By: Mark Ambrose
Album Type: EP
Date Released: 05/06/2018
Label: Independent
Like the best psychedelic art they explore the bizarre, the
beautiful, the sinister and the sensual all at once and leave your mind
reeling. Strap in, drop out, and follow
the Acid Priest to stoner salvation.
“Drop Out” DD track listing
1. Initiation
2. WarWagon
3. The King Tide
4. Let Go
5. EYEZZ
The Review:
My media libraries seem to be inundated with
odes to psychedelic explorations – the complete Zap Comix line my shelves next
to the midnight movies of Alejandro Jodorowsky abutting mind melting genre
writers and the discographies of prolific drug takers too numerous to
mention. But I have to admit up front
that for all my rhapsodizing about stoner riffs and psychedelic freakouts, and
a less than saintly life in 33 years, I’ve never taken the plunge into
LSD. I’m cripplingly neurotic on my best
days and convinced I’ll step into a nightmare vision out of a Beksinski
painting the moment I drop acid. But after
listening to the warped, fuzzy, oddly beautiful tunes on “Drop Out”, the church of the Acid Priest may find
new lysergic converts.
It’s all about the riffs for these punky metal
rockers. There’s a warm current of Thin Lizzy running through all five tracks of their debut
EP, but intro track “Initiation” is
like a harmonic blast of golden 70s hard rock.
Guitarist Zakk Mild’s riff is so finely crafted, in fact, that it feels
a bit wasted on an intro. No matter,
since there are stellar riffs to spare in the four remaining bangers. “WarWagon”
hinges on a gallop that recalls the early days of NWOHBM – when it still
retained a strong crossover appeal to punkers and heshers alike. Bassist and lead vocalist Spliff Burton
doesn’t reinvent the wheel of classic metal bass playing – he lays it out solid
and thick, with few frills. His unique cadence
as a vocalist is really something – belting out some snarling lines on this one
and sliding into a gothy croon on “Let
Go” and “EYEZZ” that feels like
some desert rock cranked to 11. The
doomy, stoner outro of “WarWagon”
manages to pull of pyrotechnic shreds and ignorant riffs – not an easy feat for
seasoned veterans, let alone guys cranking out a debut. The “King
Tide” is steeped in Cali hardcore but way more headbanging than half that
shit could aspire to. Loaded with hooks
and equipped with a memorable, shouted chorus, it’s no wonder that this was the
band’s first single.
“Let Go” shifts gears
from sheer aggression to weirder, sinister tones. Between Burton’s smoothed out vocals and the
reverb-laden guitar lines of the verses make recalls the golden era of stoner
metal. The shuffling rhythms here are
key; Steve Kunzel’s drumming is jazzy punked out metal precision that would
make Bill Ward proud, and make plenty of modern metal drummers blush from
embarrassment at their own double kick monotony. When the mellow sheen drops, the chaos lurks beneath,
and it’s largely because of this percussive dynamic. The eerie, spacey ending, complete with
spoken word poetry, makes it a memorable and oddly affecting track. The closer “EYEZZ” is another total left field freakout. Layered with sinister organ playing, monastic
chanting, and gothy whispers, I found myself recalling the bizarre Euro-metal
outliers of 80s metal, especially Italian creep-doomsters Black Hole,
before a hardcore break, followed by some evil prog like the bastard spawn of Deep Purple and “Red” era King Crimson.
If the genre shifts, tempo changeups, and mashup
of clean and shouted vocals sound overwhelming… well that’s because it is! But in a remarkably cohesive, rocking way. There’s no gimmick at the heart of this trio,
just strait up headbanging rock indebted to the classics while not playing the
boring game of nostalgia-fueled pastiche.
Like the best psychedelic art they explore the bizarre, the beautiful,
the sinister and the sensual all at once and leave your mind reeling. Strap in, drop out, and follow the Acid Priest to stoner salvation.
“Drop Out” is
available here
