Slowbot - Sleepwalker (2020)
It's been almost five years since
Slowbot's last release, with their sophomore EP, Pacifier for the Mind. Following just a year
after their self-titled debut EP (which we covered here), their
second effort found the band solidifying their stoner rock flavors
into a heavier form, and stepping up their cover art as well. Both
trends continue with this LP, which comes as a welcome return from
their hiatus, and brings with it six tracks of the French group's
heavy rock explorations.
First
of the tunes is “Sleepwalker (Part 1)” (its second half closes
out the album, fittingly), a creeping crusher which finds the band
delving into doomier territory than they've shown on either of the
earlier releases. Once the mood is firmly set, the vocals arrive,
ringing out over the swampiness of the guitar and bass, and muffled
clangs of the cymbals, with a goosebump-raising ghostliness to the
timbre and intonation. Some deft soloing directs a bridge into more
pronounced restatement of the original riffage, with a brief drop
before surging even higher for the finish.
With
that powerful opening, there would be a lot of options for how to
follow it up, and Slowbot go with a shift towards more of a hard rock
route in “Strange Fish”. The drums are allowed to come through
more clearly, the guitar riff rides faster and more intently, and the
vocals, while still echoing with some distortion, feel more earthly
in their delivery. As if to balance that out, the breakdown is much
more psychedelic, with some serious flourishes on the strings.
“Inside” steps back into the big shoes, coming together at just
under nine minutes, and bringing its heavy rock base on a versatile
trip. The vocals come through cleaner still, and some lush
atmospheric bridges rise up, but with the guitar and bass slamming
their chords down as hard as they do, not an ounce of heaviness is
sacrificed.
Opening
the B-side (assuming this album gets the vinyl release it absolutely
deserves) is “Ride”, which brings a rollicking rhythm to bear,
and a pounding chorus to get lodged in your head. Dropping down to
just seven minutes, it really evokes the sun-baked feel of rolling
down a highway with no particular destination, and practically
demands to be played at high volume. Penultimate track “Here Comes
the Fire”, far from being a toss-off warm-up for the finish,
changes to a rawer guitar tone to help it stand out (as the LP's
shortest song, it kind of needs that feature). Some droning warbling
from the singer helps lend further garage psych flavoring, and the
guitarist really seems to be having fun with the solo on this one.
Lastly,
“Sleepwalker (Part 2)” brings a close with its nearly
eleven-minute run. Pulling together vibes from all the preceding
songs, it unfurls a lengthy instrumental wandering, building up
energy before the vocals break in, pulling it into the doom-tuned
mood. Flowing from there through assorted other twists and
mutations, the band eventually ties it all back into the original
order, giving a fine showcasing of their chops in the process. It's
a pleasure to hear Slowbot back again, and rising to the occasion
with such verve and creativity. Here's hoping that (in addition to
this getting a vinyl pressing) their next release doesn't have such a
time gap in making its way to us. Even if it should, though, this
one is loaded with enough variety and life to hold up to playing all
that while.
~
Gabriel
For
Fans Of; Canopy, Fatso Jetson, Greenthumb, Keef Mountain, Pale Grey
Lore
~
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