Thursday 19 April 2012

TalismanStone - LOVECRAFTOPOLIS Review


TalismanStone are an Experimental Sludge/Stoner Metal Band from Italy

The members are:

Erica Bassani: vocals and 4 strings bass guitar
Andrea Giuliani: vocals, 5 strings bass guitar and sitar
Lucia Centolani: drums and tabla 

TalismanStone play a highly original blend of Sludge, Stoner, Drone, Doom mixed with mystical eastern ambient sounds. Plus this band doesn’t play with any guitar. Just two bassists and a drummer.

They have just released their epic 2nd album – “LOVECRAFTOPOLIS”. A 4 song album that runs for a mind-expanding 48 minutes.

This is an album that isn’t going to be liked by everyone. Just a certain few of us who have the time to listen to the brilliant original songs on show. It’s not an easy album to listen to. But if you have the patience to do so you will be richly rewarded at the end.

The album is expertly produced and performed by all involved. You can’t deny that Talismanstone are brilliant musicians as they are. They play some of the most intricate and most haunting experimental music I have heard all year.

If your into Sunn O))) Earth and Jex Thoth then you going to dig this album. Throw in a few Stoner Rock vibes but with mystical Eastern vibes then you have this album nailed town to a fine art. They have been called The White Stripes of Doom and Roll. And that is not a far off accurate description.

The vocals are superb through out. A great mix of clean and hardcore based vocals. The vocals are handled by the talented ladies Erica and Andrea of TalismanStone. They even manage to include some pretty cool Hardcore/Death Metal based growls.

Track Opener – “By The Sun Of The LightKeeper” sets the scene for this dark and gloomy slow burning epic album. A 7 minute plus into the darker side of Experimental Sludge/Stoner Rock that will have you hairs standing on end.

If you don’t like the first song then you’re not going to like the rest of the album. As it’s pretty much the same vibe all the way through. Right upto the 18 minute epic title track.

The album has a lot of great sounds and ambient drone noises to throw the listener off course at times but that is part of the albums highly original charm. I love albums like this that challenges the listener’s perspective of music itself. And TalismanStone are masters at this.

It’s hard to describe in words how I feel highly about this album. Yeah it took me a couple of listens to get the overall feel to it but once I did I never looked back. I think this is a brilliant collection of songs from another outstanding band coming from Italy.

If you want a fast-paced album then this ain’t it. But if you want something a little bit crazy, a little bit creepy but altogether original then I can’t recommend this brilliant album highly enough.

Simply a masterclass of Experimental Rock. Highly Recommended.

You can buy “Lovecraftoplis” from all good stockists now.

Check This Great Band Below.