DEEP SPACE DESTRUCTORS

Amazing. One day you've never heard of a band, the next day they're in the most popular artists of the last 24hrs list on the front page of this site and you've found a new epic band to sink your teeth into.

I'm currently listening to this album for the first time and I can already tell this band is a winner. When it first started it had a sort of raw quality to it and I was hoping that it would kick in with huge production. And it doesn't do that at all, but that is so alright.

The album quickly immerses the listener into hypnotic, driving, psychedelic, stoner-rock dripping with synth drones and spacey effects. The overall effect is quite captivating and while there is a lot going on it doesn't feel crowded or rushed. The vocal are great and suit the music perfectly, the lyrics I could decipher are pretty cool. Bass, drums and guitars are all doing various interesting things at times ranging from straightforward rocking out to quite intricate moments. The vocals, guitar and bass make good use of different effects with the guitar especially having some great dynamic switching between clean and distorted riffs.

The production is raw but has clarity and while it is dense it has a nice wide sound stage and all the layers are audible. The instruments sit well together and there is a lot of dynamic interplay that helps glue everything together. Nice long songs that flow well and delve into introspective moments of even deeper immersion.

I almost don't want to rate it because it's current rating of 4.20 is actually perfect. I'll give it a four, not quite a masterpiece but still a really good listen.

DEEP SPACE DESTRUCTORS new album 'Psychedelogy' contains somewhat very classic space rock stuff, I would say, this including some distinct Hawkwind references. Where the offshoot project Oulu Space Jam Collective is operating with loose improvs mostly, akin to Oresund Space Collective for example, this is a trip augmented with more structured song material. They are a trio basically, that means the standard instrumentation comprised of guitar, bass and drums. Though always will be supported by some like-minded friends, mainly catering for additional percussion, spacey synths and diverse effects. Four songs are given here, precisely fitting for a vinyl production.

Shortly after the heavy lift-off Journey To The Space Mountain shows them underway with a proper groove furthermore. Spacemind appears thoroughly mixed up with more mellow and melodic sentiment. Petri Lassila's guitar work is stellar above all. The closing highlight From The Ashes proves this in particular due to a wide range in style. A multi-tracked performance, garnered with soaring moments, many delay effects and indo/raga appeal caused by a sitar. And so 'Psychedelogy' stands for a proper genre album overall, space rock connoisseurs won't be disappointed when making a grab for this one, 3.5 stars.

The third album by the Northern Finnish space rock trio features also Olli Niemitalo on black deck (I presume it means electronics). If the second album's Art Nouveau styled cover art wasn't exactly suitable to the music, as good-looking as it is, the wild, literally head-exploding, rainbow coloured, nightmarish front picture of III is doubtlessly closer to the essence of this Psychedelic Space Rock that can be referred as heavy stoner rock too.

The opening track 'Beyond the Black Star' (the shortest of the five) is really pure and satisfying Space Rock: it has a sharp edge and rock power, but the hardness doesn't take over the spaceyness. The vocals, which to me are the weak link of this band, appear only slightly in the background and without lyrics. The next 9-minute song has a lot of those blurry, angry vocals I'm not fond of at all. Luckily the instrumentally oriented slower section starting in the middle improves the track notably.

'Cosmic Burial' has a deeply psychedelic instrumental intro, reminding me of Saucerful of Secrets era PINK FLOYD, until the heavier sound and the vocals enter. I guess one has to enjoy Heavy Rock not to be disappointed with these elements on DSD's music. 'An Ode to Indifferent Universe' is the longest track (15:12) and also the most progressive. The vocals are not so blurry, and the less-heavy playing has a spacey atmosphere. The rhythm patterns are quite variable too.

The final, Finnish-language track 'Ikuinen alku' (= Eternal Beginning) starts with a brief, preaching speech about our planet's doom. The song itself is not among the highlights. Well, I guess as a whole this one isn't clearly better than the second, even if there are stronger moments. Surely this can be recommended for friends of hard-rocking Psych/Space that don't mind unsophisticated vocals.

This aptly named space rock trio comes from Oulu, Northern Finland. They operate without a producer or a record company, but don't let that give you serious prejudices for their releases. "II" is the first one to have a length of an album - though only 38:12 - , containing four 8 to 11 -minute tracks. First off, what a great cover art and package design! The artist's name can't be found (why?) but the decorative style is influenced by Alfons Mucha and Art Nouveau. Of course it may be debatable how well that beautiful style fits into masculine guitar rock. A little minus for the lack of information texts.

'Beneath the Black Star' starts delicately with moody guitar chords; gradually the steady drum beat gets louder until the tempo slows down a bit and the heavy space rock takes off the ground, so to speak. The angry-ish, rather low vocals increase the feel of Heavy / Metal, and I don't like them myself. Thankfully the vocals are quite sparse and don't try to steal the show. There's some attempt to form powerful vocal harmonies (bassist's vocals backed up by the guitarist) which is good, even though they remain very modest.

'Deserted Planet 2078' has a relaxed, slow rhythm to start with. The bass melodies are nicely audible and the electric guitar has a pleasant bright tone. The sparse vocals are not as angry as on the opener but I don't think they much improve this track which would have worked fine as an instrumental too. 'Spacy Phantasy' has cool, psychedelic echo effects in the beginning, both on guitar and on the voice repeating "hah... ha - hah..". Later on the vocals get slightly more central, but the hazy section starting midway dives deep into spacey spychedelia and makes the track clearly more interesting than the two preceding it. The echoed guitar reappears near the end, resembling certain moments on the '2112' epic by RUSH.

'Sykli' changes into Finnish language. The esoteric lyrics could almost be by PEKKA STRENG. At first the vocals are backed by guitar only, but the atmosphere stays relatively light when the rhythm section joins the playing. But this is the longest track, so the song-oriented, lighter approach is only one side to it. The sound gets heavier and stuffier towards the end. A pity actually, since this only makes all four tracks resemble each other more. Indeed this album could have had much more variety (especially between tracks) and also more of that freshness in sound that appears only here and there. The band improved on their next album.

2014's DSD release manages to top their wonderful previous work with some really hard and excellent space. The band shed their smoother side that was shown on "II" in favour of a rockier, more stoner sound, and it works. This sounds like being in the midst of a psycadelic explosion in slow motion. "Beyond The Black Star" will grab your attention immediately, and the album won't let go until it says all it wishes to say. Olli Niemitalo joins with a black deck, adding to the band's sound and range. And the guitar is just plain perfect the whole time. One of the years best releases, your head will explode too.

Deep Space Destructors are a Finnish space rock band with a few good tunes to share. This second outing is a wonderful trip through a take on space indebted to 35007 and some of the mores of classic rock, with singing reminiscent of Alice in Chains, only often leaning towards sounding like the vocals of a doom metal band. "Beneath The Black Star" starts off by nicely showing off their unique take on this group of influences, with a willingness to go from mellow and even atmospheric to somewhat darker and harder riffs. Each track hence then mixes up the style at least a bit, with "Spacy Phantasy" eschewing their mellow side, and the concluding track, "Sykli", leaving behind their usual English lyrics to break out their native Finnish. All in all an excellent album, with the band putting out great work early in their career. Recommended.