By Andrew Bansal
French psychedelic stoner rock trio Mars Red Sky have been in existence since 2007, and first landed on Metal Assault’s radar in 2012 through a random exploratory Bandcamp session. It’s incredible how hard rock/heavy metal music is supposedly ‘dead’ and yet people can still discover such great hidden talent if only they tried. Mars Red Sky’s 2011 eponymous debut LP left an indelible impression on Metal Assault, and their stature was further heightened by the 2014 follow-up album ‘Stranded In Arcadia’. Now, the band is ready to release their third full-length ‘Apex III (Praise For The Burning Soul) on May 20th 2016 in North America via Listenable Records, and just like their previous efforts, promised to be quite the hallucinogenic trip down psychedelic pastures.
The album starts off with the trippy instrumental track ‘Alien Grounds’, taking the listener straight back to the ’70s with its trance-inducing arrangement of sonic patterns. Next, the title track brings the heaviness with an overpowering bass sound but also revisits the main parts that decorate the opener. Tunes like ‘The Whinery’ and ‘Mindreader’ paint the kind of dark, dreamy mental landscapes that represent the overall feel of this album and get the listener in the mindset for the entirety of this 50-minute slab of heavy psychedelia. ‘Under The Hood’ relies on grooves, as the singing talents of vocalist/guitarist Julien Pras and bassist/vocalist Jimmy Kinast truly come to the fore on this one. ‘Friendly Fire’ changes the mood to an extent with a more upbeat, swinging rhythm and aura, and the guitar parts really express themselves. Next, the slow and bleak ‘Prodigal Sun’ provides a stark contrast, while the longest, doomiest tune ‘Shot In Providence’ brings the album to a close.
The power of Mars Red Sky’s creativity is strongly evident on the music that constitutes ‘Apex III’, and the band has clearly mastered themselves in creating the vibe they’re going for. The songwriting and the arrangements are top-notch and suitable to this style of heavy music, and the sheer tone and performance of each of three members on their respective instruments is unmistakably great. On top of it all, the vocals give the album a Beatles-meets-Pink Floyd-meets-Rush feel, which is harder than it seems, and is never a bad thing if executed with success. The biggest strength this album possesses is its dynamism and the transitions between segments of varying styles and tempo, which makes it an enticing offering for fans of psychedelic stoner/desert rock and prog alike. Granted there are trance-like passages that focus on a singular melody or groove, but this is by no means the kind of run-of-the-mill repetitive doom album that’s a dime-a-dozen in the modern-day resurgence of all things stoner doom. ‘Mindreader’ and ‘Friendly Fire’ probably stand out as the best compositions, but this one’s certainly an album lover’s album and flows from one track into the next.
Mars Red Sky already accomplished a lot and went places based on the strength of their first two albums, but ‘Apex III’ is all set to become their passageway into broader pastures, as it has what it takes to form a longlasting vice-like grip on fans of the genre
Rating: 8/10
(If you like what you’ve read, support Metal Assault and buy a shirt!)
Release Date: May 20th 2016
Record Label: Listenable
Track Listing:
1. (Alien Grounds)
2. Apex III
3. The Whinery
4. Mindreader
5. Under The Hood
6. Friendly Fire
7. Prodigal Sun
8. Shot In Providence
Links: website | facebook | twitter | instagram