One of the first bands to hit me up on the newfangled The Obelisk Myspace page, non-hipster Brooklyn (who knew such a thing was still possible?) four-piece Scribes of Fire follow a host of unusual patterns on their first full-length offering, curiously dubbed Zauberer. The word refers to the pre-Christian Baltic tradition of clan leaders thought to be imbued with magical powers — sort of like alpha-wizards, which, if these guys were just a nugget more stoner rock, is what they would have called the record — and what it has to do with any of the music, I’m not entirely sure, but it sounds cool and so far as I know there aren’t 50 albums with the title. Doubt I could say the same for Alpha Wizard.

A five-track full-length with the shortest song being middle cut “Distance,” clocking in at 6:39, and the rest either eight minutes or over, before the disc is played your mind immediately flashes the word “doom,” but actually, the Scribes traffic in a highly progressive form of riff-metal drawing influence as much from Porcupine Tree and Dream Theater as it does Dixie Witch. Tossing around “prog” is a very chic thing to do in underground metal these days — bands seem to be using it more and more as a means of saying they’re not morons — but if there’s prog stoner out there, this is it.

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