Today on the block we have Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes by Australian Stoner Doom band Fumarole, out now from the excellent Interstellar Smoke Records. I’ve heard a couple of their singles and dug what I heard, so I was definitely stoked to get the album in hand. Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes starts off pedal down and never really lets up. Loaded with hooky as hell riffage, driving rhythms, and killer spots where the bass and drums lay down the groove while the guitar has its fun. The solos are tasty, they have a rock feel sprinkled with some blues that truly add to the overall vibe. 

The band’s influences are obvious, but they definitely hold their own identity with a “stoner rock” style all their own. I dig it when a new cut comes out and feels “new” in the ear and not just an attempt to copy past genre staples. Fumarole does this on VoTTS. The band displays an ability to lay down a jammin’ groove, totally shift time on a dime or go into something ominous and foreboding which brings a lot of “fun” to the album. Most of the songs do have that “driving home on a Friday after work feel” (I hope that is self-explanatory lol) with a drive to them that makes you wanna go a lil faster and turn it up a lil louder. 

All in all, I think this is quite the banger, it’s one of those cuts that you could leave in the car’s cd player for a good long time before you felt compelled to change disks. So, if you’re looking for a “stoner/rock” album that brings “it” look no further.   

Buy the album here: https://fumarole.bandcamp.com/album/valley-of-ten-thousand-smokes

8 / 10

TORBJORN SOLGARD