There's not much better than to have a great slab of music fall on your lap on a crisp fall morning in front of the fireplace, and today, that slab of music is from Lisbon's The Rising Sun Experience, who have just released their second long player, Beyond The Oblivious Abyss.
The record covers a lot of stylistic ground, but suffice to say that if you dig psychedelic rock that involves great guitars, heavy Hammond organ, throbbing basslines, and cool drumming, you're going to really enjoy this album.
It's a short album, coming in at around a half hour, but that's a good thing in my eyes. I've heard way too many overly long CDs, in fact, I'm of the opinion that 75 minute records did the industry no good, and actually great harm. Think about it - how many double albums were really worth it? Only a few, and they were rare. I'll take a great snack over a lousy feast anytime.
Beyond The Oblivious Abyss is a song suite of sorts, there are three songs that lead into a five piece suite entitled Wasted Dreams of Red Flowers.
Countries Off... is the opener, and it's a blissful sounding message of despair if there ever was one. The lyrics reflect the darkness of our days, but the sizzling combo sounds like aliens at Woodstock - the percolating percussion of Santana, the guitar histrionics framed perfectly by an insistent riff, and let's bless once again the sound of the full tilt Hammond organ. Almost eight minutes long, and it's over way too soon.
Anthemic psychedelia always thrills me, and The Integrity brings back the ghost of Alvin Lee's greatest moment of I'd Love To Change The World, but this updated sermon rocks harder and with a bit more wattage, but those softly picked acoustic guitars sound so sweet when topped with echo drenched distorted guitar leads, and the howling Hammond. This is great stuff, and this song is worth the price of the album. This is the single - should be a hit, if there were truly still hits....
Infinite Space Of A Man Without Character is a steamrolling rocker than dizzily steps through its changes with a great drum track, and guitar riffs that will have you jumping for joy. Nelson Dias' voice suits the material to a T, and the whole band is on fire. The best minute and a half song I've heard all year.
Wasted Dreams Of Red Flowers begins with pastoral cymbals and guitars, but soon gives way to the heaviest riffing yet to be found on the record - Bird Of Paradise, which posits the notion that many of has have pondered and posited, that which asks how do we escape this nightmarish world and get back to our true home. The wah guitars are huge, even making it over the Hammond's eternal howl - this is what I often hoped Vanilla Fudge would sound like.
Red Monkey Flower sounds like U2 jamming with early Genesis - beautiful, and all too brief.
Snapdragon is only a minute three second sample, but it's pure joy with everything we like jammed into a brief moment.
Swirling winds, meandering drums, and sweet synth musings softly announce Garden Mums, track four of the song suite, and it's properly psychedelic - some of this stuff is slow enough to be Floyd-worthy, and that's as high a praise as I can give music of this ilk. You could loop this and have yourself one great meditation.
Back to the end, we have Cosmos - where we came from and where we're going. This is all sustained guitar and galaxies gushing by in a motion so slow as to be spiritually soporific. I've been where this is going, and it feels like home.
This record fell in my lap as do so many these days, and it gives me hope, lightens my heart, and convinces me more than ever that Rock Ain't Near Dead™, and that there is great music being made all over the planet every day - you just might not turn on your terrestrial radio to hear it. Congratulations to The Rising Sun Experience for making a truly great record.
https://therisingsunexperience.bandcamp.com/album/beyond-the-oblivious-abyss
No comments:
Post a Comment