Polish stoner doom puffers Belzebong return with their ‘less words, more herbs’ approach on their fourth full-length….the aptly titled ‘The End Is High’.
This instrumental four piece, delightfully named Sheepy, Alky, Cheesy and Hexy, adopt an uncompromising approach to their riff-making yet still roll it with a poignant, and quite frankly wonderful sense of humour. The fact their 2021 live EP, recorded in Oslo, is called ‘De Mysteriis Dope Sathanas’ pretty much says it all.
Now, I am not generally a fan of purely instrumental heavy music so, as I rhythmically nodded my head during opener ‘Bong & Chain’, I wondered what it was about ‘The End Is High’ that made me enjoy it so much. I think it’s about the tangible energy that the band manage to inject, and the classic, albeit fuzzed, thrash influences at play here – that lead me to (and here’s an accolade) enjoy their output as much as, for example, ‘Orion’ by Metallica.
Despite the lack of vocals, ‘420 Horsemen’ and ‘Hempnotised’ have a smoky torrent of crescendos, lickable riffs and successfully carry the listener on a journey – a very green one – but a journey nonetheless. By the time closer, ‘Reefer Mortis’ kicks in with the fuzziest riffing of the lot and the continuation of a literal ear-bashing from old Hexy on the drums, I can only find good things to say about this well-balanced, finely produced and downright hazy gem.
Probably not one for down the gym, ‘The End Is High’ stands out as 35 minutes of peak instrumental trippage within a genre that probably couldn’t give that much of a shit.
Best Paired With: Cheese, Cleese and Wheeze.
Reviewed by Jaff.
Belzebong – The End Is High Is Out Now On Heavy Psych Sounds.
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