Say Psych: Album Review, Stellar Prophecy by Black Rainbows

I have only recently come across Italian three-piece Black Rainbows. The stoner rock band’s ‘Hawkdope’ album from last year was one that grabbed me immediately when I first heard it a month or so ago. So when I found out that the band had a new impending release I was all over it like a cheap suit.

Black Rainbows are one of those bands that aren’t all that complicated, but what they do they do very well. Mixing an early 70s heavy rock vibe with a laid back stoner sensibility, you get a real sense of satisfaction listening to a unit which is solid and uncompromising on what it sets out to do.

It is true that at first ‘Stellar Prophecy’ does not depart too far from that of ‘Hawkdope’, ‘Electrify’ and ‘Woman’ are both tracks which get you into the mood, provide you with and introduction to the band’s sound and both rock out in their own way. What they don’t do is have the intensity of ‘Golden Widow’. This is a huge, sprawling and magnificent psych-blues-rock track which locks you into its groove early on and does not let go until the very end. This is Black Rainbows at their very best.

This intensity is kept up with the, much shorter, ‘Evil Snake’. The heaviest track on the album this is a real ‘rock out with your cock out’ track which has all you need in about three and a half minutes to satisfy even the most hard to please rock fan. The riffs are immense, the drums huge and the bass solid and throbbing. Great stuff.

After that ‘Time To Die’ is anthemic and bluesy, while ‘Keep The Secret’ will have you nodding your head while remembering the great rock bands of yore. The album then ends on a high with ‘The Travel’, a journey into space rock that is closest to the band’s regular Hawkwind credentials. It’s a slower and more considered end to an album which never dips below good, and has some highs that are well worth checking out.

I would if I were you.

-o0o-

‘Stellar Rainbows’ is out on Heavy Psych Sounds on April 15th, and is currently available for pre-order here.

You can find my other writing for Backseat Mafia here.

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