De Kopenhaagse heavy psych doom band Lucid Grave dropte een weekje geleden de tweede single en meteen ook titeltrack van hun op 15 juli verschijnende Cosmic Mountain. De eerste single liet ik aan me voorbijgaan. Ik ben nu eenmaal een album-man. In een kwestie van toch enigszins bij te blijven met wat kwaliteitshuis Electric Valley Records op stapel staan heeft, besloot ik deze dan toch maar eens aan een luisterbeurt te onderwerpen. En ja hallo, zeg! Wat een crusher is me deze 11 minuten durende trip!
Totaal onbekend als ik was met het vijftal was het even slikken wanneer de huilerige vocalen van Malene de track inzetten. Ik kan me voorstellen dat sommigen hier meteen op afknappen. Mij intrigeerde het echter. Mateloos zelfs. Het was dus een makkie om me over die excentrieke en minder toegankelijke stemkleur heen te zetten. Wat originaliteit is een plus verdorie. Ik stel dus voor even door te bijten, want het went. En snel. Na een rustige opbouw barst de song na goed 2 minuten en 40 seconden uit zijn voegen. Loodzwaar. Het gooide me zelfs even terug naar Anathema ten tijde van Serenades, maar dan zonder de grunts. En toen dacht ik: yep, I dig this. Zwaar als een os en tegelijkertijd meanderend doorheen elementen uit psych, space en desert rock sleept het nummer zich in elke positieve betekenis naar zijn einde. Als doom niet sleept ... weet u wel? Lichtverteerbaar is het niet, maar 15 juli staat met stip in de agenda!
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The Danish heavy psych quintetLucid Gravehas shared the title track from their impending debut LP,Cosmic Mountain. The album will be out on15 July 2022viaElectric Valley Recordson vinyl (four editions) alongside the availability on the digital/streaming platforms.
States Lucid Grave on the single:
“‘Cosmic Mountain’ is Lucid Grave’s heaviest number to date. A doomy and psychedelic song with tense, brooding, and haunting vocals. It has an intense and fragile mood in the build-up that is accentuated by a low and eerie bass. Then a clap of thunder strikes as the drums enter, and the guitars get louder as we travel deeper and deeper into the cosmic mountain. The song describes the beauty of the fragile and scary things we must go through to get to know ourselves. And in this instance, the green goddess of psychedelic drugs is helping you on your journey. You must let go of everything!” Lucid Grave is a dark heavy psychedelic band with stoner-doomy tendencies from Copenhagen, Denmark. Sonically, Lucid Grave is a boiling pot of heavy fuzz rock likeBlack Sabbath/Coven/Hawkwindand ‘80s punk likeBlack Flag/The Nuns/The Gun Club, all wrapped up in a nice blanket of modern heavy stoner rock and doom. Honoring the howling occult cinema of the ‘80s, Lucid Grave finds inspiration in everything that’s heavy, filthy, and free!
They emerged from the underground communal house and punk venue Ungdomshuset in the dying days of 2017. A few months later, in 2018, they released a self-titled demo and spent the next few years playing shows around Denmark with bands such asHigh Priestess, Cities of Mars, The Gates of Slumber, andHeathe, while making more materials as well. In 2020 Copenhagen label Virkelighedsfjern released Lucid Grave’s EP calledGoddess of Misery, a venture that was seriously disrupted by the coronavirus outbreak — which meant no shows for a while. That time was instead spent on writing materials for their first full-length album. In 2021 they released a single called “Surfer Bat,” an upbeat ‘70s heavy Rock song with a twist of gothic punk vibes and a dash of Latin music. It caught the attention of the Italian heavy psych label Electric Valley Records.
Cosmic Mountain, the debut LP of Lucid Grave, is a journey through your favorite drugs of life, the highs, and the lows, being chased through the desert and fighting a haze of demons. The album was recorded live and over-dubbed in just three days at the beginning of 2022. As it was with the previous single, “Surfer Bat,” Patrick Fragtrup was again behind the mixing board for the session, and it is clear that there has developed an understanding between him and the band as this record sounds both huge and fierce without losing any clarity or energy from the group. The project was finished by Shane Trimble of High Reeper at his California studio.
OnCosmic Mountain, the eclectic inspirations of Lucid Grave come together in a new way. This is the first time they have released a long project, and the six songs on the album make for a coherent listen despite changes in style and tempo. From dusty desert blues to slow, heavy doom over straight-up space rock, this album takes many detours but lands safely because of the consistent production and the overarching lyrical themes. The lyrics on the album deal with the spiritual struggles of finding yourself and your place in this world. Sometimes these struggles are seen from the outside, sometimes they are described as demons, but most often, they are seen through the lens of drug use. Here you return to the picture of theCosmic Mountainas the explorational grounds of the intronaut on her journey of self-discovery.
So come with Lucid Grave on this journey deeper and deeper…..
