Black Rainbows

Holy Moon

Written by: BV on 17/10/2013 01:01:46

Black Rainbows are a heavy-psych/stoner rock outfit from Italy. Functioning as a trio, they are probably best known for their colossal soundscapes and their fondness for all-encompassing fuzz-drones that, musically speaking, seem right up there with the heavy hitters of the stoner rock genre. Having already released 3 full-length albums, Black Rainbows seem to keep coming with new tunes as this, their fourth release in the form of an EP, contains songs of exactly the same magnitude, if not greater, than its predecessors.

As the album opens with the title track “Holy Moon”, an eerie oscillation paves the way for a droning fuzz riff that lurks around the soundscape with an ominous tone. As the bass, abundantly fuzzy as well, enters the soundscape the whole thing kicks off into highest gear with a gutting wall of distortion that seems far too heavy to have been made by a trio, yet that is exactly what you get. - A wall of distortion crafted by a mere three people with a tendency to fuzz things up.

Moving on to “Monster of the Highway”, the tempo is immediately kicked up a notch as to not succumb to the lull of a repetitive drone. This groovy piece of heavy psych is somewhat reminiscent of a blend between Nebula, Sungrazer and a bit of Brujas Del Sol – featuring the somewhat haunting, echoing elements of Sungrazer and Brujas Del Sol in a tremendously heavy groove that, above all, has Nebula written all over it. That’s not to say that it sounds like a rip-off of either of those bands, rather it’s a successful blend of the best elements from the two. As the blistering, albeit short, guitar solo kicks in there is a sense of originality to Black Rainbows that seems to make me able to discern their particular sound from the vast array of other genre-affiliated bands out there – which, to be fair, is quite difficult as one could have a tendency to get lost in the tremendous amount of fuzzed up psych/stoner bands that are currently striving for attention.

With “If I Was a Bird”, an acoustic element is introduced to the band’s sound. - Thus providing a more nuanced array of sounds to the already action-packed album. The echoing vocal rant and the folky acoustic guitar serve as the foundation for the track but little else seems to be going on at all. While it is certainly a peculiar track and a welcome break from the fuzzy onslaught, it fails to serve as anything more than a ‘mere’ intermezzo as we wait for the remainder of the album to start the fuzzy grooves again.

In other words, Black Rainbows continue along their path of solid fuzz riffs coupled with occasionally ethereal psych elements. As far as this album goes, it seems to be on par with its predecessors whilst occasionally outshining them with a few tracks that are far more impressive than I had expected. This album is, above all, favorable and I daresay that fans of stoner rock and heavy psych will most likely dig it.

7

Download: Caterpillar, Cut From A Star, Firebird, I See You
For The Fans Of: Nebula, Sungrazer, Brujas Del Sol, Hawkwind
Listen: facebook.com

Release Date 01.10.2013
Heavy Psych Sounds


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