If you know what song I just blatanty parodied, you're either quite old or you have been digging into the history of silly music and discovered a pearl. If you don't know the song, go to YouTube and search for 'Star Trekkin' by The Firm. It's hilarious. It has absolutely nothing to do with the album I'm about to review but that doesn't matter. So go ahead and enjoy 'Star Trekkin' and come back soon to read the rest of this review and buy the album.
At least, if you're into a heavy psychedelic stoner sound which sounds as vintage and crushing as possible. Space Fisters from Cranves-Sales, France are pleased to present their 'Vol 1', a 36 minutes lasting tribute to the mighty power of the riff. Yet, this trio has a lot more hidden in their sleeves, making this album one immense jamsession, combining blues, hard rock and doom metal into a psychedelic trip.
The songs are very complex, constantly changing tempo and intensity without ever losing the vintage hard rock sound. Sure this can be compared to bands like Sleep, Melvins, Black Sabbath and Kadavar, or something in between, but the complexity of the songs somehow also remind me of a progressive metal band like Opeth or Pain Of Salvation. The four songs on this album breathe both the typical stoner sound and the tendency to experiment with their instruments.
What strikes me most on this album, is the tremendous live feel. This might as well be a recording from a fantastic on-stage performance. All the necessary elements are present: groovy riffs, slow build-ups, crushing outbursts of distortion, psychedelic guitar solos , a great voice and a healthy sense of humour. What else could you possibly need for a strong gig, right?
My absolute favorite track is closer 'Bozz', an epic piece of music, combining all of the above with lengthy instrumental improvisations and guitar solos. Here too I'm reminded of a non-stoner rock band, namely The Doors. When I close my eyes and imagine the live performance again, I can see a big part of the audience getting in a state of blissful trance, dancing like drugged-out hippies, trying to grasp the sound to take it home with them.
Well, you can take this home with you and quite frankly, you should. This is about as close as you can get to the original sound of the seventies while maintaining a loud, in-your-face kind of bulldozering sound. Space Fisters (I didn't make a dirty joke about their band name yet, how awesome is that?) delivered bigtime with 'Vol. 1'. If their as convincing on stage as on LP/MP3/CD, I can see a great future for these guys.
Serge
("there's stoners in the backstage now, backstage now, backstage now, there's stoners in the backstage now, fuzzing up their amps")