Review: Stone From The Sky ‘Songs From The Deepwater’
I normally get right to work when listening to an album I’m reviewing. I’ll have my notepad open and start jotting down ideas as I listen. That was the plan at least but as I started listening, I put the notepad away and just enjoyed what I was hearing. I’ll review this later I thought and decided to experience the music without criticism. Stone From The Sky’s new album Songs From The Deepwater allows you to get lost in the music easily and that’s exactly what I did.
Back to work. Godspeed is the first track and I feel it’s appropriately named because I get a strong God Is An Astronaut All Is Violent, All Is Bright vibe. It matches both in beautifully played barely broken up leads and full-on intensity with everyone playing their heart out.
They don’t empty the tanks on the first track however. You may think they do with the intro to Le Squinfus as a palm muted riff slowly begins to ring out. A minute and a half later the riff echoes to silence and with the force of a volcanic eruption, the band reaches a new level of intensity that follows suit in Karoshi. At the three-minute mark on this killer track, the music lessens in volume to my favorite guitar tone. That ripped speaker fuzz is heard just enough over the clean riff and the short reverb/delay to let it ring out. I could listen to that all day every day.
Still strictly an instrumental album, The Annapurna Healer begins with a rolling bass undertone and those beatific delayed leads painted on top. Instrumental music used to be hard for me to listen to, but discovering bands such as Earthless, Russian Circles, God Is An Astronaut, Red Sparowes, and now Stone From The Sky, they create these compositions of music that are so interesting, I’m continually looking forward to the next part. The Annapurna Healer continues this excitement by transitioning through many dynamics.
the riff echoes to silence and with the force of a volcanic eruption, the band reaches a new level of intensity…
The next two tracks could essentially be one. City | Angst transitions perfectly into 49.3 Nuances De Fuzz with a droning siren type sound that fades as the riff starts again. Both tracks flawlessly weave the intense with the subtle, creating an epic album that getting lost in is far too easy.
The album could end there, and it would be a solid instrumental piece of art. Stone From The Sky says no that’s too easy. Enter Tawleg, the surprise at the end which turns out to be my favorite. Again, those delicious tones open the track, but this time there are vocals added! The deep, almost spoken words are pleasantly welcome and the little five-note transition that sets up the rest of the band is fantastic. When the bass and drums kick in you feel it. The short song to conclude this album slowly fades out with what sounds like a fuzzed-out self-oscillating delay.
Stone From The Sky formed in 2012, and as I write this review, I’ve only had the pleasure of hearing this album from them, but I will be checking out their back catalog as soon as this last word is typed out.
Label: More Fuzz
Band Links: Official | Facebook | Bandcamp | Instagram
Scribed by: Josh Schneider
