By Monk
It could be argued that this, the eighth full-length album from desert-infused psych rockers Slomatics marks something of a turning of the circle for the powerhouse Belfast trio, as it sees them return to the sci-fi inspired thematic that fired and fuelled their trilogy of interlinked albums released around this time a decade ago.
Kicking off with the sound of a failing heartbeat, opener ‘Wooden Satellites’ sets the mood in true Slomatics style. It dense, doomy drone is counterpointed by a sense a mysterious, almost mystical, joyousness that immediately draws you into its mythical vibrancy. Dank and foreboding as much as it is uplifting and enervating, it takes you on a journey into one of those weaving tunnels that makes you wonder exactly what wondrous and unexpected experience you are going to meet around the next bend. Are you going to walk into an impenetrable wall of darkness or be exposed to a fantastical world filled with light and luscious luminosity?
The answer is both. ‘I, Neantherthal’ crushes with its goth-infused opening riff before descending into swampy madness,, its coupled riff wrapping itself around like an angst-fuelled anaconda, while ‘Time Capture’ sees the trio once again exploring the outer recesses of classic space rock, with Marty Harvey’s surprisingly light vocals permeating every corner of the stratospheric sonic evocation.
‘Like A Kind Of Minotaur’ is a slice of monstrous psychedelic doom that overpowers you with the force of its subject, while ‘Voidians’ seethes and surges, ebbs and flows like a long dormant volcano threatening to explode at any second, its threat made all the more effective by its alacrity and nascent dormancy.
Overall, ‘Strontium Fields’ is a beautifully crafted and eloquently executed album, mixing joy with darkness in a blend of hybrid morbidity that both reaches into the darkest recesses of your soul and uplifts them to enigmatic levels of excessive happiness. The result is simply and defiantly stunning.
- ‘Strontium Fields‘ is out now.
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