The sophomore album from Portland, Oregon’s Robots of the Ancient World finds the deepest desert grooves and sets them lose on the world.

The band is Caleb Weidenbach (vocals), Nico Schmutz (guitar), Justin Laubscher (guitar), Trevor Berecek (bass), and Harry Silvers (drums). The new album is their second long-player, following Cosmic Riders (2019) and a couple of EPs before that. The music is laid back guitar-driven desert stoner rock with fantastic and doomy palliative ordinances.

There are eight tracks on Mystic Goddess, all them fuzzy in their own way. Some songs start off on a peppy clip like “Agua Caliente” and others put the steady groove up front instead, as in “Wasteland.” However it starts you know you’ll find the guitars in there and Caleb Weidenbach’s mesmerizing voice, reminding you a little of an especially melodic Glenn Danzig. There is always a lolling riff that is mysteriously admirably energetic and a sparking lead break to look forward to as well.

The long song is “Lucifyre” logging in at nearly eleven minutes. Dressed in soft doom and saturated with mournfulness, the Eastern influences of the tune add an exotic tint to listening Western ears. It is definitely my favorite piece on the album. The final three minutes is given over to a fading essence slowly disappearing behind a voiceover. The wrap-up to the set is “Ordo Ab Khao,” a somber and thoughtful song to drift you on out to wherever you are going next. If you time its final notes to the bottom of your pipe then you have achieved perfection. Recommended.

Mystic Goddess is fully realized on Friday May 21^st, so ready yourself. Get the new album at the Small Stone Records link below and the earlier music on Bandcamp.

Band photo by Eddie Brnabic.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://robotsoftheancientworld.bandcamp.com/

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/RobotsoftheAncientWorld

Small Stone Records, https://smallstone.com/release/ss-185-robots-of-the-ancient-world-mystic-goddess/