Los Angeles – The latest band to join the recent trend of psych bands that sound a lot more like Hawkwind than The Grateful Dead is Philadelphia-based three-piece Ecstatic Vision. Signed to Relapse Records following an impressive demo tape and a reputation for a frenetic live show, Sonic Praise is the band’s first full-length release. It was recorded in late 2014 and features Jordan Crouse on percussion and drums, Douglas Sabolick on guitar, vocals and Hammond B3, and Michael Connor on the bass.
Kicking off Sonic Praise’s 38-minute exaltation of all things auditory is an intro of ethereal, feminine chants; slowly, a bludgeoning riff emerges from the depths of the swirling background, hypnotically guiding the classic sludge-metal groove. Eventually, some gruff and Southern-swilled vocals enter the mix, growling alongside the rest of the sludge. At this point, “Journey” has done little to discern Ecstatic Vision from the myriad heavy psych bands that have been popping up in the early 2010’s. But at the 2:00 mark, a Hammond B3 flourish is all it takes to move the band’s sound into more exotic territory.
Of all the pieces that separate Ecstatic Vision from the rest of their doom-psych ilk, Ecstatic Vision’s focus on percussion gives them a self-described “primal” sound. While the entire album features common genre elements like extended passages of breakneck guitar soloing ala Hawkwind on “Astral Plane”, each song adds something a little different to avoid falling into outright metal clichés – the aforementioned “Astral Plane” throws in a wildly flailing sax-flute solo about three-quarters of the way in. These small sonic flourishes give the band an elusively inimitable sound among their peers.
Heavy psych singers fall into a range of styles; Jus Oborn of Electric Wizard simply screams out the band’s pot-addled anthems; Ethan Miller of Comets on Fire takes a more hallucinogenic technique, turning the reverb up to 11; Al Cisneros of Sleep simply lets out a hellish bellow. For Ecstatic Vision, Sabolick takes the vocals to an unexpected and intriguing place, directly channeling Rob Zombie from La Sexorcisto: Devil Music, Vol. 1-era White Zombie. While it may bring up bad memories of the nu-metal bands that were spawned in White Zombie’s wake, it is actually a net positive contribution to the band’s sound; Sabolick’s vocals give the tracks an added swagger that is an excellent complement to the groove-metal instrumentation.
Despite the vocals having an appealing sound, the lyrics are a bit trite. Lines like “I think about you all day baby / if people open dem’ eyes / they would also like to try you lady / so get us all fuckin’ high,” and “Don’t kill, kill the vibe / Just chill, take your time / sit back, close your eyes / Drift up, toward the sky” may be the perfect cloudy-headed stoner mantras, but they sound as if they were thrown on top of the completed instrumental tracks as a last-minute afterthought. Of course, considering that it is pretty obvious lyrics are a lower-level element of Ecstatic Vision’s sonic ambitions, it is hard to penalize the band much for this quibble.
Ecstatic Vision has a pair of shows on the East Coast playing alongside their fellow-Philadelphians Mutoid. They will be in Richmond, VA at Gallery5 on June 30 and Harrisonburg, VA at The Golden Pony on July 1.
For more information on these dates or any future tours, head over to Ecstatic Vision ’s Bandcamp site.
Matt Matasci
Latest posts by Matt Matasci (see all)
- The Shelters Perfects Rock and Roll at Bardot - June 30, 2016
- Featured Artist: The Shelters - June 8, 2016
- Andrew Bird Charms Los Angeles with Fiona Apple - May 18, 2016
