When I switched to vinyl in 2013, I gave a lot of thought to
what my first purchase would be. I spent many hours scouring over heavy music
on Bandcamp, Youtube and Soundcloud, and ultimately I landed on the freshly
released Vol. II by Spelljammer from STB Records. The long, monolithic songs
beckoned to me and I was excited to finally get that first vinyl into the
collection.
Little did I know, the Spelljammer was a hard sell out and I
would have to wait nearly three months to find a copy. I ended up snagging the
All Them Witches debut, Our Mother Electricity as my first wax, but I remained
deeply interested in the stoner/doom/sludge DIY scene and the amazing quality
that is available from small labels like STB.
Flash forward a year, and STB is still at it. Now, with
eight releases under their belt, and a determined commitment to feed profits
into future releases, the label is better than ever, and so is the music.
Recently, I got a chance to spin a pre-release vinyl of the
forthcoming Psychache from Hamden,
Connecticut trio Curse The Son
and I was thrilled to crack it open and see a beautiful tri-colored vinyl
inside the creepy, black and white cover art. I plopped it down onto the trusty
Pro-ject and what poured forth was a delectable slurry of shuddersome, majestic
doom. Atmospheric, macabre and wonderfully menacing doom.
The album is filled with droning, heavy tracks highlighted
with alluring tempo changes, bludgeoning riffs and revenant-esque vocals.
Indeed, the entire production has an eerie revenant feel to it, and formidable
tracks such as Spider Stole The Weed and Goodbye Henry Anslinger will have you
reaching for your best bong and begging the incorporeal vibe to wash over you
like a thick cemetery fog.
STB Records is releasing this vinyl in three distinctive
versions, including the sexy tri-color black/white/grey version I reviewed
limited to 125 copies, a clear, blood splattered with OBI version limited to 100 and a
diehard edition with custom patch sporting a creamy bone and black blood
splatter limited to 75. Each goes on sale promptly at 12pm EST, Saturday, July 26th.
While Psychache is surely no concept album, it gives
the listener the same feeling that souls of the newly deceased must have
experienced as Charon ferried them across the fabled river Styx.
Climb into the blackened craft of madness and let them steer you along your own
dreadful journey, my friends. It's a frothy ride of pure hedonistic pleasure.
- Oldfatbroke
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