Release Date: June 07th 2024. Record Label: Majestic Mountain Records / Interstellar Smoke Records. Formats: DD/Vinyl
Alien Queen: Tracklisting
1. To The Grave (7:46)
2. Sweet Depression (4:54)
3. Dyke Blues (3:22)
4. Bloodred Knight Alright (5:34)
5. Alien Queen (7:13)
6. Jam in C (8:17)
7. The Night Took My Name (5:45)
Band Members
Bobbie - Vocals, Guitar
Jimmy - Drums
Linus - Bass
Review
Swedish Doom/Stoner Metal Power Trio Void Commander return with their third album Alien Queen and it’s a fuzzed Spaced Rock odyssey filled with sludgy guitar tones, classic blues rock sounds and trippy sense of surrealism at times. Moving between the Space Rock sounds of Monster Magnet and bringing a more roots driven style of Stoner Rock this is quite similar to All Them Witches. Though, Void Commander experiments more with their FUZZ PEDAL outlook on this album with tons of sublime reverb and amplifier feedback which comes across superbly well within the early stages of the album on tracks such as To The Grave, Sweet Depression and Dyke Blues.
The lead vocals from Bobbie have a classic Doom/Stoner Rock feel with Linus providing confident backup vocals when the time calls for it. The album does go for a slight detour into Americana or Southern Rock on the stunning second track Sweet Depression which has a wholesome Blues Rock identity. Some very cool sounding harmonica and laid-back guitars lead the way with Void Commander still playing a great style of Psych Stoner Rock along the way.
Third track Dyke Blues continues with that style of music with a Seventies Classic Hard Rock identity coming through with the spiky and rebellious lyrics which shows that Void Commander are bringing a LYNYRD SKYNYRD and AEROSMITH style of music to the album. Some fantastic slide guitars bring an aggressive Blues Rock/Fuzz Rock energy to the party.
The next few tracks of Bloodred Knight Alright, Alien Queen and Jam In C returns to the Cosmic/Stoner Rock threshold with a LOW & SLOW environment allowing the sludgy grooves being played all the way past ELEVEN on the AMPS. Waves of distorted Psychedelic Fuzz appear mostly within these tracks but Void Commander still plays that classic sounding Americana/Blues Rock style of music which becomes vastly atmospheric when the catchy harmonica appears within Alien Queen. The vocals are minimal on this part of the album but appear mostly within Jam in C with the band mostly playing their hearts out with their extended Psychedelic instrumental jams.
The final track The Night Took My Name brings the album to an end in highly dramatic and DOOMED OUT fashion with a killer slow-paced track allowing the band once again to play some epic BLUES ROCK and slightly distorted Cosmic Stoner sounds. The later stages of the track becomes more fast-paced with Void Commander leaving you wanting to hear more from this excellent sonic based journey.
Alien Queen is an excellent album on all levels that should set Void Commander onto the right path into becoming more well known within the Doom/Stoner Metal scene. This is an album full of outstanding tracks brimming with real imagination and intense energy throughout that is expertly produced and allows Void Commander to bring their own great style of Stoner Metal to the scene.
Words by Steve Howe
Thanks to Good Boy PR for the promo.
Alien Queen will be available to buy on DD/Vinyl via Majestic Mountain Records and Interstellar Smoke Records from Friday 07th June 2024.
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