By: Victor Van Ommen
Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 15/09/2017
Label: Tee Pee Records |
New Damage Records
“Mature Themes,” the opening track and lead-off single, certainly
showcases a barrage of noise that hits like a barbed-wire baseball bat, but
rather than making miles doing this sludgy-psych thing, Biblical
branches out far and wide, traversing sonic landscapes that are as vast as the
country the band calls home.
“The City That Always Sleeps”
CD//DD//LP track listing
1. Mature Themes
2. The Last Thing I Remember
3. Regicide
4. Fugue State
5. Gallows Humor
6. Spiral Staircase
7. The City that Always Sleeps
8. House of Knives
2. The Last Thing I Remember
3. Regicide
4. Fugue State
5. Gallows Humor
6. Spiral Staircase
7. The City that Always Sleeps
8. House of Knives
The Review
Come on, let’s take a
trip down the heavy-psych highways with Biblical. Their trip
starts in the dirty streets of Toronto, but it doesn’t take long until they’ve
hit the off-ramp and flown out into space. “Mature
Themes,” the opening track and lead-off single, certainly showcases a
barrage of noise that hits like a barbed-wire baseball bat, but rather than
making miles doing this sludgy-psych thing, Biblical
branches out far and wide, traversing sonic landscapes that are as vast as the
country the band calls home.
When taken in front to
back, Biblical’s sophomore outing “The City that Always Sleeps” plays out
as a crafted piece of art that steers clear of a paint-by-numbers psych band. Biblical allow their ideas to flourish in their
songwriting, and the fantastic production and recording – man, listen to those
drums! – makes for an extremely well-rounded record that smoothly brings the
listener across the sludge-psych spectrum of the stoner rock world.
Some parts are psych,
there are even elements borrowed from post-punk, others are sludgier, and
the brash moments are used as points of reference to take off from. The addition
of the piano in the instrumental “Staircase”
brings a little drama to the mix, and how this is pinned up against an
uplifting chorus before a giant crescendo finishes off the song that
exemplifies how Biblical takes control of the experience
they’re providing.
Steady toe-tappers,
fuzzy guitar solos, murky intermezzos, and catchy space rock. It’s all there
and it all makes sense. There’s not much in the way of jams – you know, that
moment when the music takes control – but there’s enough thought and effort put
into presenting a well-rounded record that the jams aren’t missing. There’s
plenty more to get lost in here than what’s on offer in the album’s lead-off
single and you’d be doing yourself a favor by taking 40-some-odd minutes out of
your busy day and let these tunes pick you up and take you away.
“The City That Always Sleeps” is available here
