Review: Dead Meadow ‘Voyager To Voyager’
Back in June of 2022 I went to the 1720 Club in East Los Angeles to review Heavy Psych Sounds Fest where Nebula and Dead Meadow were playing. While I have fond memories of that show, I cannot help but look back in a more somber tone. Not only did Nebula bassist Tom Davies pass away from cancer in 2023, Dead Meadow bassist Steve Kille would follow him the next year.
Mortality looms around us at all times, and we do what we can with the time we are afforded. But I believe that celebration should be a part of mourning and remembrance, so it seems fitting that Dead Meadow’s last recording with Kille should be treated with joy and reverence of the man’s final work.
Voyager To Voyager kicks off with the grooving and upbeat The Space Between. It’s classic Dead Meadow with guitarist/vocalist Jason Simon’s lush Robin Trower-esque guitar, Kille’s steady bass and drummer Mark Laughlin’s circular drumbeats creating a sound that moves the head and the heart.
While Dead Meadow have experimented with shoegaze (2005’s Feathers) and darker, more introspective psychedelic rock (2022’s Force Form Free), I think they sound their strongest with this blues rock setting. Simon’s distinctive and somewhat nasally vocals color the sonic backdrop with their own instrumentation, and the melodies are so warm and bright with some proggy staccato playing towards the song’s conclusion.
Not The Season feels reminiscent of 2008’s Old Growth with a pastoral swing, while some crunchy organ backs up the awesome The Unhounded Now with pure bell-bottom badassery. A Wave Away has a steady plod, like a singular march off into the Badlands. This album has some of the strongest production of any Dead Meadow record and Simon’s multiple guitar tracks help keep a great balance between lead and rhythm with Kille’s bass lines accompanying him every step of the way.
It brims with bluesy emotion, melodic deftness and a sense of ambition…
Harmonized vocals mark A Question Of Will with a mildly menacing rhythm punctuated with some wah pedal goodness, but the higher tempo’d Dead Tree Shake is a great tune for moving down the road, whether it be by car, bicycle, skateboard or whatever floating vehicle you can invent. Small Acts Of Kindness is marked by that signature psychedelic sleepiness that Dead Meadow does so well while the closer is the eight-plus minute title track, and I couldn’t help but find myself getting a wee bit emotional by its end.
Steve Kille is gone, but his legacy lives on in such a fantastic record. As a longtime fan, I can easily say this is one of their best albums to date. It brims with bluesy emotion, melodic deftness and a sense of ambition. Not that Dead Meadow are slouches in the studio, it feels like a lot of effort went into these eight songs and it definitely shows.
Voyager To Voyager is a great record with an albeit troubled backstory in an already troubled year, but it’s a voyage I cannot recommend nearly enough. Rest In Peace Steve, we will see you on the other side of the Sleepy Silver Door…
Label: Heavy Psych Sounds
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram
Scribed by: Rob Walsh
