Portland, Oregon's Hippie Death Cult return with their latest full-length release Helichrysum, and with keyboard player & lead vocalist Ben Jackson leaving the band, bassist Laura Phillips has now assumed the singer role as well. With this, the band haven't missed a beat, as Laura sounds terrific as the band's new voice, and along with guitarist Eddie Brnabic and drummer Harry Silvers, Hippie Death Cult have turned into a potent psychedelic doom power trio. Helichrysum bumps and grinds, sways and pulverize, across seven new songs that bring to mind a marriage of vintage Black Sabbath, Jefferson Airplane, and on the recent side, Lucifer. Laura has more than a little of both Grace Slick and Johanna Sadonis, and she absolutely wows on the bluesy, psychedelic, and quite heavy "Shadows", saddling up next to Eddie's awesome, Tony Iommi inspired riffs and solos. Dip into the trippy, retro sounds of "Better Days", the lumbering "Red Giant" (now that's how you lay on some thick guitar & bass riffs folks!), the steamrolling "Toxic Annihilator", and the crushing doom of both "Arise" and "Nefelibata". Harry's rumbling, tribal drumming is the perfect accompaniment to the heavy psych sounds of closer "Tomorrows Sky", which is also another great vehicle for Laura's intoxicating vocals.
Not a weak track to be found here, and honestly, any band that wants to perfectly blend doom and psychedelic rock needs to use this as the blueprint. Outstanding!
Track Listing
1.
Arise 06:02
2. Shadows 05:52
3. Better Days 06:40
4.
Red Giant 04:47
5.
Toxic Annihilator 03:22
6.
Nefelibata 07:23
7.
Tomorrows Sky 06:28
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