River Cult Beats the Sophomore Slump with CHILLING EFFECT

New York psychedelic band River Cult’s latest release is their sophomore effort following up on their debut Halcyon Daze. This is a heavy record that is as much a spaced out psychedelic ride as it is a bong-ripping stoner rock soundscape.

The album begins with the 11 minute title track, Chilling Effect, that begins with a synth heavy intro reminiscent of a Tangerine Dream which turns into a fuzzy guitar opus, conjuring up visions of CA desert rockers Sleep. The heavy distorted bass and drums on this track swell and dissipate into a the slow driving jam which isn’t overdone or full of too much noodling. This is the longest track, “As the Rest”, comes in between 6 and 7 minutes. Track 2 entitled “Left Hand Path, is a heavy Sabbath-esque groove, which flows in “Neo Dog”, a similar sounding track.

To be honest the tea is are all very similar, but in a good way, as it is consistent with the bands stoner rock feel. The vocals are quite secondary to the three piece’s fuzz heavy jamming on each track. It’s a perfectly lo-fi sounding record without being too underproduced. It has the feel of those 90s Kyuss records but with a little more of a 70s big drums and low bass drone. All in all, I’d say if you like the bands I’ve compared them too, check it out. It’s pretty straight forward, very raw sounding, and makes me think that if I saw them live I would be without my hearing for a few days after.

Jeremy Ritch
Jeremy Ritch is a published writer and poet currently traveling the U.S. working on their next book. Jeremy has had many interesting life experiences and you can hear about some of them on Episode 3 of The Farsighted Podcast. You can get your hands on Jeremy's collections of poetry at their Lulu store. If you prefer you books digitally, Sidewalk Stories and Other Poems is available for Kindle at a discount price. They have a variety of other works all over the world wide web, as well. The long and the short of it is that Jeremy likes to write and we all like to read what Jeremy writes.
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