[Review] Tombstone Eyes – Land in the sky

Tombstone Eyes are an American Psychedelic Stoner Prog band with Bluesy and Spacey reminiscences. In 2018 they released a demo with two tracks, which will be re-played to be included in their debut “Land in the sky.” The album contains 7 medium-long songs, including a 16-minute epic, released on January 1, 2020 on Akashic Records and available in Limited LP and Digital. “Hydrogen fog” is a short-lived intro with a penetrating organ and drum inserts that burst here and there. “Solar bange” is a song of over 16 minutes, immersed in a gloomy psychedelic atmosphere with organ, guitar and treated voice. A mixture of Hendrixian guitars, Vincent Crane’s style keyboards, the bass lines are repeated and hypnotic, with the drum sinking in the head with each stroke. In the second part, a sudden change makes the structure more intricate with a speed up rhythm and a good prolonged guitar solo. “Procession of the sun” is closer to the Stoner-Doom sounds with the organ making the atmosphere sinister with a vowel that accentuates its tone. In the central part, a change increases the rhythm and enters the synth that duets with the organ, then return to the main theme and close with the last vocal verses. “Hungry ghost” always has an occult tone and the guitars are reminiscent of the late ‘60s and the first Progressive works on horseback with the 70s. Mainly focused on the guitar, in the background they still create good layers of dark keyboards. “Black knight sastellite” begins with spatial and atmospheric keyboards, then evolves between sampled voices and synths. Halfway through, a change takes us to the second part where all the instruments enter and develop a gloomy and spacey theme that takes us to the next track. “Walking shadows” is another basically spatial song, with the addition of Brandon Eric to the saxophone which enhances the sound. A journey into hyperspace that recalls the sounds of Hawkwind, with a development that increases its intensity becoming more progressive. A beautiful song, one of the best moments of the album which closes with “Showman’s rest” made of vocal samples and a message with the vocal upside down, particular. A band that offers psychedelic sounds with different influences, showing the various facets that the genre can have. Well executed and with some interesting ideas, it slides the rhythm session with bass lines. An album for lovers of modern Psychedelic sounds, close to the Stoner and with Space inserts and dark atmospheres. The band doesn’t add new things to the genre, but offers a good test with a well-trimmed and executed album.

Tracklist

1. Hydrogen Fog (01:38)
2. Solar Barge (16:06)
3. Precession of The Sun (04:41)
4. Hungry Ghosts (06:56)
5. Black Knight Satellite (04:02)
6. Walking Shadows (08:57)
7. Showman’s Rest (01:41)

Lineup

Brownstone / Bass, Organ, Synth & Vocals 
John Brown / Lead Guitar 
Mustafa Daka / Drums & Percussion 
Jason Sipe / Bass

Tombstone Eyes |Bandcamp|Facebook Page|

Akashic Records Unlimited |Facebook Page|

Author: Jacopo Vigezzi

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