MISTY MORNING (Saint Shroom) 12"
This is Misty Morning's second release on Doomanoid Records. I must admit that I do not own their debut EP. I had listened to a few songs and samples online but it seems like it did not catch me enough to get the EP. I think I remember thinking "Nice but not my thing at the moment". Lucky as I am sometimes, not often though, Klaus provided me with this promo of the Italian's 12 inch, 2 track, vinyl release. Cause what I hear here is really good shit. Damn good shit. 'Saint Shroom', a 12+minute long track, that makes the A-Side, starts with a dark cello riff that is then taken over by guitars. Heavy Doom, I think and hope it would not become too boring. Boy was I wrong when I first listened.
Quickly the song shifts into some in-your-face Stoner Rock riff, adds some electronics and the harshly sung vocals and it got me rocking. After a few minutes the song changes again. Another heavy part with spoken words sets in and shows us that Doom reigns here; slow, creeping, destroying Doom. Right after the chorus a quiet part of electronic sounds follows. Now you can dream away until the song once more slowly changes into a Psychedelic Rock mood. All these changes during the song are done so well there is never any harsh break but it all flows together well. 'Jellotron' on the other side of the vinyl clocks in at 10 minutes. It is starting quietly with a bit of drums and very little guitar in the background. But once the guitars get louder, drums and riffs combine to a good slow Doom Rock groove. A little piece of acoustic guitar breaks into the Doom Rock riffs to give 'Jellotron' a little western mood. Some synth sounds are included as well to increase the 70s mood in this song that the title track has as well.
But generally this song does not change the moods as much as 'Saint Shroom' does. Nevertheless the song works well enough in its entirety as well and I never felt bored. The mix of the more diverse 'Saint Shroom', that evokes the spirit of 70s Prog Rock, and the doomy 'Jellotron' makes for a very good 12 inch release here. The production is more than okay. The fact that guitarist El Brujo Luke has no beautiful voice but reminds more of Lee Dorrian's way of singing fits very well with the music. I say, this is a release you have to check out. Why? Because this is one of the best releases I heard this year.
(Thorsten Frahling)