SORCIA debut album

Greetings from The Swamp. Fuzzy hopes this review finds you safe and practicing social isolation. Each of us has to protect those around us.

The PNW strikes yet again with its special blend of heavy psych music. This time it's the debut album from Seattle's SORCIA. This trio puts the "heavy" into their music with generous head-crushing dollops of sludge, grunge, stoner, and metal. Oh, let's not pass over the tons of doom and blues. Too many tags? Not when it's this good. On top of all the bone-crunching heaviness, the vocals on this beast are as mind-boggling as they are soul-destroying. We've got not only a variation of styles by the main vocalist (and guitarist) Neal De Atley with some sludge, some clean, and some blues. But we've also got the blending with bassist Jessica Brasch who mixes in her soulful and haunting singing. Check out SORCIA s/t:


When an album delivers this much great tunage, it's not cool to pick out some favorites, but let me just say that the vocals on "Coffin Nails" are so satisfying that it's hard not to hit that single-repeat button. But let this ripping album finish to the end where more delights await your hungry soul.

"I know what Hell is and I won't be a slave .... When you know the truth, you know the lies."

The Mrs. Cracklins' mini review: "I bet this band delivers a great live show." Indeed. And hopefully Sorcia will be able to hit the road again sooner than later.


Sorcia band is from Seattle with the members:

• Neal De Atley: Guitar/Vocals
• Jessica Brasch: Bass/Vocals
• Bryson Marcey: Drums

From the band:

SORCIA hails from the Snoqualmie Valley in the Eastern outskirts of Seattle, Washington. After solidifying their lineup in 2018, SORCIA hit the ground running, releasing a two-song demo in January 2019. 

Combining blues-laden groovy riffs into the raw heaviness of doom metal with the added dynamic of dual vocals, they deliver their own method of Pacific Northwest heavy stoner sludge metal. Since release of their demo, SORCIA has been performing live shows nearly non-stop around the PNW, with an increased abundance as we fully dive into 2020.

Check out the digital and CD & shirts from Sorcia on Bandcamp, and remember now is the time to support the bands you love as much as you are able to:

LUNAR SWAMP "UnderMudBlues" EP

If you think Fuzzy is going to dig the debut EP from a doom blues band named LUNAR SWAMP with deep roots in the Italian doom scene, then you would be absolutely correct. Lunar Swamp has dropped half an hour of fuzzy riffage with vocals that could only come from the darkest, dankest depths of The Swamp. These five songs will leave your ears dripping with swamp moss and reaching for your jug of Bayou rum, and paddling your boat across the fetid waters to your next crawdad boil. Have a listen to UnderMudBlues from Italy's Lunar Swamp:


The fuzzy riffs, the clean guitar solos, the effects ... all of these combine to make an excellent heavy blues EP. But what puts it over the top are the vocals. The slow, bluesy delivery combined with the dark gloominess just kills it.

Play this album on repeat. One listen is not going to be enough.

Looking for an album to spin at your next swamp party? UnderMudBlues is it.

Worried there's not enough Southern blues on here? Check out the harmonica and jaw harp. And the atmospheric effects.

Fuzzy's Favorite track on UnderMudBlues is "Green Swamp" not only for the cool title but because it captures the band's heavy blues with the best of its haunting vocals. Check out the video for Green Swamp on YouTube:


The Mrs. Cracklins' mini-review:

• Haunting vocals
• Soulful rock with harmonica
• Powerful bass
• Excellent soundtrack for Happy Hour

Lunar Swamp has its roots in BRETUS, an Italian doom outfit dating back to 2000. Be sure to check them out, here's my review, you will dig their music if you are digging Lunar Swamp.


Lunar Swamp hails from Italy's Catanzaro Stone Mountain with the members:

• Mark Wolf: Vox, Harmonica, Fx
• Machen: High and Low Guitars
• S.M. Ghoul: Drums

MELLOWBEAST debut trip "Hyperion"

I hope this review finds you & your loved ones & friends safe and calm. At least we still have great music to enjoy. It's well known that Fuzzy loves his psych rock. (Hello, The Lancasters and Trahir.) So imagine my delight as I started listening to the debut album "Hyperion" from Belfast's MELLOWBEAST. This is the absolute essence of what psych rock is to me: fuzzy riffs laced with spaced-out guitars and vocals. And a theme to tie all the songs together into an experience. Kick back, open your mind, and let the dreamy vibes of MellowBeast flow over your mind:


The riffs, the guitar work, the vocals ... every psych rock fan is going to love this album.

Some might consider "Hyperion" to be a concept album, which I agree with, or perhaps it might be closer to the mark to say it's thematic or a collection of poetic songs that swirl around the dreams of a fuzzed-out traveler.

Dare I say this album can hold its own against such classics as The Small Faces' "Nut Gone" or other seminal psych albums of the late 60s? Yes, Fuzzy dares to say that.

The Mrs. Cracklins mini review: "Psychedelic Hypnotic" while she's dancing around the Happy Hour floor.

MellowBeast band is from Belfast, UK and has this to say:

From a small bedroom on the border of Northern Ireland, mystical sounds can be heard echoing throughout this sleepy hill town. Mellow Beast is a solo project conceived by Paul Scott with only one mission in mind. To take it's listeners on a sonic journey to distant lands