Release Date: August 16th 2024. Record Label: Riot Season Records. Formats: DD/Vinyl
Occult Future - Track Listing:
1.Occult Future 04:48
2.The Circle 08:09
3.The Eternal Mistake 06:18
4.The Adept 06:36
5.The Living Dream 12:59
Line-up:
Otto Juutilainen - Vocals, Synth, Lyrics, Mix, Mastering
Ilkka Vekka - Bass, Electronics, Lyrics, Art
Mike Vest - Guitar
Teemu Vilmunen - Guitar
Ohto Pallas - Drums
Review
Psych/Drone/Doom/KrautRock/Stoner Rock visionaries KALIYUGA EXPRESS return with their new album Occult Future. The record is a heavy and beautifully weird sonic journey inspired by the likes of HAWKWIND, Can and early-era Monster Magnet. This takes a different approach compared to their 2023 debut album Warriors & Masters. The music is more expansive with an aggressive Space Rock sound with the blistering opening track Occult Future reminding me of TAB by Monster Magnet with hallucinogenic hazy vocals from Otto Juutilainen.
KALIYUGA EXPRESS play a mixture of slow paced sounds and faster Prog Rock rhythms where the Droned Out and Space Rock aspect becomes more dominant with a clearer sonic vision building up between the distorted rhythms. The SHAMANIC attitude of the previous album remains the same here with the excellent lyrics and multi-layered vocals that Otto delivers throughout the whole album.
Second track The Circle benefits from a wide range of Sludge Rock and Noise Rock passages with KALIYUGA EXPRESS perhaps wholly focused on the Drone Rock message of this track which manifests into a whole area of Cosmic Rock with mind-inducing Trance based properties. The sound is quite varied but the band fully find their creative groove on this track alone with some of the best instrumental and vocal passages starting to form here which becomes heavier and even weirder on the later stages of the record. The record can be quite nightmarish, creepy and downright freaky which strives for the right balance of Experimental Rock.
Occult Future is perhaps more conventional compared to Warriors & Masters but it's also a more confident affair especially within the next two tracks of The Eternal Mistake and The Adept. The music changes adds small amounts of gloomy Industrial and Electro Rock which gives KALIYUGA EXPRESS another creative world of sound to immerse themselves in. With flashes of euphoric TRANCE movements allows the band to play heavier moments of Psych Rock that has a classic contemporary feel whilst being essentially modern at the same time.
The final track of The Living Dream offers a darker sound with that abstract Industrial theme allowing the band much needed time to explore a 90’s based Trance vision before adding levels of twisted Psychedelic paranoia with frantic shoegaze elements along the way. Otto’s vocals are quite deceiving whilst delivering the nightmarish message of this track. However, it’s peraps the standout track on the whole album and can be quite confusing to hear though KALIYUGA EXPRESS offer no easy answers on Occult Future.
Occult Future is a sublime and intense release from KALIYUGA EXPRESS and I’m quite excited to see what this hugely talented outfit will release next. As I have a feeling it will be another different sounding album with a brilliant sense of surrealism that only they can deliver.
Words by Steve Howe
Occult Future is available to buy now on DD/Vinyl via Riot Season Records.
Links
Riot Season Records BandCamp | Mike Vest BandCamp
