Into ‘Lucifer’s Doorway’ suggests Hell has frozen over in awe of the complexities that follow:
‘Evil Hand’ has a doom sound rooted in the 70s that equally sounds fresh as a daisy and sometimes surprisingly light as a feather to boot, elevated not only by the vocals sitting eerily perfect at the top of the music, but also the intricate solos that hedonistically wind through the epic and expansive melodies to create a compelling and contemplative swirl.
‘Warlock’s Eye’ opens as a rampaging stoner anthem bonged out its tree before dropping a tab and morphing into fuzzy psychedelic ecstasy reminiscent of Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso U.F.O.. It’s rollicking ever rampant pace in places Iron Maiden-esque while elsewhere evident is the prog rock styling of genre legends Rush.
The album has phenomenal strength of depth, an exquisite song composition and musicianship that makes it almost impossible to review such is the compelling pull as particularly found on ‘Devil’s Gate’ that insists on absorbing the listener into the sound to numb with audio bliss and lead to an almost comatose Zen state. A sound converse for being rooted in the Earth and feeling comfortable for it, flowing with the familiarity of an early Black Sabbath album, while just the vocals alone, never mind the soaring solos, elevate Sloth to a place of its own.
‘Interlude’ is exactly that; a brief moment of rich acoustic guitar captured beautifully to represent the production and mix quality found across the album.
‘Beyond’ also lives up to its name, methodical and pounding drums underpinning a gradual assent through unsettling vocals into free flowing cosmic winds: no dress code though a bong might be required. Face melting with intensity as it rides the edge of the sun, surfing smooth and slow, before swinging right on round back to Earth again.
‘Slow Burn’ is a true rock n roller, remaining firmly set in everything doom Sloth has been to this point, but simultaneously ripping it up for every drop of psychedelic juice that can be squeezed from the sound.
Coming in as the longest track of the album at 9:07 it’s also brimming with sombre moments containing the power to make any thought seem not only the most poignant, but also of being stirred from long ago having somehow been forgotten despite its importance, the coldness of guilt briefly pricking the skin for such a thing slipping from mind; apt in that the album carries a deep sense of déjà vu, as though a great classic heard many years ago and then unforgivably forgotten, until the crisp vocals remind it’s very much new and only sounds timeless because of how phenomenally considered and cultivated Sloth has so painstakingly been in putting this work together.
Sloth:
- Ariel Pang- Guitar / Vocals / Psychic Spells
- Justin Wan- Guitar / Crypt Keeper
- The High Priest of the Oak- Bass Guitar / Resonance
- Andrew Ahn- Drums / Percussion / Space & Time
Recorded at Magick Circle Studio in Pasadena, CA in 2023.
Mixed & Mastered by Alex Pojda at Holodeck Studios in Oldenburg, Germany.
Artwork and CD layout The High Priest of the Oak and The High Priestess of the Willow.
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Thanks for reading 🙂
N. P. Ryan
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