10,000 YEARS – III
10,000 YEARS – III (INTERSTELLAR SMOKE RECORDS, 2022)
And now, for something completely furious!
Genre: Crushing Stonermetal
Rating: 8/10
As I already remarked lots of bands nowadays, particurarly in the heavy rock scene, are shifting towards doom and stoner soundscapes. Misinterpreting sloppiness, repetitiveness, lack of ideas and inhuman songs’ duration for psichedelia, those groups are seriously attempting at the audience’s reproductive system’s health. It’s not that I can’t stand the genre, mind me. I simply can’t bear the horde of copycats that are clogging a scene that has seen the like of Kyuss, QoTSA and Fu Manchu. I’m gonna have to write more than a few words on that topic sooner or later, but at present it would exceed the purpose of this little review of mine, dear stonedheads. So, with that in mind, it’s always a sight for sore ears (synesthetic pun intended) when someone stands out from the crowd and produces something really remarkable. That’s exactly the case for the swedish trio 10,000 Years, chronicling since 2020 the ill-fated journey through the Milky Way of the Terran class III exploration vessel “Albatross”. The third chapter came out on June 24th, aptly named III, for Interstellar Smoke Records. Lots of goodness coming recently from our friends in Wroclaw, Poland, uh? Keep up the good job guys! Well, the brave crew of the “Albatross” is stranded on a future Earth, right were we left them in 2021 with the monumental II (you missed it? Be kind to yourself and get a copy immediately, I tell you). Things are getting worse for the unlucky explorers and the music makes sure you get it straight, preferably in the face: “Cult Axe” introduces us in a world of immense trouble and life threatening perils, ruled by the thundering rumble of Karlsen’s double bass pedal. Alex Risberg’s vocals are powerful yet strangely odd in a Denis Bélanger almost pleasant way. Next track, “Megafauna”, slows down just a bit but loses none of the savage power that 10,000 Years are capable of unleashing from their vintage-sounding cabinets. Obviously some more traditional stoner cuts are featured, like “Desert of Madness” and “The Green King Rises”, but they never fall into the needlessly-long-and-monotone trap: on the contrary, genuine inspiration and sense of proportion are trademarks for our lads. The only track that really escapes the classic song structure is the closing “To Suns Beyond”, but it does so to provide well-deserved visibility for Erik Palms’ guitar. He takes us on a long, heavy as lead psychedelic journey trhough space and time alongside with the Albatross’ crew towards the unkown, after they managed to “Escape from Earth”, my absolute recommendation alongside with “The Secret of Water” for you little green aliens. The former starts as a mid-tempo stampede and rapidly evolves into a sonic landscape filled with furious vocalisations and slightly dissonant chords, to end in a sensational 3 minutes bass-powered bridge that’ll shake your stereo set’s circuitry beyond remedy. The latter is, instead, an evocative 2-chords intermezzo that kept me hypnotized and reminded me that psichedelia can grow in every rock garden; all it takes is a heart and a pickled brain, and 10,000 Years have plenty of both. Chapeau, folks.
- TRACKLIST:
1) Cult Axe
2) Megafauna
3) Desert of Madness
4) The Secret of Water
5) The Green King Rises
6) Il Cattivo
7) Escape from Earth
8) To Suns Beyond
- Line-up:
Erik Palm: Guitars
Alex Risberg: Bass, Vocals
Espen Karlsen: Drums
Web: https://www.facebook.com/TenThousandyrs
Article by: Karl Eisenmann