Presenting the best of Stoner Metal that is guaranteed to make their listeners aghast, Geneva-based power trio Six Months of Sun are back with a third full-length entitled Creatures via Cold Smoke Records and Urgence Disk, which features atmospheric passages and a versatile succession of riffs that ranges from being heavy to sharp. Having embarked on a formidable journey of track record by opening for many big names such as Red Fang, Church of Misery, and Fu Manchu, they continue on offering a profound bestiary of Stoner riffs with hints of Prog undertones here and there. While they’re keeping their massive sounds intact, they are suitable for fans of instrumental stoner/sludge such as Pelican and Russian Circles. Being a longtime Pelican fan myself since high school years, I instantly vibed with this album right after first listen– with all its solid resonances and all that.
This album was produced by Serge Morattel, also from Switzerland, who has previously worked with Ventura, Knut, and Zatokrev– to name a few. Not only does this album produce ferocious resonant heaviness, it also has an all-around captivating artwork that suggests a specific attraction to nature, forests, rivers, and beyond. The imagery that the artwork envisages, goes in line with how they insert references regarding the names of fictitious beasts on their song titles; ranging from Dune’s Shai Hulud, The Beast of Gevaudan, The Jersey Devil, The Dahu, and The Wendigo– making the nuances of this album almost mythological, with fictional ghastly creatures from both mythology and pop culture being the core references to it.
Consisting of 9 viscerally fearsome tracks that are mostly inclined toward Stoner Metal, they consistently present what one would depict as a set of desert-bound sonic epics. Nevertheless, they also managed to incorporate other contrasting elements that differ from their usual heaviness and fast paces; such as how the tracks “Zaratan” and “Dahu” feature modular synths. Not only did they experiment on an array of sounds, they also took their creativity to the next level when it comes to references– for example, the creative process behind the track “Ningen” originated from the thought that it ended up sounding like a crossover between The Mars Volta and Ningen Isu.
This album is an enthralling homage to a myriad of mythological creatures, be it straight from ancient myths or pop culture. It is a refreshing take on Stoner Metal under instrumental undertones, and they have been consistent in keeping the flames intact.
Buy the album reviews:
https://sixmonthsofsun.bandcamp.com/album/creatures
8 / 10
RALKA SKJERSETH
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