Release Date: March 01st 2025. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: DD
Cosmic Squid - Tracklisting
1.Run 04:06
2.Icarus 08:06
3.Fall Of The Mantis Star 06:29
4.Burning Sun 05:06
5.Pray The Sun 06:09
6.Shalbatana Vallis 06:24
Review
Cosmic Squid is the debut album from Fuzz/Doom/Stoner Rockers MARS who are inspired by the likes of SLEEP, HIGH ON FIRE and Mars Red Sky. The band names themselves after their hometown of Mars, France. With a sludgy backdrop transforming into a heavier style of Post-Metal, MARS have a domineering bass heavy sound which holds everything together. The vocals have a gruff exterior and delivered with a stern fashion which allows the music to be quite aggressive when MARS play a faster style of music. The opening tracks Run and Icarus offer twelve minutes of MARS projecting a modern day Cosmic/Doom/Stoner Metal sound that is quite volatile especially with the raw sounding production values that’s contained on the album. The music delves into Post-Rock waters at times but MARS at their best when delivering their intense FUZZED out Stoner groove which is boosted by a thick wall of AMPLIFIER sound. There are deft touches of Post-Doom and Post-Stoner attitude which is used in spectacular fashion with the standout second track Icarus. The song has an excellent LOUD vs QUIET dynamic with that pulsating bass line allowing MARS to execute intense Sludge/Stoner Metal instrumental passages. MARS explore a down tuned and distorted style of music which has echoes of Black Sabbath and Electric Wizard at times when the mood becomes quite seedy with the multiple levels of different AMPLIFIER FEEDBACK. With a free-flowing narrative allowing MARS to deliver tales from Space and the further reaches of the Cosmos on tracks such as Fall Of The Mantis Star, Burning The Sun and Shalbatana Vallis. The final track of Shalbatana Vallis is named after an actual water worn channel located on the planet MARS which is quite cool to name a song after this and this is another one of the albums finest tracks. The later stages of the record does become more Post-Metal obsessive with MARS still delving into areas of Doom, Sludge and Stoner Metal. The music even has an excellent “LESS IS MORE” environment with the Ambient sounds being quite grounded before MARS project themselves back into the heavier and aggressive style of music which is where the most exciting moments appear. Cosmic Squid is a superbly realized record with a grounded vision despite the fantastical elements of the record which MARS take complete control and advantage over to deliver an album that’s packed with epic grooves throughout. If you want your COSMIC DOOM with a heavier Post-Metal finish then MARS are the band for you. This is an excellent and superbly entertaining record with MARS delivering some highly original sounds of their own making. Check this out now. You won’t be sorry.
Words by Steve Howe
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