As soon as the listener presses the button, the opening piece Planet Drifter greets the listener with a stoner-progressive instrumental and powerful vocals that carry throughout the remaining eight pieces.
Vampire Witch Reptilian Super Soldier… runs for over forty-three minutes, spread across nine songs, that embodies this heavy fuzz-fuelled odyssey. Vampire Witch Reptilian Super Soldier… takes the listener on a wild lyrical journey (always with a wink) about stoned witches, vengeful buffaloes, roaming mammoths, and lost space travellers, deliberately omitting no stoner rock clichés. Combined with an examination of serious topics such as meritocracy, climate change, and conspiracy theories, the record also aims to strike a critical note.
Vampire Witch Reptilian Super Soldier, is a fruit of art release, where the songwriting feels unhurried, with each composition timed perfectly, allowing every band member to shine in their role. And within this composition and arrangement showcases a blend of instrumental composition, devilmanship, and musical artistry embodying a captivating journey. Characterized by providing the listener’s ears with an instrumental composition that includes dual guitar work of Manuel Ciofalo and Janek Huschke that’s saturated the music with heavy stoner-progressive, desert rock, and distorted riffs/psychedelic-laden soundscapes.
This combination forms a formidable wall of sound that merges intense power with psychedelic and spacy melodies and interludes, enriching their music with depth and texture. Tobias Rickli heavy doom-bass playing, often at the forefront, adds a sense of weight and richness, harmonizing effortlessly with the guitars and drums. Alexander Streit’s drum work serves as a solid foundation, delivering a dynamic and powerful groove that propels the music forward while enhancing the band’s heavy, otherworldly fuzz-fuelled odyssey atmosphere.
Over on vocals, is Timo Dinter providing the music with raw and gritty vocals, exuding a powerful and spherical quality. Meanwhile, the synths elevate their psychedelic essence, weaving an atmospheric layer that evokes a sense of space and mystique throughout their songs.
Vampire Witch Reptilian Super Soldier, emerges as a formidable collection that weaves together various musical influences, echoing the essence of bands like Beastwars, the stoner doom outfit hailing from New Zealand. The soundscape is enriched with nods to Kyuss and Acid Witch, and a few others, creating a fusion of psychedelic and space rock that captivates the senses. A standout moment occurs in one track, where a synth passage strikingly evokes the legendary melody of The Animals‘ “House of the Rising Sun,” inviting listeners to discover it for themselves.
What truly sets this band and their album apart is their ability to command attention; each song reveals a distinct blend of sounds, moods, and tempos that contribute to an enthralling auditory journey.
As the album comes to a closing piece, The Last Smoke. As the music weeps away, we would like to thank The Metallist PR for allowing us to review Gentle Beast and their album, Vampire Witch Reptilian Super Soldier.
