Various Artists: Heavy Psych Sounds Records - Volume iv

Heavy Psych Sounds Records is a music label based out of Rome, Italy. It was founded in 2007 but to my knowledge I have not reviewed any of its artist roster before. This is a review of their sampler Volume IV, released in 2019. There are sixteen tracks, each from a different band so you really get a good representation of what this label is all about but I suppose the name says it all. Heavy psychedelic rock, stoner, doom, sludge, space…you get the picture. As I like to say, the more fuzz the better and you get a lot of it spread over sixty-seven minutes of music.

The disc kicks off with “Chocolatize� courtesy of Brant Bjork, who you might know from the stoner rock band Kyuss as he was the founding member of that band. It’s a catchy mid-tempo offering with thick fuzzy riffs, solid lead vocals and heavy bass work. An excellent start to the album. Next up is the hard rock psych band Crypt Trip and their excellent song “Wordshot�, taken from their album Haze Country. The pedal steel adds a hint of country, albeit very dream-like with psychedelic undercurrents, some tricky chord progressions, changing tempos and rock solid bass work. The lead vocals are superb as well. In case you are a little too comfortable after listening to the first two tracks it’s time to be assaulted by the Dead Witches’ track “Fear The Priest�, and it’s an absolute scorcher. The bludgeonly heavy riffs are pure evil, perfectly suited for the lyrics describing demonic possession. After nine plus minutes you will be certain to have your doom metal fix satiated and in a very powerful way. Another band I have never heard is the Dutch trio Dzjenghis Khan and their tune “End Of The Line�. It’s a solid psychedelic hard rock track with addictive chord progressions and lead vocals out of the Hendrix song book. The galloping riffs in the heavy and melodic “Heart Of The Sun� by Duel is another excellent tune. The lead vocalist is outstanding, very tuneful and powerful.

That’s the first five tracks and all are excellent. The rest of the disc is just as strong. I urge anyone interested in psychedelic rock music and related genres to check out some of these great bands.

Track Listing:
1. Brant Bjork - Chocolatize
2. Crypt Trip - Wordshot
3. Dead Witches - Fear The Priest
4. Dzjenghis Khan - End Of The Line
5. Duel - Heart Of The Sun
6. Ecstatic Vision - Troublemaker
7. Fv22 Popvli - And Let It Die…
8. Glitter Wizard - Spell No Evil
9. High Reeper - Eternal Leviathan
10. Little Villains - What On Earth
11. Nebula - Whalefinger
12. Nick Oliveri - 976 Whore
13. Oreyeon - Ode To Oblivion
14. The Pilgrim - Peace Of Mind
15. The Sonic Dawn - Forever 1969
16. Yawning Man - Catamaran

Added: August 11th 2020
Reviewer: Jon Neudorf
Score:
Related Link: Label's Offical Site
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Language: english

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