Friday, October 03, 2014

Stuck in "The Well", Call Lassie

The Well ~ Samsara (2014)


The guys over at Riding Easy Records are always good at picking acts, especially when it comes to their great ear for Sabbath worship. I'm not sure if the Texas trio The Well fall squarely into the Sabbath worship category, but they definitely have a leg or two in it considering their doomy, 70's Heavy Rock sound mixed with some Proggy and Psychedelic influences along the way. Some people may take issue with the idea of bands that sound like the original Black Sabbath, but I'm not one of those people. When it's done well, it can be some of the heaviest and grooviest tunes on the planet, just like any number of Black Sabbath jams. Among a laundry list of other things that appealed to me about this band and album, I immediately gravitated to the clean-ish, but still massively heavy guitar tone that steps on the gas and doesn't really let up until the end of "Samsara". While I'd be hard pressed to find a bad song on this seven track album, I can't exactly pick a favorite either though, because they're all that good. I'd have to say the second track "Trespass" caught my undivided attention even on the first spin, with the slightly fuzzed and thoroughly funky bass opening which lasts a minute before all hell breaks loose and you're trampled to death by a herd of drums and cymbals just as the guitar drops in and adds its very own trademark on the track. The vocals come in not long after that, with both vocalists carrying the weight of the song, it gives their music a unique dynamic when they sing simultaneously, you probably don't hear something quite like this on a daily basis. In between the riffing, slamming, merciless drumming, and that fat and fuzzy bass tone, the guitar solo just after halfway shreds and destroys like a guilty businessman. In the second half, as the solo winds down, the band tapers off and the bass riff makes a glorious return with tambourine in tow to wind the track all the way down to a close. As always, our friends at Riding Easy Records have a few options for your vinyl collection including some package deals that you can get in on at their website. If all you need is a quickie download, check out iTunes to get your fix.
~Skip

For Fans Of; Black Sabbath, Black Moth, Witchfinder General



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