Release Date: September 27th 2024. Record Label: Blues Funeral Recordings. Formats: CD/DD/Vinyl
Everything Fades - Track Listing:
1. Null Geodesic
2.Everything Fades
3.Swansong
4.We Breathe Darkness
5.Dinosaur
6.Trepidation
7.Clearmountain
8.Bellwether
9.Flight of the Heron
Members
Steve Schmidlapp - Bass
Ricardo Sanchez - Drums
Mike Chavez - Guitars
Jadd Shickler - Vocals
Review
Everything Fades is the new album from Psych/Fuzz/Stoner Metallers Blue Heron who blew my mind with their 2022 debut album Ephemeral which was down to their blend of trippy and fuzzed up Stoner Metal passages that even showed a murkier side to the Doom/Stoner Metal sound. The new album follows a similar path but is more compact compared to their debut release. As Blue Heron gets straight down to business of playing sonic inducing Psychedelic Fuzz with small amounts of Space Rock within the opening track Null Geodesic.
The music is more aggressive, abrasive and with Blue Heron exploring the sludgiest outlines of Cosmic Doom and Stoner Metal in general. The album still has echoes of classic sounding Desert Rock and Fuzz Rock which is told through epic sounding instrumental jams and sludgy progressive rhythms that the band deliver in style within the albums early tracks of Null Geodesic, Everything Fades and Swansong.
With inspiration from bands such as KYUSS, FU MANCHU, Monster Magnet and Clutch being used once again but with Blue Heron adding a hazier and seedier style of modern day Stoner Rock/Metal which is perhaps due to their hometown surroundings of Albuquerque, New Mexico being a main factor for some of the heaviest and atmospheric sounds throughout the whole album.
Jadd Shickler’s undeniable vocals have quite the soulful presence with a grittier determination compared to Ephemeral. With intense musical delivery from Mike Chavez, Ricardo Sanchez and Steve Schmidlapp once again though channelling a definitive “LESS IS MORE” delivery within their musical passages which gives Blue Heron a different atmospheric style that I didn’t originally anticipate especially on the heaviest tracks such as: Swan Song, We Breath Darkness, Clearmountain and Bellwether.
Everything Fades can be quite topical in places and remarkably earnest within the Post-Stoner surroundings of the record where Blue Heron showcase a simpler storytelling side to their music which allows them to become better songwriters as a result. With the album becoming quite obsessive with the DOOM & GLOOM aspect on the later stages of the record.
This allows Blue Heron to easily avoid the dreaded SOPHOMORE SLUMP with an emotionally charged and a truly breathtaking style of down-tuned WEEDIAN magic that allows Everything Fades to be considered another unmissable and EPIC sounding release from this great band.
Words by Steve Howe
Thanks to Purple Sage PR and Blues Funeral Recordings for the promo.
Everything Fades will be available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl via Blues Funeral Recordings from Friday 27th September 2024.
Links
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