Release Date: May 06th 2022. Record Label: Ripple Music. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl
The Singularity - Tracklisting
Orphans Of The Singe
The Snows Of Banquo IV
Overworlder
The Unraveling
The Witching Chamber
The Singularity
The Oracle
Members
Kent Stump - Guitar/Vocals
Michael Walter - Drums/Percussion/Harmony Vocals
Zack Busby - Bass
Review
Psychedelic Doom/Stoner Metal legends Wo Fat return with their seventh new album The Singularity and these guys are a band who need no introduction. What you always get is stunning Psychedelic Blues, Southern Rock and perhaps Swampedelic grooves. This album is perhaps the craziest offering the guys have released to date with tales of humanity battling artificial intelligence and machines for the future safety of our planet. Perhaps not as crazy as it seems within the real world we currently occupy.
This album is most definitely their most progressive release to date with epic long drawn out Doom based grooves with twinges of Psych Rock, Classic Rock and Stoner Metal reigning supreme from start to finish. The killer artwork by Eli Quinn gives you the much needed inspiration and glimpse on what to expect on this album. The Singularity runs past the seventy minutes mark across seven epic tracks with some running between thirteen and seventeen minutes in length.
Wo Fat are the masters at playing "Swampedelic" within the underground scene. You're fully drawn in from the excellent opening song Orphans Of The Singe with it's bombastic and fantastical lyrics that's levelled off by modern day Psych Doom/Stoner Metal with a slight classic vintage sound that Wo Fat are known for. The song sees Wo Fat maybe take influence from RUSH on this release and you get to hear that new found style of music on this gloriously heavy new track. Throw in a ton of great instrumental solos that last a gloriously fucking long time.
The band keep coming at you with wild out there lyrics and gloriously epic progressive sounds that venture far past the standard rules of Doom/Stoner Metal especially when the Blues Rock fused swamp based atmospherics fully take over. There's also a fine amount of heavy distortion on this album but one that allows the band to fully keep moving with their wonderfully clever creative ideas on tracks such as: The Snows Of Banquo IV, Overworlder, The Witching Chamber and The Oracle.
If you delve further into the lyrical content on this album then you can see Wo Fat have taken hard hitting social issues such as Climate Change, Disinformation and humanity's issues whilst remaining true to themselves within the riffs department.
The Singularity has echoes of many different musical sounds and styles from over the last forty years of Doom/Stoner Metal with everything still feeling remarkably fresh and original.
Boosted by wonderful production and recording values that were handled by Wo Fat lead vocalist Kent Stump at his famed Crystal Clear Sound in Dallas, Texas. With the added bonus of being a Ripple Music release, then you have the recipe for continued success from two iconic sources of the underground music scene,
The Singularity has the potential to be one of the standout Stoner Metal albums of the year and maybe considered a future classic in the making. Yeah, I said it and I stand by every word.
Wo Fat are back with a vengeance and long may that continue.
WOW!!!!
Words by Steve Howe
Thanks to Claire at Purple Sage PR for the promo.
The Singularity will be available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl via Ripple Music from May 06th 2022.
Links
Official | Facebook | BandCamp
