Deadsmoke - Forest Of The Damned - 7

Labels: Let It Bleed
Review by: Alex Deller

Name and sleeve led me to think this would be some blackened sludgy thing, but Deadsmoke plough an entirely different furrow. Sure, it’s murky and monochromatic, but the stoned motorik vibes the A-side opens up into suggests the likes of Neu! and Hawkwind rather than anything throwing devil horns. While this one’s the kind of woozy, blissful effort that could easily stretch to half an hour without me batting a tired eyelid, the flip is rather more standard: the riffs roll in and the vocals deployed are a rather stock roar … a mix of Isis and Ufomammut that’s easy enough to digest but isn’t quite as enveloping as the more experimental tendencies displayed elsewhere.