Acid King 3, 2005

The world of stoner rock and doom metal is not just a sub genre, but a different world unto itself at times. It's not always a world that everyone will want to visit because it can be an acquired taste and fortunately I have acquired a liking for this style of music. There are plenty of bands who know how to bring the big heavy slow riffs, but I think the real key is controlling the riffs and doing something different with them instead of just having them sit there. San Francisco's Acid King are a three piece that have existed for thirteen years. Even though I have not heard all of their material, I have heard enough to know that they have really progressed and that this album is the best recording I have heard from them. Like other similar bands they create a huge, heavy riff that I imagine as a wall because it stays there and is very much in the forefront of the music. What Acid King do differently is that instead of all of the instruments being the part of one wall, that the guitar creates the wall and then behind the wall the drums stay active and sometimes the bass lines come in and out of the foreground. While all of this is going on, the haunting vocals of Lori S. ride with the music rather than above or behind it like a number of other bands playing this style of music. I think the greatest strength of this band is that they have found a way to be incredibly heavy, but maintain a groove at the same time and I do not think for a moment that this is an easy task to accomplish.
Acid King are more like a stoner band than a doom band because they really have more of a fuzzy, muted psychedelic sound. However they are very structured and the songs are tight overall as far as this style of music goes. You can feel your head bobbing with the music because it just comes naturally once you lower your guard and just let this album overtake you. It's probably not for everyone and it may not be something that could listen to all the time. On 3 Acid King have taken their influences from the 70's and blended them with what they have been doing for over a decade. I think now they are really not only coming into their own, but rising above a lot of other bands that are in the same vein.

In other news Dream Theater defeated Queensryche in the battle of the bands. There will be another battle of the bands next month. I finally bought some cd's that have come out in 2006. I got the Sword's Age of winters and Pentagram's First daze here too. Well, the Pentagram thing isn't actually new material as it's all from 70's but this 2 cd collection was just released this month. I have only gotten to hear a song or two off of each so maybe I will review them here once I get to listen to the whole thing.