Astral Magic- Dance of Destiny (ASTRAL051, 2025)

This is album is going back to the early roots of Astral Magic with Santtu playing all the instruments (guitar, bass, synths, vocals, drum programming) except a MOOG solo on track 2!  The album features a nice intro piece before kicking into the heavy space rock of the title track.  One of the heavier riffs to appear on an AM record in a while. A slightly different singing style as well for Santtu. Great track. Distortion in Space Time is an instrumental over 8 mins and a nice space rocking track as well. Uptempo, melodic, more complex drums and then the master Hawkwind like riff and organ kicks in and fades out as you head off into another realm. We Plunge into Chaos slowly builds up after the opening solo. A nice laid back vocal on this mid paced melodic track, reminds me of Dark Sun, Santtu´s old band. Transmission Psi is a short synth interlude with some spoken words leading into another 8min epic, Slumber of the Ancient Ones. 

It is a slow one with a cautious vibe. It slowly builds and evolves with a lot of keyboard solos as it creates this hypnotic state as you eventually reach the end. Epic track..  Zep Tepi features some lyrics by Crystalinks and kicks the pace up a bit with a great bass line and groove. Love the synths on this one… Words are delivered as a spoken word in parts and then sung.  Last Days of a Time Cycle ends this record in a laid back manner.  Great job Santtu… 

http://astralmagic.bandcamp.com 

Astral Magic- Echoes from a Star Cluster (featuring Shane Beck (ASTRAL050)

This is a compilation CD of tracks that have appeared on Shane Becks´s numerous solo albums (5 of them) as well as some unreleased tracks (8 total) that they had made but not appeared on any other release.  The unreleased title track starts things off with a solid drum beat, vocoder synth and other layers in this melodic slow paced song. Santtu also does some chorus vocals. Voice of the Cephalopod, also unreleased, keeps the pace slow and is almost totally synth driven. This Reflection fades up and is very spacey and has some potent lyrics by Shane. When Planets Copulate is a more dark rocker with drums, bass, guitar and changes the mood completely. 

Psychedelic Butterfly starts with the vocals a bit more upfront while there are some spaced out shit going on in the background. This Sphere of Magic (already released) is next and a slow mysterious track lead by a mid eastern lead synth and then the drums kick in and things are to groove.  Cool song. Exploding Sun is a slow rock track with a highly effected tripped out vocal at times. 4 out of the 6 tracks that end the CD are from Shanes previous solo releases. If you are a fan of Astral Magic with Shanes spoken words, then this is an essential collection. 

http://astralmagic.bandcamp.com 

Astral Magic- Strange Vibrations (Altered States) Astral052, 2025

Santtu is back with another limited edition CD-R (33 copies only plus 5 other copies with 2 bonus tracks) of what I would say is one of his most trippy and experimental albums.  It also features  Shane Beck on most of the tracks doing spoken words (sometimes with a lot of effects). It features 9 tracks and starts off with the short trippy Adinka Codes. Earth Coincidence Control Office is lots of synth sounds and a bit of cosmic insanity and then the synth arpeggios bring some normality and then the highly effected voice enters.  Quite psychedelic.  Transforming Chaos into Order has some echoey guitar in the back at the start but is another spaced out synth landscape for the most part. Weirdness Overload is indeed super tripped out and strange. Solarwind, has a bit of wind but your attention is mostly drawn the repeated synth. Eventually, some electronic drums drive the track forward with a more melodic synth. Shane eventually comes in. Solid State Intelligence is another really tripped out one. Longing for the Stars changes to a happy mood and is something totally different than anything else on the album! Shanes vocals work well on this one.. Altered States goes back into space again with a bit of a mysterious feel and trance like state is induced with Shane floating in and out. Great track. Wow.. Strange Vibrations ends this trip with a more melodic laid back track. A solid release.

http://astralmagic.bandcamp.com 

Dead Shrine- Cydonia Mensa (Kozmik Artifactz)

Dead Shrine is a side project of Craig (Arc of Ascent, Lamp of the Universe) and more similar to Arc but with a bit more of a stoner influence while Arc is more in the SLEEP vein.   This is the 2nd album under this name. 

Track List:

1. Serpents of the Sun 4:27
2. Cydonia Mensa 5:41
3. Scared Light 4:40
4. Monuments 6:19
5. Temple of Saturn 5:06
6. Redeemer 4:07
7. Evolution Garden 4:27
8. Illumination Through Knowledge 7:51

Serpents of the Sun starts with a very doomy riff and then a groove kicks followed by a john Garcia inspired vocal. The title track is next and slows things down quite a bit. Nice guitar parts and backing vocals as well as this just is slow and stoned. Sacred Light continues in the same vein with powerful vocals in perfect sync with the heavy groove. Monuments has a slow fade up and then a riff you have heard on a lot of doom records, kicks in but this one is a bit more distorted and nasty and the chants at the beginning remind you of LOTU.  I feel like Craig already wrote this one before?? Temple of Saturn is more of stoner rocker but with the same fuzzy but less doomy guitar.  Redeemer is another mid paced heavy fuzzy, groove rocker.  Passionate vocals, stoned groove. Love the nasty wah solo on this one. Evolution starts off with acoustic and electric solo guitar in a more tranquil space, similar to Lamp of the Universe space. Illumination through Knowledge starts with some organ and synth sweeps before the monster riffs kick in. This one has a lot more going on and is a bit more spacey and a great way to end this record. 

If you like your stoner doom (hard to do something totally unique in this genre now) straight forward killer riffing, great solos, powerful vocals and cool lyrics, this is a a great adventure. Only 200 copies on vinyl so get it soon…

https://deadshrinenz.bandcamp.com/

https://kozmik-shop.com/ 

Minerall- Strömung (Sulatron st-2501)

This is the 2nd release by this new jam band from Germany, featuring Dave Schmidt (Sula Bassana). The background on the album was written by Dave:


“On January 27 and 28 in 2023 three musicians from three of the most creative psych bands in the german-speaking world came together for a session at Buffbergen Studios in Hanover. Birthdays were celebrated and hours upon hours of music were recorded.  Through a broad spectrum of common ideas, the jams range from hard riffs to spherical ambient soundscapes and enchant not least through the interplay of these 3 experienced musicians. From these sessions Sulatron released the debut LP „Bügeln“ in January 2024, which has sold out already.  And on the new long player „Strömung“ we can hear other jams from that weekend the band has selected, and Sula mixed them nicely for 2 sidelong journeys.”

The album starts with the 19 min Strömung. A steady groove is laid down and off we go, first with a quite simple melodic guitar line and then more delay and effects is added and then the energy level of the rhythm section takes it a notch up and Marcel starts to space out more on the guitar and move from rhythms to lead mode and this takes you on a journey for quite some time…  What can I say, they have a great chemistry and it is a good ride.. Welle starts off more spacey in another 20min album side track. It gets really droney and trippy in the middle.. Far out..  Another cool record….

The band is:  Marcel Cultrera (SPECK): Guitar, fx, spaceecho, Tommy Handschick (KOMBYNAT ROBOTRON, EARTHBONG): Drums, and Dave Schmidt aka Sula Bassana (ZONE SIX, INTERKOSMOS, ex ELECTRIC MOON etc.): Bass, fx, Synthesizer. 


https://minerall.bandcamp.com/album/str-mung 

htttp://sulatron.com 

IAH- V (Kozmik Artifactz)

I have to say I have never heard of these guys before by they are an Argentinian instrumental band but based on the name of the album, I guess this is their 5th release.  The album features 5 tracks between 6 and 10mins and then one short one. It starts off with a spacey intro that leads into Kutno.  After the intro, the riffing and drums really build up with a heavy riff but sort of dreamy post rock like keys work giving it this melodic element. After a while, the heavy riff ends and they go into this very spacey melodic section.  Madre de los Superiois follows with some heavy riffs and melodic elements and a bit more of a slow headbanger with a bit of a guitar solo at the end. Yaldabaoth has a spacey guitar intro with a lot of reverb and then the heavy shit begins! The riff is quite simple and repeated a bit (miss a guitar solo).  Sono oi is a short piece that reminds me of Mono.  Sentado en el …. brings back the heavy dramatic riffing and grooves.  This one really kicks ass though when it takes off. Great riff and groove. It has a quiet ending though.  Las Palabras y el Mar starts a bit dark and mysterious with some keyboards. It has a lot of dynamics this last track. Although, I am not a real fan of this kind of music but these guys do it really well. I get bored with the pad keys and the same sort of melodic lines that are used by many bands in the genre. It is really hard to come up with something totally unique today especially in this genre. If you like these bands like My Sleeping Karma, Pelican, etc.. you will most likely dig this.. Good job guys..

The band is:  Juan Pablo Lucco Borlera: Bass , Mauricio Condon: Guitar & Synths and José Landín: Drums. 

https://kozmik-shop.com/ 

https://iahbanda.bandcamp.com/album/v 

Antero Mentu- Näin unta Kaukaisesta Maasta (ECD2024215)

Antero is a multi-instrumentalist (primarily a guitarist), who has performed on a number of albums since 2005 but this is the first under this own name. ‘He is backed by: 

Jesper Anastasiadis- Contrabass, Amanda Blomqvist- Drums, Percussion, Markus Pajakkala- Flute, and Otto Eskelinen- Shakuhachi, Keyboards, Percussion. Antero plays Guitar, Electric Guitar, Keyboards, and Percussion.

The music is instrumental and the album divided into 6 pieces. The first part is quite a dark and driven by deep horns, bells and other percussion.  Part 2 kicks in with bass and drum beat and then a lovely guitar takes the lead. Next the flute comes in for a solo. Lovely music. Part 3 is more uptempo and driven by the guitar and percussion rhythm. Later the flute with some nice reverb on layers in nicely the hypnotic playing. Part 4 is a bit spacey with some nice piano and more simple themes explored on the instruments (guitar, piano, deep bass). IT slowly evolves. This is a super cool track. I just sort of disappeared into the music and vibe. Part 5 is very spaced out and dreamy...  The last part features some lovely guitar to start and then the bass, drums and other instruments float in as it builds.. A very relaxing and exploring musical experience. Enjoy.. The digipack has a booklet with some really interesting artwork. The rest of the info is all in Finnish so I have no idea what it is about… Lovely album…

The digipack has a booklet with some really interesting artwork. The rest of the info is all in Finnish so I have no idea what it is about… Lovely album…

https://anteromentu.bandcamp.com/album/n-in-unta-kaukaisesta-maasta 

Positive Wave- Metsälapsi (Humu Records HUMU041)

Positive Wave is an old band from Finland that has been around since 1998 but I have never heard them!  My friend Eetu sent me this CD. He did the very cool artwork for the CD. They are a 6 piece band (4 guest musicians also play on the album). Susan is the lead vocalist and has a very nice voice to compliment the music. She sings in Finnish so forget understanding it!! The album features 11 tracks ranging from the short 2 min track to the title track at over 9mins. The opening track, 1930, is a piano driven track, with a sort of traditional almost polka like feel at times but darker. Varpunen features some trumpet in this mid paced track with an almost ska feel to it. Lato is a very nice track, reminds me of Wigwam or something.. Love the middle section on this track. Great back and forth with the guitar and keys… Kupla is a bit jazzy…Ritariperhonen is a short track with just voice and acoustic guitar. Toukokuun Lokit starts slowly but then builds up with a sort of dark thread before a Hidira Spacefolk like riff kicks in and then off to the guitar solo. Love the bass line and groove on Maadisko!! Iiris starts slowly but then builds nicely. Great vocals on this track. Pelota is quite funky with some really nice horn work to compliment the piano and vibe. Dig it!! Japanin Laiva is a proggy one with lots of changes. The long title track ends this quite nice album with a more explorative nature and space start. 

I guess these guys are like prog-folk rock of sorts if I had to put them into a category but the CD is very eclectic and diverse.. I really enjoyed it a lot… Check them out…

http://positivewave.net

Lords of Form- False Light EP

Lords of Form is a group lead by Niall Hone (ex Hawkwind, Tribe of Cro). This is their most recent EP, which comes bundled with the first batch of the bands first vinyl called Our Shared Humanit out now on the UK label, Skidmark Multimedia. It is a compilation of tracks from the bands first 3 releases. 5 tracks, total.  Pity it is too expensive to buy in the EU otherwise I would love to own this one.. Here is the bands description of the LP:


Its Revolution Time – A hard-hitting opener that sets the tone with its commanding riffs and soaring vocals. A song for the times we face as a collective on this planet

Fhhu – Electronic’s build with memorable melodies that calm the listener.

Break My Gaze – Dynamic shifts and moments of emotional intensity, interspersed with improvisational sections.

23 Strangers – This track builds using synthesisers into a full blown space rock romp.

Everyone Knows Your Name – A high-energy track that is over in little over two minutes.

We Soothe, You Suffer –Over 20 minutes of improvised sonic mayhem. Drums pound and guitars sore, the cosmic nod is strong here!

Here is my take on the new EP, Krakern vs. XC, starts off with some strange sounds but then heads off into a more spacey territory with echoed guitar and vocals but a mean ass bass drive. It spaces out in the middle section with a nice melodic solo before getting a bit angry and taking another melodic turn.  Trippy song… Blood Dream is like movie soundtrack stuff and quite dark and creepy.  The Vestibule of Solitude starts quite spacey with a pad synth, some very deep sounds that shook the floor of my listening room (I have a subwoofer). Again, this could be some soundtrack music. I love it when the Tangerine Dream like synth arpeggio starts. Cool track. Stardust brings back the heavy riffs. A nice Huw Lloyd Langton like lead guitar line eventually takes the lead. It comes down as they jam it out a bit.  The current band is: Niall Hone, Jamie Gillet, George Cobbold, and Trim. 

https://lordsofform.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/lordsofform