Spaceslug: Lemanis (2016)
I found Spaceslug on BandCamp, took one look at the fantastical alien world depicted on the cover of their debut album, Lemanis, and knew I simply had to have it!
That didnât change after I streamed its songs online and recognized them as, not some exotic brand of Mollusk Metal, but an all-too-familiar stoner/psych/space/doom/sludge recipe thatâs been done a thousand times by everyone from Kyuss to Los Natas.
What can I say ... I just love this sound.
Problem was, Lemanisâ original vinyl pressing had long since sold out, so I had to track down this used copy in Greece, of all places, after months of patiently stalking Discogs, but here it is, so letâs take off!
Despite their unusual home base of Wroclaw, Poland, Spaceslugâs cosmonauts clearly studied all of the right albums, because the opening tandem of âProton Landerâ and âHypermountainâ ride hallucinatory waves of surging power chord distortion.
Even more lysergic licks, dredged from the best of acid trips, kick off âSupermassive,â and though âGalectelionâ floats away to nowhere, âGrand Orbiterâ refocuses in the best possible way, capped by weed-dazed vocals that fit the mood just perfectly.
âQuintessenceâ is another dreamy interlude, and then weâre into the nine-minute title cut, home to some of the albumâs doomiest riffs, and a fitting final mission in Spaceslugâs maiden voyage.
So bring your bong, but not your salt-shaker (slugs and salt donât mix), and if youâre looking for more Polish stoner rock and doom, might I recommend the spectacularly named Belzebong?
More Spacey Stoner Rock: Acrimonyâs Tumuli Shroomaroom, Belzebongâs Sonic Scapes & Weedy Grooves, Blue Asideâs The White Staff Burned by the Blue Sun, Borisâ Akuma No Uta, Domkraftâs Flood, Dozer's Drifting in the Endless Void, Hashtronaut's No Return, Kyussâ Welcome to Sky Valley, Lowriderâs Ode to Io, Monster Magnetâs Dopes to Infinity, Nebulaâs Let it Burn, Novadriverâs Void, Orange Goblinâs Frequencies from Planet Ten, Sigiriyaâs Return to Earth, Sons of Otisâ SpaceJumboFudge, UFOmammutâs Snailking, Wo Fatâs The Black Code, Yuri Gagarinâs Yuri Gararin.
