Here’s to genuinely hoping that 2023 would be a decent year for stoner rock releases – with the existence of records like The Lord Knows (Ripple Music) by the Swedish newcomers Tidal Wave. The Swedish stoner scene has always been all-around fascinating to me, with big names I admire such as Besvärjelsen and Skraeckoedlan, or even the all-time legendary Truckfighters. It’s always refreshing to see up-and-coming names coming right in, too.
Tidal Wave themselves, have been crafting powerful, raucous fuzz anthems since 2019 with a debut titled Blueberry Muffin, influenced by several notable classic names that shaped them into the band they are today, with the said influences being Black Sabbath, Nirvana, and Audioslave. With the lineup of Alexander ‘Sunkan’ Sundqvist on vocals, Jesper ‘Jerpo’ Sjödin on guitars, Adam ‘Aden’ Nordin on bass, and Rasmus ‘Raz’ Sundberg on drums, together they create and present soul-crushing riffs that appear to be an immaculate convergence between heavy rock and stoner rock.
Fire, fuzz, and power are the elements that they hope to fill the air particle with, and guess what, they successfully did that! In my opinion, The Lord Knows is the kind of album that would be most suitable as a background sound that plays as you reflect on the trajectory of your Iommic life (credits to Sleep for the pun, also because Tidal Wave is Sabbath-inspired) in retrospect as you smoke your dope whilst going on a ring road trip around Reykjavik or basically anywhere fun. It’s an exciting and pleasant-to-hear album; they were valid about being influenced by Audioslave, vocalist Alexander Sundqvist really has succeeded in pulling off some Chris Cornell-like vocals in general.
The Lord Knows itself was recorded, mixed, and mastered by Anders Svanberg at the Sundsvall-based SPAM Recording, while the psychedelic-nuanced artwork was designed by the Umeå-based artist Kristoffer Norgren of Prettyshittyinc. When it comes to the album artwork, to me it seems as if Prettyshittyinc is like the Swedish version of Boneface, examining the similar vibes of their art style. Sonically, it’s hard to pick a favorite out of this album, but I should say ‘Thorsakir’ caught my attention at first listen, it instantly captivated me. Correct me if I’m wrong, but the title of this slow-paced stoner-nuanced track sounds like an alternative spelling of Torsåker, which is the name of the parish where the largest-ever witch trials in Swedish history took place. If it’s correct, the theme of witchcraft just matches the stoner rock vibes of the song very well. Besides ‘Thorsakir’, there are other tracks that immensely attracted me at first listen as well, such as the cathartic-powered ‘Robbero Bobbero’ and ‘Purple Bird’ with its catchy hooks.
The Lord Knows marks an enthralling start to 2023 in music; it signifies a good beginning, so if you’re looking for more newcomers to appreciate in the stoner/heavy rock scene, this should be right up your alley.
Buy the album here:
https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/album/the-lord-knows
8 / 10
RALKA SKJERSETH