Posted in Whathaveyou on August 26th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
I know you caught wind of the grime-caked psych riff blowout that was the first, self-titled Drug Cult record (review here), so you don’t need me to wax poetic about the copious aural filth in which it wallowed. And yet, here I am with the video for “Reptile Hypnosis” playing as I write and the lumbering progression, echoing vocal spaciousness and general atmosphere of ceremony are infectious and affecting in kind. And the noise. Goodness gracious what a racket. I can’t wait to hear more.
Yes, yes, yes. The Australian four-piece have entered the studio to record their second album. They were there over this past weekend, so, done maybe? I don’t know, but the sooner and the nastier the better, as far as I’m concerned. They’ll once again release through Ritual Productions — because every once in a while, the universe dares to make mathematical sense in terms of lining up A, B and C — and I’d assume it’ll be out sometime early in 2020, but there’s no date given, so if they wanted to sneak it across in late November or December, I wouldn’t complain. I’ll take it whenever.
Here’s what the label had to say, as per the PR wire:
DRUG CULT ENTER THE STUDIO TO RECORD THEIR SECOND RITE ON THE RITUAL PRODUCTIONS IMPRINT
Cosmic light calls us back into the vortex.
Drug Cult step out of the shadows, alchemy attuned and are now ready to manifest their elemental energies once again.
August 23rd, the band entered Australia’s illustrious 70s recording studio, Music Farm Studios, in the Byron Bay Hinterland to record the follow-up to their self-titled debut rite, released during Summer Solstice 2018 via Ritual Productions. George Carpenter will continue to be at the recording and mixing helm of such surreptitious, spirited sonics.
Keep your third eye open for the serpent is stirring and a shift in your consciousness is on the horizon.
[Click play above to see the premiere of Drug Cult’s video for ‘Reptile Hypnosis.’ Their self-titled debut is out June 21 on Ritual Productions.]
Maybe this is pointing out the obvious on some levels, but with Drug Cult, the idea is consumption. Yes, theirs, of narcotics, but also theirs of their audience. The Australian four-piece make their self-titled debut through Ritual Productions with nine tracks and 42 minutes of haze doom given its cultish presence by vocalist Aasha Tozer, who on a song like the post-Electric Wizard swinging “Release” comes across like an echo-laden bad trip version of Grace Slick atop the riffing of Vin Steele (ex-Wolfmother, Megaritual, Sun of Man), the snare march from Dale Walker (also Megaritual, Sun of Man) and air-pushing, hope-you-invested-in-replacement-tubes low end of bassist Maggie Schreiber. As a unit their sound is consistent but not unipolar across their debut, but again, they’re looking to swallow the listener entirely.
There are elements drawn from doom — plenty of them, actually — and shades throughout of modern cult rock, but Drug Cult seem less interested in convincing their audience they worship evil spirits than in creating a downer-lumbering atmosphere in which some ritual might take place. Even “Bloodstone,” on which Tozer intones, “I want more/Your blood is the drug I’ve been searching for,” seems more about the hypnotic repetitions of its lines than about the words themselves. With the significant aural murk the band creates there and throughout the rest of the tracks, their sound basks in a dark-toned revelry, and whether a given song is fast or slow, structured or open, it’s the ambience that ties it all together.
The rest of the tracks hover somewhere between three and five minutes, but Drug Cult earn immediate points by opening Drug Cult with the 8:51 “Serpent Therapy,” providing quick immersion into the swamp their tones have created. Walker earns specific mention for his drums keeping these songs from flying apart entirely, and as “Serpent Therapy” rolls out its insistent rif moving toward the halfway mark, it’s the drums that allow the listener to hold onto their consciousness to the extent they can. From there unfold a series of what the band would probably call ‘rites.’ “Release” builds forward momentum rolling into the lurching open of “Reptile Hypnosis,” the stomp of which stands among the record’s most satisfying and the hook of which also provides a highlight moment, let alone the searing guitar lead that comes after it. Throughout, front-to-back, Drug Cult sound positively filthy.
Like the kind of band who show up to play the gig, open their van door and from it wafts a smell that’s as much body odor as it is reefer, the latter both being actively smoked at that moment and seeping through the pores of the band itself. Such is the Drug Cult vibe, and even on faster, more swinging garage-doom-style pieces like “The Wall” or “Slaylude,” the depth of tone remains the same and the spaciousness provided both by the guitar and bass together and by Tozer‘s echo-soaked vocals help craft the band’s dark and obscure plane. Whether it’s the howling lurch of centerpiece “Mind Crypt” or the deceptive shuffle of closer “Spell,” which seems less like the moment Drug Cult are trying to payoff the album as a whole than the moment they’re trying to tear it apart — though perhaps that is the payoff — Drug Cult hold firm to a willful sense of aesthetic and atmosphere, and that they refuse to veer from it makes their debut all the more consuming.
That’s not necessarily to imply that the self-titled is completely unipolar. As noted, they toy with a variety of structures and tempos that keep a steady flow from “Serpent Therapy” onward, and the effect that extended opener has of thrusting the audience into Drug Cult‘s scope isn’t to be understated. Where the rest of the album succeeds behind it is in Drug Cult setting up a fluidity between tracks that carries the listener through a trip that’s both nuanced and familiar somehow, without losing hold of their intention. Taking into account this is Drug Cult‘s debut, the full-album level of consideration the band brings to their work is doubly impressive, though it’s also worth pointing out that individual tracks like “Reptile Hypnosis,” “The Wall,” “Bloodstone,” “Spell,” etc., hardly fail at leaving their own mark. It’s the manner in which these songs feed into the whole experience of the record that give it such a sense of accomplishment on an stylistic level.
In the end, I don’t know if Drug Cult is someone’s distant cousin or something like that — let’s assume not — but they make an excellent fit for Ritual Productions, which has worked to put out offerings from Ramesses, 11Paranoias, Bong, and so on. Perhaps somewhat less extreme in their presentation, they’re no less considerate of ambience than their compatriots, and if this is Drug Cult‘s starting point, it will be fascinating to hear what their sound morphs into over subsequent releases.
Posted in Whathaveyou on January 11th, 2018 by JJ Koczan
I can’t help but feel like we’re only getting a vague slice of the otherworldly doom to come with the new Drug Cult video, but it’s more than enough to pique interest. Double that factor for the involvement in the band of Dale Walker, spearhead of the most excellent Aussie psych solo-outfit Megaritual, and guitarist Vin Steele, who’s been inolved in the same band. Honestly, even if “Mind Crypt” didn’t roll out as righteously murky as it does, that’d probably be enough to get me on board with Drug Cult‘s impending Ritual Productions self-titled debut, but the track is definitely working in its own sphere. Also, atmosphere. Also, doom.
The PR wire brings a host of info on the band and record to come, as well as the aforementioned video, which does its job well in begging further investigation.
Dig in:
Ritual Productions initiates new signing, DRUG CULT; Watch the new video for the track “Mind Crypt” taken from the band’s debut rite (out Spring 2018)
Ritual Productions expands its roster with the signing of Drug Cult, a four-piece occultist doom collective whose debut self-titled rite beckons to see light of day.
Formed at the edge of Mt. Jerusalem in the hills of Mullumbimby, Australia, Drug Cult is the alchemic workings of guitarist Vin Steele (ex. Wolfmother, Megaritual, Sun Of Man), vocalist Aasha Tozer, drummer Dale Walker (Megaritual, Sun Of Man) and bassist Maggie Schreiber.
The catalyst of the cult is the bands history of art, punk rock, hardcore, doom, psych and metal influences which instinctively fused together; forming a channel of cohesive vibration. Their elemental craft has been brewing since April 2015 when the four close friends gathered on a Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse for a “Megaritual” ceremony, shaping the vision of a heavy celestial voyage through atmospheric sound connection.
Drug Cult reveals: The void opened, energies entwined and the transcendental experience set a tone for our future four piece. With the mission set to find the next ritual site we ventured together in search of visceral elevation. Surrounded by nature and crushing amplification we awakened the serpent.
The result is a 9-track vortex of majestic heaviness laced with an evocative psychedelic haze, whereby classic melodies meld with fuzz-drenched riffs cultivating an enticing potion of technicolour wickedness. Although a grooving heavyweight tone drives throughout the rite, a darkened presence is forever evident, hexing you into Drug Cult’s realm.
We invite you to listen to the first dose of Drug Cult’s craft, with the three-minute song ‘Mind Crypt’. A distinctly alluring track, with dense tones of doom providing a mesmeric undercurrent to spellbinding echoes that hypnotise throughout. Jack Bailey directed the accompanying video (www.jackbailey.com.au), commenting “I have always felt an uncommon affinity with places dark, ancient and unbroken. I find solace in empty landscapes, void of human interference… the company of the wild is far more affable than that of modern man.” Bailey’s ethos perfectly parallels the vast elemental darkness that encapsulates Drug Cult’s sound with the visuals for ‘Mind Crypt’ presenting nature in its most raw, rugged and foreboding form.
The band’s first offering was recorded live at Rocking Horse Studios, Byron Bay during December 2016, with George Carpenter at the recording and production helm and mastered by Brian Lucey of Magic Garden Mastering.
The S/T rite, with the Ritual Productions imprint, is set to be released Spring 2018. Stay alert for updates on the stirrings of the cult.
