Friday 20 March 2015

Satori Junk - S/T (Album Review)

Satori Junk cover art

Album Type: Album
Date Released: 25th February 2015
Label: Taxi Driver Records

Satori Junk – S/T – Track Listing

1.T.T.D. 08:10
2.Spooky Boogie 08:26
3.Monsters 09:23
4.Shamaniac 09:03
5.Blessed Are The Bastards 05:34
6.Ritual 09:19
7.Lord Of The Pigs 09:18
8.Queen Ant Jam 11:25

Bio

Year 2012. Satori Junk was born in Milan (Italy) among the dense fog and the smoke of the urban waste landfills. Four members: guitar, bass, drums, vocals & synth. An acid cocktail full of fuzz and electronics. The music is inspired by the typical sonorities of cult bands as Black Sabbath and Electric Wizard.

Rough sounds, repetitive and loud overwhelming riffs and lyrics coming from dreams, hangover nightmares and horror movie atmospheres. There is no claim to create something innovative. The band's main idea is to trap the listener in their rabid and uncomfortable distorted world.

Band Members

Luke - Vocals / Synth
Chris - Guitars
Lorenzo - Bass
Max - Drums
Alessandro - Roadie & Merch-man

Review:

Satori Junk is a band that could only ever come from the Italian Metal Scene as Italian bands have a different perspective compared to other countries when it comes to music. I've noticed over the last few years that Italian Sludge/Stoner Metal bands are the most adventurous and ones are willing to take more risks with their to music to sound different to everyone else. 

Though that brings me to Satori Junk - an intriguing and exciting band who blends Sludge, Stoner, Space Rock, Fuzz, and Doom with a huge amount of Drone to impress you with. Their S/T debut album is one weird and trippy musical odyssey where the band will confuse and frustrate many while entertaining a whole lot more within the Sludge/Stoner Metal world. Opening track - TTD - is an experimental force of nature with the band showing people what their sound is all about. Drone based vocals with layers of distorted Fuzz is the main driving force with far-out there psych Sludge/Stoner style riffs with the band playing some heavy Doom Metal carnage with a sense of originality to boot as well. When Satori Junk add a 60s style piano into the mix, your musical senses will go into overdrive with sheer joy and excitement. Satori Junk say heck to convention as Satori Junk play by their own rules.

Second track - Spookie Boogie - is a very creepy affair with noises and sounds combining with Doom and Gloom atmospherics giving you another exciting dark tale to play at full blast. This song is a very bass heavy affair and the vocal delivery is simply stunning at times. The album is very psychedelic and should appeal to fans of Church of Misery, Black Sabbath and Electric Wizard. This album is runs for an epic listen at 71 minutes or so. Some of the songs run from 8 mins to almost 12 mins in length. So if you dig Progressive Sludge/Stoner Metal songs then this album will appeal to you. As I said before it's very experimental as the band aren't afraid to throw in a jazz-rock beat-down here and there.

Though it's the louder Sludge/Stoner Metal riffs that are the main draw here especially on 3rd track - Monsters. A superb track that ranks as one of the albums standout tracks. The vocals will take a while to get used to as they have quite a distorted effect and a feeling the vocals are being projected from another time or dimension. You will understand when you hear the album. Though it works for the context of the whole album as Satori Junk impress through out. It's good that they have written epic songs compared to shorter songs as it gives the band more time to build more heavy atmospherics for their overall sound to work.

Volume is the key for Satori Junk and they need a lot of time and space to build upon that sound. When everything comes together, the album becomes a very exciting place to be and you're part of the action. Fourth Track - Shamaniac - is another crazy ride into the unknown which opens with another creepy soundbyte before some inspired Church Of Misery guitar worship appears and these psychedelic rockers put your entire body through another round of heavy punishing slow-paced riffs. Yeah this album is a challenging album to listen to at times but at least Satori Junk has the courage to release something epic and different to anybody else.

I will be here all day if I start reviewing all of the albums 8 songs but the first 4 songs will tell you what to expect for the rest of the album. Crazy, experimental, progressive, psychedelic, Sludge/Stoner Metal riffs that will test your patience to the limit though you will justly be rewarded with a real satisfying experience you will find very hard to beat. Wait until you experience the final two songs - Lords Of The Pigs and Queen Ant Jam - which ranks as the best 20 minutes of the album. This is where the band go for broke and impress you with more superb droned out vocals and even crazier & heavier riffs to match. It brings this epic album to an almighty finish. This isn't an album for the casual listener.

This is an album for people who like to be challenged and work hard for their musical rewards. I loved it mainly for it's crazy nature and how the band are willing to take risks and succeed at every turn. This is a must have album. Excellent and Highly Recommended.

Thanks to Sara from Taxi Driver Records for the promo. Satori Junk S/T debut album is now available to buy from Taxi Driver Records.

Words by Steve Howe

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