By: Charlie Butler
Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 01/04/2016
Label: Solar Flare
Records
Bardus
go straight for the jugular with “Smoke Bath
“Stellar Porta” CD//DD
track listing:
1. Smoke Bath
2. Monolith
3. Sky King
4. Transcendence
5. Haze
6. Oracle
7. Clandestine
2. Monolith
3. Sky King
4. Transcendence
5. Haze
6. Oracle
7. Clandestine
The Review:
With
its trippy, mushroom-based cover art and track titles like “Haze” and “Transcendence”, “Stella
Porta” sets certain expectations. The latest LP from Philadelphian trio, Bardus
definitely delivers a far-out ride but not in the stereotypical stoner rock
fashion you may have in mind.
Bardus go straight
for the jugular with “Smoke Bath”, a
ragged adrenaline rush, like Nirvana tearing through early Kylesa.
They proceed to hone this combination of filthy grunge and gut-churning sludge
to perfection over the course of the album. Justin Tuck’s raw howl is a key
ingredient, imbued with an intensity that heightens the urgency of the band’s
already frenzied assault.
This
alone would be a sweet recipe for success but Bardus raise the stakes with
frequent outbursts of acid-fried psychedelia. “Monolith” shifts from hard riffing into a delay-soaked voyage into
the beyond, to mind-melting effect, while the band demonstrates all their
strengths simultaneously on the spaced-out racket of “Oracle”. If the idea of Yob having their drinks spiked with
amphetamines appeals to you, “Stella
Porta” will be right up your street.
Bardus manage to
pull off the difficult balance of high-octane punk aggression and unchained
cosmic jams to perfection. A swift, addictive rush of all the best elements of
heavy music, “Stella Porta” is sure
to keep you coming back for more throughout 2016.
