Review Summary: The higher I get, the deeper I see…
To those who have not followed Nightstalker closely through the years, the Greek heavy rock legends might seem as the masters of unsuccessful artwork; irrelevant, mundane, tacky, they’ve done it all. So when they decided to go with an inappropriate one for their new LP, naturally, no heads turned. Nevertheless, cover art has always been an afterthought as their music has constantly been up there with the best stoner bands worldwide.
What kept the band from being recognized as one of the premier acts of the stoner scene was probably their inconsistency, as far as releasing new material is concerned. For example, after putting out their debut around vintage rock’s golden era, they disappeared and resurfaced almost 10 years later. Their music is a blend of psychedelia as expressed by Hawkwind, raw energy that has its roots on MC5, and proto-metal in the form of Blue Cheer and Black Sabbath.
Their last album,
Dead Rock Commandos saw them at the peak of their commercial success which increased the expectations for the follow-up. However,
As Above, So Below (a similar
Heaven and Hell statement) follows a different path than its predecessor; it is heavier, more introspective, darker and more varied. That’s not to say that it is experimental or innovative, as the band still performs within their comfort zone by spawning melodic heavy rock tunes such as the b-horror flavored “Zombie Hour”, “Deeper” with the great bass performance, or the typical for Nightstalker’s standards “Forever Stoned”.
However, it is interesting to hear nods to the band’s past such as the MC5-influenced opener “Naked Fire” which brings to mind Nightstalker’s two EPs and “My Electric Head” which is the most varied song on the album due to its tempo changes. Furthermore, “Space Matter” wouldn’t sound out of place on their debut as it is less melodic than what we’ve gotten used to and features a Kyuss-reminiscent riff.
The album highlight is none other than “The Dog That No-One Wanted”. Its placement after the first three tracks is perfect as it’s a welcome change of pace and it contains some phenomenal bass playing and a highly infectious chorus. In addition, the doomy “We Belong to the Dead” is the LPs darker moment and the slow “Blue Turns to Black” which includes a Thin Lizzy-reminiscent guitar lead is a very fitting closer.
Overall,
As Above, So Below is not Nightstalker’s best effort as it is not as groovy/catchy as
Dead Rock Commandos and
Just a Burn and not as inspired as
Use. However, it is an interesting blend of these albums and boasts some typically strong material, an instant classic and has variety. I would love to see where this album takes them but for now, I am just glad that they avoided the pitfall of releasing
Dead Rock Commandos Part 2.
