the fuel for the journey - prepared to catapult you into the celestial, crystal-covered realm of The Cosmic Dead. peace and love to my friends at Humboldt Relief :)
This resin-soaked beast of a cassette, from the Cosmic Dead, should be required listening for any professed lover of heavy jams. These Glasgow-based rockers blazed a glorious path earlier this year on Who Can You Trust?. Now they return with the psych/space rocker, Exalted King, on Dub Dutch Picnic. This trip requires some serious fuel. It's an epic journey through the third eye. Travelers should pack lightly as these cosmic jams will illuminate your head-space with its smoldering, yet heavy pace.
The title track commences side A, as the crystal-covered jam ascends like a Phoenix, pulsing with vitality. The bong smoke languidly encircling the head and beamed into the cosmic zone. The early-rising vibes of "Exalted King" grow in intensity, as the guitars turn frenetic in the presence of a chugging groove. Reverb-covered tones dance fervently. Soon, the jam transitions, existing in the slipstream until the bass returns with its dreamy groove, moving sinuously through the air in search of higher environs. The bass and percussion on Exalted King are awesome. More so, the overall musicianship is of great magnitude. Approximately thirty minutes in, the groove shifts and the guitar tones glisten in the luminous moonlight. Warped guitar echoes in the head, resuscitating the hard-driving groove that initially beamed us into this trichome-covered environment. The zenith is visible from the highest peak as the listener is bathed in ritualistic haze. Near the end of side A, the vibe becomes ominous and more inward seeking; at this juncture, dazed from the sonic ecstasy, all i can manage to say is, "oh, exalted king, be the iridescent force that propels us to a propitious future."
"Anatta", the first track of the flipside, commences much like a ritual, the resonant tones and chanting overcoming the tape hiss and mutating, when ionic guitar circles your head, probing for a crevice to disseminate its charged matter. A timorous feeling takes hold. The prescient vision is about to manifest. A righteous groove takes hold, when a confluence of guitars erupt -a beautiful beginning to side B. The entire tape feels like one big jam as it transitions into "Anaphora", the closer. Sagacious chanting fills the room, and not knowing that which to expect, a blissful groove emerges from the ashram, its contours imbued by the heavenly guitar. Soon, blazing transmissions emerge like a mythic stalagmite, rising fervently from the ground to pierce the dome.The psychotropic energy inherent on this tape boils excitedly, prepared to erupt with its accumulated energy.
Tapes such as Exalted King embody the traits that make me excited about music. It glistens like the trichomes from my favorite nug. Being a limited-edition release, there are likely only a few of these floating around. Get your fix at either Eclipse Records or Dub Dutch Picnic.
peace and love, friends :)
