Review Summary: Just another average progressive/psychedelic album..
Electric Sorcery is quite the peculiar band. Claiming influences varying from Frank Zappa to Black Sabbath one can assume before even listening to any Electric Sorcery record that it would, at the very least, be an interesting affair. As is often the case with an outfit labeled as a progressive psychedelic band, Electric Sorcery is a band that strives to ‘think outside of the box’ and create music without constraints of genres. Some tracks are bass driven reggae-esque tracks, while others unfortunately slip into the rap/hip-hop scene. When it is all said and done, Electric Sorcery’s 2009 self-titled debut is an album that seems to go through multiple identity crises in a span of ten tracks.
Psychedelic albums are difficult to digest, even if they are immaculately crafted. So even if a psychedelic record is created with good intentions and even if it is executed adequately, it is likely that said album will seem unfocused and just plain sloppy. Those two words best sum up the experience that is Electric Sorcery; Sloppy and unfocused. Great ideas often begin to bloom, only to be choked out by the constant experimentation and attempt to diversify. Implementation of instruments such as flutes and saxophones certainly add a sense of uniqueness, yet the overuse of ‘unique’ ideas plagues this record.
Electric Sorcery is at their best when they are
jamming, lending to the fact that they originated out of a jam-rock band. Without pressures of writing vocal melodies it seems that Electric Sorcery flourishes, as evidenced by the best track on the entire record
A Stitch in 9 Saves Time. The song flows perfectly from part to part, from riff to solo to riff again, without ever feeling forced or gimmicky. Unfortunately that cannot be said for the rest of the album as most of what is to come falls under the category of gimmicks. Solos seem to be thrown in solely for the sake of soloing, riffs are repeated to create a sense of repetition that ultimately comes off as forced and obnoxious and there is even an entire track dedicated to rapping. That is right. Three middle age white men decide that rapping the ridiculously clichéd line
Opinions are like assholes and most of them stink was legitimately a good idea. That gem of a line is taken from the third track
Law & Order, a track most definitely worthy of a skip.
With mindless noodling of guitars and repetition of backing instrumentation, Electric Sorcery’s first outing as a band is average at best. Ideas constantly take too long to come to fruition, but when they are finally reached Electric Sorcery proves that they can hang with the best of their genre. With only minimal changes and a new found appropriation of focus, Electric Sorcery could truly create a record worthy of repeated listens; sadly this is not that album.
