Release Date: September 16th 2023. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: DD.
Interstellar Nomad - Tracklisting
The Infinite
Galactic Jack
Interstellar Nomad
Syzygy
Moondozer
War Eternal
Sea Of Thirst
Members
James Webster - Vocals
Anna KG - Backing Vocals
Bean: Guitars
Glen K: Lead Guitar
Kenny Slessor: Bass
Android: Drums & Percussion
Review
Aussie Psych Doom/Stoner/Sludge Metal collective Astronomie deliver their debut album Interstellar Nomad to the underground masses and it's quite an adventurous FUZZ driven sound with echoes of Grunge, Post-Rock and Ambient textures. The album is vastly progressive with Astronomie expanding upon their Prog Rock/Metal surroundings which is helped by first rate COSMIC storytelling and trippy warped sounds that allow the listener to venture further into the darker depths of the album.
Astronomie surprised myself by adding flashes of classic Heavy Metal and Hard Rock guitar shredding which allows the album to have a bold 1980's solid vibe. With added moments of Ambient Post-Doom textures and classic Sci-Fi inspired lore, fiction and mythology helping the band project a darker cinematic vision you initially expect especially on the opening tracks of The Infinite, Galactic Jack and Interstellar Nomad. It also helps that each song is quite different to each other. There maybe similar sounding grooves but the overall themes and styles can be quite flamboyant and downright original in places which you can hear early on within Galactic Jack and Interstellar Nomad.
The album is perhaps mostly inspired by the 1930's and 1940's Sci-Fi Pulp Novels and TV Series that inspired the Science Fiction landscape for the better. That's not to say Astronomie don't have fun with the storytelling aspect of their album. As they do throughout. The record does have a quirky sense of humour with outlandish grooves to match. There is a sense of demented fun and a kick-ass BOOGIE ROCK swagger to Astronomie and bass heavy sonic manipulation which could easily have came from some of the legendary Cosmic Stoner Metal bands within the last thirty years of the scene alone.
Fourth track Syzygy is more of an interlude or brief rest Astornomie can prepare the listener for more demented sounding Sludge/Stoner Metal grooves with trippy Psychedelic gloomy heaviness and their off-kilter lyrics that sometimes don't make sense but you can't deny how immensely entertaining the whole journey is on the final three tracks of Moondozer, War Eternal and Sea Of Thirst. The instrumental work is impressive yet again with many moments of Psychedelic Freakouts and Sludge Metal heaviness to show a different side to Astronomie. Interstellar Nomad is perhaps more driven by the LOW & SLOW based style of music on the closing stages of the album but that's where the standout riffs appear.
With classic sounding production values allowing Astronomie to become "MASTERS OF THEIR OWN UNIVERSE" on this record. This is quite an exciting and perhaps challenging record but one that always brilliantly entertains despite the overall crazed Spaced Out vision of the whole album. With intense and different sounding RIFFS throughout, Astronomie have delivered the mother-trucking goods here.
Excellent and Highly Recommended.
Words by Steve Howe
Links
BandCamp | Instagram
