Methadone Skies - Spectres At Dawn (Album Review)

Release Date: October 25th 2024. Record Label: Haywire Records. Format: Cassette/CD/DD/Vinyl

Spectres At Dawn - Track Listing:

1.To No Avail

2.'87 via '94 

3.Mano Cornetto 

4.Thrill Estate

5.Sheryl Low

6.Use the Excessive Force

Members

Alexandru Wehry - guitar

Casian Stanciu - guitar, E-Bow

Mihai Guta - bass

Flavius Retea - drums, percussion, keyboards

Review

Spectres At Dawn is the sixth album from Romanian Post-Rock Heavyweights Methadone Skies who also celebrate their fifteenth anniversary as a band with this huge sounding release. This is perhaps weighing more into their Post-Metal persona than the earlier surroundings of Post-Rock the band first made their names with. Though, the band never forgets their roots with a mix of Psych Rock, Doom Metal, Stoner Metal and Progressive Rock themes allowing this to be Methadone Skies most expressive and heaviest album to date.

The album captures all the standout instrumental sounds that have made Methadone Skies one of the most interesting Instrumental Post-Rock bands within the underground scene. They never release the same album twice with the band trying new areas of music with each passing release and Spectres At Dawn is no different. The sound is always progressive and quite deceptive with the different amounts of instrumental rock/metal that the band employs here. 

Opening track To No Avail is a collection of heavy progressive jams told through areas of Post-Rock, Post-Metal and Psych Rock with a thrilling Doom/Stoner perspective allowing Methadone Skies to weave a cinematic style of storytelling which is used throughout the whole album. Areas of Ambient Rock, Space Rock and heavier Sludge Rock guitars allows a menacing METALLIC presence to appear in the least unexpected places but gives another level of heaviness when you least expect it.

The next two tracks ‘87 via 94 and Mano Cornetto expands that style of Cinematic Post-Rock further with a haunting Ambient score with Methadone going full-on HEAVY METAL with gloomier soundscapes being quite cathartic at times. Shades of Russian Circles and Pelican can be heard but with Methadone Skies being more STONER obsessed which once again sees the band create highly original instrumental music of their own making especially on tracks Mano Cornetto, Thrill Estate and Use The Excessive Force. 

The second half of the album becomes quite GROOVE orientated with Methadone Skies also operating with a more expressive style of Progressive Metal with stunning Spaced Out textures keeping everything real and grounded. There’s a hidden aspect of Droned Out Rock which allows Methadone Skies to play with an air of mysticism to their overall sound. 

Methadone Skies have delivered the goods yet again with Spectres At Dawn being their most emotionally rewarding and brilliantly entertaining record to date.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Sheltered Life for the promo. 

Spetres At Dawn will be available to buy on Cassette/CD/DD/Vinyl via Haywire Records from Friday 01st November 2024.

Links

Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

Romanian Post Rockers METHADONE SKIES Return with New Album and Video

Formed in Timisoara, Romania, 2024 finds instrumental rock titans Methadone Skies celebrating their fifteenth year around the sun with the release of their sixth studio album, Spectres at Dawn.

Due for release this October on their own imprint, Haywire Records, their latest forty-minute foray into the realms of heavy psych, doom, and prog, pushed the key tenets of underground rock through the stratosphere. Offering up post-rock landscapes, stoner grooves and sonic concepts, Methadone Skies have cut the formula of previous releases with a more direct, hyper intense focus on shorter, punchier bouts of uncompromising sound. As Metal Storm put it best, “If you’ve ever wondered what post-metal would sound like if it developed from stoner metal instead of sludge metal, Methadone Skies clearly share your fascination.”

To herald their return the band is thrilled to share a brand-new video. Directed by Flavius Retea and Alexandra Dragu (AKA Eclecticat Design) ‘) ‘’87 via ’94’ is an aural vortex of big riffs and swirling raves, and the first single to be lifted from Spectres at Dawn.

“It was actually the first song we put together for this album,” explains guitarist Casian Stanciu. “We’ve played it live for a couple of years and it’s always fun for us. It’s catchy so it always gets the audience dancing. The video however takes a 180 degree turn on this vibe and follows a person fed up with his corporate 9-to-5 job. He ultimately has a nervous breakdown. It was fun to film.”

Having played over two hundred shows with acts like Samsara Blues Experiment, Motorpsycho, Yawning Man, My Sleeping Karma, Stoned Jesus and 1000MODS, and taken in several festivals across Central and Eastern Europe (Doom Over Vienna, Lake on Fire, Thulsa Doom Fest) Methadone Skies will also embark on a tour in support of Spectres at Dawn, dates for which can be found below.

Spectres at Dawn is released 25th October 2024 on Haywire Records and can be pre-ordered here. 

Watch the video for new single ‘’87 via ’94’ by Methadone Skies here or below:

TOUR:

26th October – Escape Hub, Timisoara (w. Valerinne, Black Water)
20th November – Quantic Pub, Bucuresti (w. Valerinne, Black Water)
21st November – Love Bar, Sibiu
22nd November – Flying Circus, Cluj-Napoca (w. The Thirteenth Sun)
30th November – Rockstadt, Brasov (w. Black Water)

Links

Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Linktree

Thanks to Sheltered Life PR and Methadone Skies for all of the details.

Methadone Skies Premiere New Video For THE ENABLER

Romanian psych doom and post-rock act METHADONE SKIES, who are set to release their fifth studio album, Retrofuture Caveman, on May 7th 2021.

To get you in the mood for the new album you can listen to this new song THE ENABLER from the new album

You can pre-order the album here. 

Links 

Facebook | Bandcamp

Methadone Skies - Different Layers Of Fear (Album Review)

Release date: May 10th 2019. Label: Haywire Records. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl

Different Layers Of Fear – Tracklisting

1.Where Were You When We Were Into the Void?

2.God Help Us All

3.Focus

4.Contra

5.Ol' Painless

6.A Glitch in the Sun

7.Manos

Members

Wehry - Guitar

Casian - Guitar

Mihai - Bass

Retea - Drums

Review

Methadone Skies new album - Different Layers Of Fear - is perhaps their most engaging and heaviest album to date. The band play a darker, bolder and progressive style of Instrumental Stoner Rock/Metal compared to their previous albums. Methadone Skies don't shy away from creating complex sounding rhythms throughout the course of the album.

Taking influence from bands such as TOOL, Pelican and Russian Circles on this album. This sees the band adapting a more Post-Rock/Post-Metal influence to their music and this allows Methadone Skies to play styles of music that I haven't heard them play before. With this being their fourth album to date, the band needed to change things round and that's why you can hear elements of Ambient Doom, Post-Rock and Post-Metal merged with their standard Stoner Rock/Metal sound.

Different Layers Of Fear maybe slightly too long running over seventy minutes but at least there is plenty of music to keep you entertained and mentally stimulated for a long to come.

Standout songs on the album include - Where Were You When We Were Into The Void, God Help Us All, Focus, Of Painless, A Glitch In The Sun (which features guest vocals from one of my favourite singers – Davide Straccione of ZIPPO and Shores Of Null fame). and Manos. As this is where Methadone Skies impress the most with their different styles of Progressive Rock/Metal. The whole album has a truly cinematic feel especially when the more experimental and ambient sounds appear.

Glitch In The Sun is perhaps my favourite song on the album as the vocals are quite emotional and feel inspired by David Bowie in places. The music can be quite uplifting before the band bring everything crashing down and start playing a gloomier style of music. This can be said for all of the songs held on the album.

The production is first-rate with Methadone Skies proving what fantastic musicians they actually are. Different Layers Of Fear is a beautifully played and highly intelligent album that you rarely hear these days. Overall, Different Layers Of Fear is one of the best instrumental rock/metal albums of the year.

Words by Steve Howe

Links:

Facebook | BandCamp

Methadone Skies Announce New Album - Different Layers of Fear - And Premiere New Song With MANOS

Methadone Skies are an independent, psychedelic rock quartet from Timisoara, Romania. Active since 2009, the group has released 3 full length records and one EP so far. Each affair shares its own musical direction, often leaning into post rock, stoner, doom metal and/or progressive territories. There were never any boundaries set, so each album is the sum of various influences and constant jamming. 2019 also marks the 10th anniversary of the band and the best way to celebrate it is by playing gigs and unveil new music.

Thus, on May 10, 2019, the band will release their 4th studio album, Different Layers of Fear through their own imprint, Haywire Records as 2LP, CD and DD. Featuring 7 songs that stretch over 72 minutes, this is undoubtedly the most diverse and grandiose effort so far. From post rock, psychedelic, progressive, stoner to doom, these songs represent everything Methadone Skies is about without losing the sonic identity.

Different Layers of Fear was recorded at Consonance Studio in Timisoara in October - December 2018 by Edmond Karban, Cristian Popescu & Andrei Jumuga (all members of dordeduh, Sunset in the 12th House), then mixed and mastered by James Plotkin at Plotkinworks in December 2018 - January 2019. Additional keyboards and synthesizers were added by Marius Muntean (The Thirteenth Sun, Black Water) and on ‘A Glitch in the Sun’, the band collaborated for a second time with Davide Straccione (Zippo, Shores of Null), who recorded vocals for the song (his first featuring was on ‘Tatabong’ from Eclectic Electric, released in 2014). The illustrated artwork & layout were done by Mihai Manescu (Obsidian Nibs). 

To get you into the mood for the new album you can listen to an Exclusive Song Premiere of their superb new single - MANOS - from their upcoming new album.

Tracklisting:

Where Were You When We Were Into the Void
God Help Us All
Focus
Contra
Ol’ Painless
A Glitch in the Sun (feat. Davide Straccione)
Manos

Methadone Skies toured different areas of Europe and played festivals such as Lake on Fire, Exit Festival, Revolution Festival, Pietrasonica Festival, Tube Cult Festival, E-Lite Culture, Rockt den See, Robustfest among others, sharing the stage with renowned acts like Samsara Blues Experiment, My Sleeping Karma, Motorpsycho, Yawning Man, Belzebong, Stoned Jesus, 1000MODS, Toner Low and many more. 

This Spring they will embark on a Romanian mini-tour, as well as a string of shows in Hungary, Serbia, Germany and Austria. More will follow.

Methadone Skies are:

Wehry – guitar
Mihai – bass
Retea – drums, percussion
Casi – guitar, E-bow

Links:

https://methadoneskies.bandcamp.com
https://soundcloud.com/methadone-skies
https://www.facebook.com/MethadoneSkies/

Methadone Skies - Colosseus (Album Review) and Exclusive Song Premier - The Elemental

Release date: April 04th 2016. Label: Haywire Records. Format: Cassette/CD/DD/Vinyl

Colossseus – Tracklisting

Moscufu

The Elemental

Ruse

Colosseus

Master Of Convulsions

Band Members:

Alex Wehry – guitars

Flavius Retea – drums, percussion

Mihai Guta – bass

Raul Stanciu – guitars, banjo

Review:

Romania's Methadone Skies have been making a name for themselves over the past few years in under found music circles, not only with their stunning live performances but also releasing three excellent albums in 2014s Eclectic Electric and 2012s Enter The Void and their debut Explosions Of The Sun from 2010 and you can now add their new album Colosseus to that list, an all encompassing album that builds upon their previous work and takes it to the next level, such is the monolithic nature of the album.

This is an epic album of the highest order, a stunning mix of psychedelic progressive jams, heavy as thou doom riffs and blurry shoegaze elements. The amalgamation between melody, atmosphere and out and out heaviness is joyful and the whole album is hypnotic throughout, to the extent that listening to Colosseus is a musical experience that you rarely find.

Picking out a track as a particular highlight from Colessus is a tricky one as you really need to listen to the entire album from start to finish to properly immerse yourself in the Methadone Skies groove as the album as a whole is such a powerful piece of work, however I will say that there has to be a special mention reserved for The Elemental, a breathtaking song that is the very definition of the word powerful. The album as a whole though, should be consumed from beginning to end as you let the sound annihilate your thoughts and take over your brain, the sound keeps on building and building, creating a pressure that is released in the most brilliant way possible. This is music for the soul, at times achingly beautiful and joyful but at others crushingly heavy and harrowing but when it comes down to it, Colosseus is never anything less than all encompassing.

This is an album that you will not forget in a hurry and will be not only a joy when played live but also an unforgettable encounter Miss Methadone Skies at your peril, this is an experience that once heard, will never be forgotten.

Words by Gavin Brown

Thanks to Methadone Skies for the promo. Colosseus will be available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl from Haywire Records from April 4^th 2016.

With the band being the cool awesome guys that they are, they have let ourselves premier the brilliant song - The Elemental - from Colosseus. 

Or you can watch the video for The Elemental below as well.

Links

Facebook | BandCamp