleashing another round of crushing gloomy riffs. 

Second song – Widow Of Light – starts off in the opposite direction of the previous song with Praÿ playing a more subdued style of Post-Stoner Rock with brief glimpses of Heavy Instrumental Rock. The song is at it’s best when Praÿ play around with their “standard” sound and embrace a more Experimental Flair to their music. Everything becomes more expressive as Praÿ have some WILD TIMES with the music contained on the song. Maybe not as bombastic or heavy as the previous song, this is a different side to Praÿ and makes it the more interesting song on the EP. 

Hemerith is an outstanding record to own even if you’re not a fan of Instrumental music and this allows Praÿ to build their reputation as one of the best Psychedelic Stoner Rock bands coming out of France today. Bold claim, I know. However, the evidence is there waiting to be heard on Hemerith and this record shows why Praÿ are worth giving a damn about. 

Words by Steve Howe


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