REVIEW: Acid Priest, "Drop Out" [EP]

By: Mark Ambrose

Album Type: EP

Date Released: 05/06/2018

Label: Independent

Like the best psychedelic art they explore the bizarre, the beautiful, the sinister and the sensual all at once and leave your mind reeling.  Strap in, drop out, and follow the Acid Priest to stoner salvation.

“Drop Out” DD track listing

1. Initiation

2. WarWagon

3. The King Tide

4. Let Go

5. EYEZZ

The Review:

My media libraries seem to be inundated with odes to psychedelic explorations – the complete Zap Comix line my shelves next to the midnight movies of Alejandro Jodorowsky abutting mind melting genre writers and the discographies of prolific drug takers too numerous to mention.  But I have to admit up front that for all my rhapsodizing about stoner riffs and psychedelic freakouts, and a less than saintly life in 33 years, I’ve never taken the plunge into LSD.  I’m cripplingly neurotic on my best days and convinced I’ll step into a nightmare vision out of a Beksinski painting the moment I drop acid.  But after listening to the warped, fuzzy, oddly beautiful tunes on “Drop Out”, the church of the Acid Priest may find new lysergic converts.

It’s all about the riffs for these punky metal rockers.  There’s a warm current of Thin Lizzy running through all five tracks of their debut EP, but intro track “Initiation” is like a harmonic blast of golden 70s hard rock.  Guitarist Zakk Mild’s riff is so finely crafted, in fact, that it feels a bit wasted on an intro.  No matter, since there are stellar riffs to spare in the four remaining bangers.  “WarWagon”hinges on a gallop that recalls the early days of NWOHBM – when it still retained a strong crossover appeal to punkers and heshers alike.  Bassist and lead vocalist Spliff Burton doesn’t reinvent the wheel of classic metal bass playing – he lays it out solid and thick, with few frills.  His unique cadence as a vocalist is really something – belting out some snarling lines on this one and sliding into a gothy croon on “Let Go” and “EYEZZ” that feels like some desert rock cranked to 11.  The doomy, stoner outro of “WarWagon”manages to pull of pyrotechnic shreds and ignorant riffs – not an easy feat for seasoned veterans, let alone guys cranking out a debut.  The “King Tide” is steeped in Cali hardcore but way more headbanging than half that shit could aspire to.  Loaded with hooks and equipped with a memorable, shouted chorus, it’s no wonder that this was the band’s first single.

“Let Go” shifts gears from sheer aggression to weirder, sinister tones.  Between Burton’s smoothed out vocals and the reverb-laden guitar lines of the verses make recalls the golden era of stoner metal.  The shuffling rhythms here are key; Steve Kunzel’s drumming is jazzy punked out metal precision that would make Bill Ward proud, and make plenty of modern metal drummers blush from embarrassment at their own double kick monotony.  When the mellow sheen drops, the chaos lurks beneath, and it’s largely because of this percussive dynamic.  The eerie, spacey ending, complete with spoken word poetry, makes it a memorable and oddly affecting track.  The closer “EYEZZ” is another total left field freakout.  Layered with sinister organ playing, monastic chanting, and gothy whispers, I found myself recalling the bizarre Euro-metal outliers of 80s metal, especially Italian creep-doomsters Black Hole, before a hardcore break, followed by some evil prog like the bastard spawn of Deep Purple and “Red” era King Crimson.

If the genre shifts, tempo changeups, and mashup of clean and shouted vocals sound overwhelming… well that’s because it is!  But in a remarkably cohesive, rocking way.  There’s no gimmick at the heart of this trio, just strait up headbanging rock indebted to the classics while not playing the boring game of nostalgia-fueled pastiche.  Like the best psychedelic art they explore the bizarre, the beautiful, the sinister and the sensual all at once and leave your mind reeling.  Strap in, drop out, and follow the Acid Priest to stoner salvation.

“Drop Out” is available here

Band info: bandcamp|| facebook

INSTRUMENTAL INTERPRETATIONS Part VI: Kylver - "The Island"

By: Phil Weller

Album Type: EP

Date Released: 06/10/2016

Label: Independent

An evil and hypnotic concept album that will have your imagination racing.  ‘The Island’ is an encapsulating and fascinating release which heeds new reward upon repeat listens. It is the closest any metal act has gotten to lucid dreaming.

“The Island” CD//DD track listing:

01). The Great Storm Of 1703
02). Hy-Brasil
03).  Monolith
04). The Abyss
05). The Great Race

The Review:

Battered and buffeted by a tempestuous storm, a privateer ship begins to sink beneath imposing clouds and ravenous waves. Hired in 1703 to scout out a mysterious island which is believed to host a portal to another world, Kylver’sepic new concept album ‘The Island’, follows the ship’s sole survivor as he explores the alien landscapes of The Island, having washed up on its ominous shores, with the unnerving feeling of being followed a constant prickling in his senses.   

A picture, they say, can speak a thousand words. But here, through the musical imagery conjured from this band’s unique sound – one characterised by gigantean, whirling Hammondorgan, droning bass and expressive, artisan guitar work – speaks far more than that. Though no words are spoken throughout, the cinematic experience which unfolds, as their progressively lavished doom metal twists and turns like a writhing beast, is powerfully moving.

‘The Great Storm of 1703’, at nearly fourteen minutes does more than just set the scene as it ducks and dives through dynamic peaks and troughs. From Opeth-meets-Mastodoninspired sections, to demented Deep Purple, surreal psychedelia and beyond, the canvases they create in your resolutely racing imagination are vast and vibrant. They work to create an incredibly immersive body of work that not only follows up their debut offering ‘The Mountain Ghost’, which helped secure the band a nomination at the Prog Magazine Awards earlier this year, it proves the band’s class and worth was not a one time only deal. And in such style too.  

‘Hy-Brasil’ is arguably the record’s most imposing and immediate song. It’s thick, gooey sludge tones are played out at a rapid tempo with mescaline tripping organ screams weaving in and out of guttural guitars. The drums carry the thunder of the opening act into a new setting to great effect, closer ‘The Great Race’ meanwhile an evil and hypnotic song, coming across like a perturbed Ghost (BC).

Beautiful and nuanced, their booming sound may replicate the footsteps of giants and ogres, but the intricacy of the guitar and keyboard playing helps make this an altogether more wholesome piece. This is heavy and threatening and elegant and intelligent. So much goes on across every song, with the band drawing graciously from such a feast of influences and techniques, it would take an age to work through this record’s aural treats and surprises in such a methodical way. Just be sure to know that ‘The Island’ is an encapsulating and fascinating release which heeds new reward upon repeat listens. It is the closest any metal act has gotten to lucid dreaming.

“The Island” is available here

Band info: bandcamp|| official