Review Summary: Weed.
Although subjectional and sometimes taboo, asking why stoner rock is so good is like asking why weed is so good. Many factors come into play. You have to consider the quality of it, how much care was taken during the growing process, what materials where used in the growing process, whether the weed is indica or sativa, and whether the supplier is reliable or not; just to name a few. This careful process of selection is exactly how many sort through the abundance of stoner rock bands. Some of the choicest factors of stoner rock are: does it have a powerful bass presence, does the music attempt to stand alone and draw attention to its notable factors, is it chill and relaxing, yet groovy? The list goes on.
Kamni, from Russia definitely has hit all these marks and more with their first release, respectfully titled “EP”. Not only do they play a style of stoner rock, they sometimes incorporate doom into their repertoire. This 30 minute EP runs you through a series of musical dispositions ranging from extremely chill and mellow riffs to aggressive confrontations, tribal drum riffs, reverb laced solos, electronics, skits, and even blues-like riffs.
This triune does a fantastic job of writing music that is very cohesive and sometimes even imaginative. I found myself easily listening to this several times without even noticing it; gliding from the fading ends of the EP, which goes silent for about ten seconds before coming right back to the loop again with the EP’s intro which is a skit of something said in Russian. But what is interesting, is the voice in the skit sounds like a robotic announcer, almost like that weird creatures voice in Star Wars before the sand-speed racing. An imaginative background of electronic phaser effects and other dissonant voices supports the skit as a backdrop and adds to the unusual atmosphere. This random intro, however, does flow well into the meat of the EP which is “Bong of Satan”, being one hell of track as well as a name. The track engages with a nice typical groove of bluesy-stoner rock. You’ll hear the vocals of Paul come in with a deep reverb effect that sounds eerily similar to that of vocalist legend Ozzy Osbourne. The high pitched feel of the wails sounds very nice over the prodding style of bassist Andres. The two octave extremes unanimously fuse into one being which can absorbed ever so nicely. Although Ozzy sounds like a clear influence in the vocal department, Paul often forces his vocals into a crusty style that may sometimes be reflective of Phil Anselmo from Pantera.
Adding again to the cohesive nature of “EP”, each track seems to fuse very well into each other; replicating the feel of a one track album rather 6 separate ones. The ending synth-effect of “Bong of Satan” is the same used for the beginning of “1947”; also being another stoner rock track that at first sounds just like its predecessor but the doom-like tempos and drums spell none other than early Sabbath. Continuing with the smooth track transitions, “Trip to Earth” is a tribal, dub-step interlude to the EP’s latter half where “Repatriation of God” comes in with a tasty build up to some more solid stoner rock riffs. An almost minutes length of chill soloing comes in, taking the zone effect to new levels. The drumming styles of Ruslan are conservative in display, but the displays are top notch. Every time he comes in it’s always at the right moments and he may even surprise you from time to time with an odd structure, which may be just what the listener needed at that moment to stay engaged. This track ends up being what anyone should expect and enjoy in the doom-stoner rock availabilities. We’re closed out with “Sun Inside” which apparently serves as the voice of the album that says “I hope you’re high and enjoyed what we shared with you; please look forward to our future releases my brethren.” Basically this track is so chill you could just keep it on repeat and smoke fat dubbies for days, if you’re into that kind of stuff.
Here we have an excellent modern release of doom stoner-rock, favoring more of the stoner rock-chill sides of course. Whether you smoke weed or not, this album is chill, relaxing, and rather enjoyable to say the least. It’s nothing groundbreaking or innovative but they do have a solid sound which explores some interesting territories as mentioned. After all, this is just an EP and they have definitely given a good impression of what they’re capable of and I personally look forward to seeing what they do in the future with all the tools they have been currently utilizing.
