Mrs Red Sound

Mars Red Sky & Queen Of The Meadow, Mars Red Sky & Queen Of The Meadow (Mrs Red Sound 2023)

Wayne Edwards, , , , , , , ,

The new collaboration between Mars Red Sky & Queen Of The Meadow is entrancing heavy psych that will leave you wanting more.

Mars Red Sky is Julien Pras (vocals, guitar), Jimmy Kinast (bass), and Matgaz (drums), and Queen Of The Meadow is Helen Ferguson (vocals). The latter is a dark folk performer, and the former is a heavy psychedelic band that sometimes describes its own music as a “[h]ulking trippy brand of heavy and psychedelic rock that will take you on a total and extreme cosmic journey.” A collaboration between these two entities immediately makes sense. Their new EP is a three-track introduction to lurking possibilities.

“Maps Of Inferno” is eerie and trippy. A nice combination. When the guitar enters it is most serious. There is a groovy mystical desert vibe that develops early in the song. Ferguson’s vocals step right into a musical world that seems to have been created for her sound. Passing into a windy storm, she returns near the end, no worse for the wear. “Out At Large” is next, and it starts out heavier, clearing the ground before it. The guitar lead comes in, hanging red lights on the stage. The singing here strikes a convincing posture, and you start to feel like she could talk you into anything, into going anywhere; believing. I think I might have joined the order.

The final track is “Maps Of Inferno (shortcut),” and it is essentially a radio cut of the first track. I do like these songs, and it is clear that the collaboration between Mars Red Sky and Queen Of The Meadow is an inspired thought. I hope they release a full-length album because what we have here is very compelling and enticing. The rumor is: that very thing may come to pass. Recommended.

The EP is out April 28th through Mrs Red Sound and Vicious Circle Records on digital and vinyl. In the US, Bandcamp is a good place to pick it up. Links below.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://marsredsky.bandcamp.com/album/mars-red-sky-queen-of-the-meadow

Facebook Queen Of The Meadow, https://www.facebook.com/queenofthemeadowmusic

Facebook Mars Red Sky, https://www.facebook.com/marsredskyband

Vicious Circle Records, https://www.viciouscircle.fr/en/home

Mrs Red Sky Records, https://mrsredsound.com/

© Wayne Edwards

Mars Red Sky & Queen Of The Meadow, Mars Red Sky & Queen Of The Meadow (Mrs Red Sound 2023)

Witchfinder, Forgotten Mansion (Mrs Red Sound 2022)

Wayne Edwards, , , , , , , , ,

Witchfinder brings out another great record with their third full-length album, Forgotten Mansion.

The French psychedelic doom quartet Witchfinder is Clément Mostefai (vocals, bass), Stanislas Franczak (guitar), Thomas Dupuy (drums), and Kevyn Raecke (keyboard). Since their first album dropped just five years ago, they have been on a winning streak with Hazy Rites two years later, and the well-received Endless Garden earlier EP this year. Their newest album is some of the best music they have made so far.

“Approaching” has a trippy, psychedelic ramp that pushes into a classic doom guitar drop. The vocals are cast from the distance in an echoey framing which pulses perfectly inside a mind that has achieved an altered state. The lead guitar segment that first appears is laid back and effective, setting up a tempo shift and that offers a mid-song lift, providing fertile ground for the following Iommi-inspired riff. The construction of the song is a credible integration of psychedelic entreaties in a doom architecture. “Marijuana,” which features Haldor Grunberg adding vocal depth, puts the lead guitar near the front, placing it as a signpost for the changes that follow. Here again we have the beautifully heavy, fuzzy riff and rhythm that carries the water for the ethereal vocals. Excellent. And then “Lucid Forest,” the shortest song so far at a mere five and a half minutes, slides in trippingly and lightens things up a little. It is still heavy, of course. It seems more reflective to me than its predecessors, changing the mood a might. The keys are more prominent in my ears, too, and the lead guitar break stands out.

“Ghosts Happen To Fade” is my favorite track. I like the entire album, but this one lands just right in my ears and brain, touching a place with the guitar that hadn’t been activated yet. The vocals are more sinister here, and that has an appeal as well. “The Old Days” wraps things up and brings back the straightforward doom at the front of the track. The music turns up the psych knob halfway through and reminds us of the range of the band. The album is solid psych-doom through and through. Recommended.

Forgotten Mansion is out now through Mrs Red Sound Records. Bandcamp is the place to go in the US to pick this one up.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://witchfinder.bandcamp.com/album/forgotten-mansion

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

Mrs Red Sound Records, https://mrsredsound.com/

FFMB review of the Endless Garden EP, https://flyingfiddlesticks.com/2022/06/06/witchfinder-endless-garden-mrs-red-sound-2022/

© Wayne Edwards

Witchfinder, Forgotten Mansion (Mrs Red Sound 2022)

Witchfinder, Endless Garden (Mrs Red Sound 2022)

Wayne Edwards, , , , , , , , , ,

Hazy stoner doom band Witchfinder cast out their new EP into the world, Endless Garden.

Just a few years ago in France, Witchfinder began creating music with hallmarks of doom, sludge, and heavy psych. Leaning toward the stoner end of the room, they released two full-length albums, a self-titled one in 2017 followed by Hazy Rites in 2019. There is a new long-player on the horizon, and meanwhile they offer Endless Garden. Witchfinder is Clément Mostefai (vocals and bass), Stanislas Franczak (guitar), Thomas Dupuy (drums), and Kevyn Raecke (keys).

There are two long tracks on the new EP beginning with “Eternal Sunset.” Any song that runs nearly eleven minutes will have some change-ups, or an arc, or both. Here we have a quiet opening, reflective music establishing space to expand into. Guitars and keys arrive in due course. There are moments that seem like self-contain songs themselves, and other, longer stretches that feel like a movie soundtrack. The vocals are spacey, almost cavernous at times, adding depth and mystery. The hallmarks of riff-driven stoner rock never stray too far from focus.

“The Maze” starts with a wandering bass, paired with a guitar that looks in a different direction. The mood here is darker than on the first song, instilling trepidation in the listener. The vocals offer what seems like a warning, or at least a sinister tale to put you on your guard. Decisive plodding appears, and is like a marching force on a mission; they will not be swayed. There is a sudden, violent shift at the end, an abrupt black metal moment that signals the conclusion of the conflict.

The band has planned a full-length album for later in the year. These two songs will hold us over until then. It is also a rewarding enterprise to listen to Witchfinder’s earlier albums in the interim. Recommended.

Mrs Red Sound will release Endless Garden on Friday, June 3rd. Bandcamp is a good stop when you are looking for this music.

Links.

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

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

Mrs Red Sound Records, http://mrsredsound.com/

© Wayne Edwards

Witchfinder, Endless Garden (Mrs Red Sound 2022)

Little Jimi, The Cantos (Mrs Red Sound 2021)

Wayne Edwards, , , , ,

French psychedelic trio releases their sophomore album, The Cantos.

The band – Benjamin Monnereau (guitar, vocals), Guillaume Arancibia (guitar), and Antoine Le Gall (drums) – began in 2017, issuing their first recordings. A full-length album followed the next year, and now there is The Cantos. The music is rock, and to me it sounds heavy and inspired by stoner, progressive, and heavy psych bands. The early rock influences stretching back into the 1960s and 1970s are in there functioning as the bedrock to the band’s sound. Another way to think of it is that these elemental characteristics are the launching point for the music Little Jimi creates.

There are six longish tracks on the new album. “First Cantos” starts it all off, and it has an acoustic intro and an ethereal vocal bed that takes us into space in the first half, after which things turn heavier. The extended, fuzzy instrumental movement progresses into light doom before becoming buoyant in the final moments. “The Way” also opens gently, and it has more of a 1960s psychedelic feel. “Palace Afternoon” is a trip, a fuzzed out, dark Pink Floydian affair. It is a stunning, memorable piece.

Side two starts big on guitars, and even without a bass the heavy rhythm line is prominent at the beginning and the end on “Machetehew.” “Indian Rain” is the proggiest track while the closer, “Last Cantos XXIV,” has an uplifting feel to it. This music has a heaviness that I like but the compositions are transformed in concert with many other elements that act more like a conflux than a balancing. I am glad I listened. Recommended.

The digital album is out on Friday August 20th with the LP version to follow on September 17th through Mrs Red Sound and both versions can be had at Bandcamp.

Band photo by Christian Arnaud.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://littlejimi.bandcamp.com/album/the-cantos

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/LittleJimi.music/

Mrs Red Sound, https://mrsredsound.com/

Little Jimi, The Cantos (Mrs Red Sound 2021)