King Potenaz's Goat Rider was my number one album of 2023, and I honestly didn’t think they could top it.
I was wrong — so wrong.
Like a sandstorm rising at dusk, King Potenaz emerge from the sun-scorched badlands of Southern Italy with a record that doesn't just hit hard — it haunts. Released on Sweden’s always-reliable riff temple Majestic Mountain Records, Arcane Desert Rituals Vol. 1 is a trip through molten fuzz, creeping doom, and desert-baked psychedelia that feels less like a collection of songs and more like an ancient rite summoned through overdriven amplifiers.
Right from the ritualistic rumble of “Rivers of Death,” the tone is set: low, slow, and heavy as sin. The guitars grind like tectonic plates, the drums swing like a guillotine in slow motion, and the air is thick with the scent of ritual incense and burning tubes. This is doom, sure — but with a distinctly southern psych flavor. Imagine Black Sabbath hitching a ride on a dune buggy through a cursed canyon, stopping only to jam under the glare of a violet sun. That’s the vibe.
Then “The Empty Hand Pt. 1” drops in, turning up the stoner throttle. Wah pedals howl, basslines slither like desert snakes, and suddenly you're transported to some lysergic mirage, where Sleep, Monster Magnet, and Acid Mammoth are all sharing a stage in the middle of nowhere. There’s a jammy looseness to it, but nothing meanders — it moves, it pulses, it commands.
“Sabbatum Sanctum” follows, and if you’re not already deep in the trance, this one seals the spell. A gothic, slow-burning sermon that drips with fuzz and dark ceremony, it’s short by comparison but potent — like a shot of venom straight to the third eye. Frontman Giuseppe Guarini channels something raw and primal here, balancing melody with menace, like a preacher possessed mid-sermon.
But the crown jewel is “Ariadne, The Serpent Witch” — a 13-minute descent into the arcane. It starts as a whisper, an incantation delivered over droning ambiance and shimmering tension. Then guest vocalist Jana Maista (Mater Infecta) steps in with a spectral, hypnotic voice that wraps around your spine. Five minutes in, the ritual erupts: blistering riffs, apocalyptic screams, cymbals crashing like collapsing cathedrals. It’s volcanic. Cathartic. And when the dust settles, you’re not the same.
The beauty of Arcane Desert Rituals Vol. 1 is how organically it flows. The band doesn’t just play doom and stoner — they live it. There’s structure here, sure, but the record breathes like a wild thing. It builds, crashes, and ascends in waves. It’s cinematic without being pretentious, heavy without losing soul. You’re not just listening — you’re being pulled through a psychedelic vortex lined with cacti, bones, and glowing amps.
Forget sophomore slump — this is next-phase evolution. Where Goat Rider showed what King Potenaz could do, Arcane Desert Rituals Vol. 1 shows us what they were always meant to become: torchbearers of a darker, deeper, fuzzier path. Fans of 1782, TONS, Black Rainbows, and Sleep will find plenty to worship here — but don’t get it twisted: King Potenaz are carving their own sigil into the stone.
Vinyl via Majestic Mountain Records
-Helge Neumann
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