With their third album, the Italians take us on a great mix of heavy stoner with a psychedelic space touch, progressive moments and grunge vibes.
Equations... goes back to the heaviness of the debut - the space-rock atmosphere of the second album moves more into the background.
Live recorded in summer 2020 during the pandemic, the lyrics deal with depression and its relationship to life.
The album kicks off with "It was Time", "Lucifungus-like guitars and vocals that develop their own dynamic. The song is the perfect introduction to what's to come and it only gets better from here.
"Pazuzu" has the first wow effect of the album with hypnotic vocals and a mix of doomy grunge and stoner heaviness. The interaction between Richard Silvaggio (Vocals/Bass), Andrea Ricci & Matteo Signanini's heavy riffing and Pietro Virgilio's drumming is outstanding and proves here that they have perfected their very own sound.
The almost 10-minute title track "Equations for the Useless" puts the brakes on, opens up sound worlds, takes you into psychedelic spheres and shows the band from their space rock side again.
The song just keeps growing and before you drift off completely, huge riff walls build up and it gets back to business.
The most progressive song on the album is simply called "If". The vocal structures even more complex, crooked melodies, more playful, almost tool-like towards the end.
If Alice in Chains (Layne Staley era) wrote stoner rock then it probably sounded like "Downward Spiral". Flawless mix of classic stoner heaviness and calmer psych parts. One of the highlights of the album!
This AiC / early Soundgarden vibe runs through the whole album without becoming too dominant. It remains a heavy psychedelic stoner album that becomes something very special through this interaction.
The heavy stoner kicker "The Protocol" ends this adventurous journey with charismatic vocals and solid riffing. If I were forced to choose a weaker song, I would have to go for this one. However, the others stand out so much because of their fabulous songwriting, that even the weakest song here is still freakin' great.
Released by Heavy Psych Records 2022
-Helge Neumann
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