Black Rainbows – Superskull
Origin: Rome / Italy
Release: 09.06.2023
Label: Heavy Psych Sounds
Duration: 59:06
Genre: Stoner Rock
The Italians of Black Rainbows bring us their ninth album Superskull. The band stays true to itself and superficially just plays Stoner Rock.
But on second listening, the shades emerge that the band highlights from the wide range in the genre. It’s the admixture of other ingredients on the album that do Superskull makes it so interesting.
Fast march and motor purring
As expected, the album starts with a really grooving and driving song. nothing up Apocalypse March equates to static march music, it’s just a fast, energetic track. The song you HERE is carried by a simple riff and grooves endlessly.
The knitting pattern of the opener can often be found on the album. The numbers vary in speed and yet there are songs that stand out clearly. Already the second number Superhero Dopeproof carries an immense biker feeling. The rhythm hums and purrs like a Harley over the asphalt.
But Black Rainbows can also write bad numbers. My favorite is the dark one Lone Wolf. The guitars sound massive here and crowd everything out. The voice seems to come from the second row. There is also a lot of fuzz and rhythm changes. Only once on the album is the implementation even more massive.
Monster truck in desert dust
As the name suggests, is Desert Sun the dustiest of all stoner songs on the album. It starts like a monster truck engine slowly starting up. The riffs and the basic idea may sound simple, but it encourages us to bang our heads while keeping this slow and hypnotic groove to the end.
But only pure stoner is not enough for the trio. Black Rainbows also show us a calm and psychedelic side on several occasions. With slowly increasing The Pilgrim Son and the later King Snake the trio switched to acoustic guitars. There are also spacy keyboards to give the whole thing a big cosmos. While The Pilgrim Son ends in a fuzz orgy in the last three minutes, let it King Snake sound acoustic until the end. In addition, this song has something of flamenco with the artful guitar playing and the rhythm and seems so wonderfully fragile.
The colorful mixture as a concept
The quiet, psychedelic concept helps a bit All The Chaos In Mine still godfather. But the song thickens and becomes more intense. Keyboard carpets lie under the singing and the guitar drags itself into the picture for a short time. Megalomania is then purebred stoner again. Initially still reserved, the guitars crowd out the singer and finally have the last word.
What should follow at the end? A summary of the record, of course. Fire In The Sky is the conglomerate of all influences heard so far. Here psychedelic effects mix with groove and stoner to a worthy final firework.
Conclusion
Black Rainbows entangle on Superskull different styles cleverly combined. In addition to killer riffs, dynamics and groove, the record also has psychedelic and dark moments. Superskull has therefore become a successful and not just dusty stoner album. 8 / 10
Line Up
Gabriele Fiori – guitar, vocals
Edoardo Mancini – Bass
Filippo Ragazzoni – Schlagzeug
Tracklist
01. Apocalypse March
02. Superhero Dopeproof
03. Children Of Fire And Sacrifices
04. Cosmic Ride Of The Cristal Skull
05. The Pilgrim Son
06. Till The Outerspace
07. Lone Wolf
08. King Snake
09. Desert Sun
10. All The Chaos In Mine
11. Megalomania
12. Fire In The Sky
Links
Facebook Black Rainbows
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