You really cannot fault the band name can you, especially when it comes at a time when everything decent and catchy has been used. Beelzefuzz whose moniker puts a smile on my face every time I hear it have been cannily plucked from demo obscurity and thrust into the limelight by the German label The Church Within who found them dwelling deep in the South USA state of Maryland. The fuzz gives a kind of clue what to expect here and the tunes within this rather sweet debut are certainly devilish, so the name fits well. The band are one of many going down the old retro route and shaking their doomflares to the sounds of the bygone past yet wrapping it up in their own inimitable style. This lot are fun in every sense of the word, not just by name either but the music leaves you with a shit eating grin on your face too. Part of the fun is listening to the songs and trying to think what bands they may well be tipping their hats to and also it’s in the warm simplicity and at times laid-back vibes of the numbers themselves, which really work magic and invade the senses. After several listens they are firm favourites and have you humming and singing along. The album is a compact 36 minutes with the eight songs being immediately accessible too and the production perfectly suits the mood with a nice rich crispness about it with everything sounding perfectly balanced in the mix.
Blues based sound jangles into a psyche beat not a million miles from King Crimson as the harmonic waft of Reborn kicks things off. This is summer of love music which sounds designed for driving along, pedal to the metal not giving a flying one where the road is going to lead you. It’s a tenacious song and a half and with some great Southern fried licks and melodic vocals making it a monster hit that really should have the sun blazing when play is pressed. ‘Lotus Jam’ is slightly darker vibe wise, the keyboard work cites some of the old wizards of prog pomposity as well as modern day witchy acts like Blood Ceremony and Jex Thoth. The vocals really hit their stride here with singer Ortt hitting the higher ranges and the rafters with ease. There are bits of everything here and that includes the biggest and the best from your Zeppelins to your Purples and the classic rock sound is dished out faultlessly which again considering it’s a debut album makes it all the more remarkable.
I admit that I have given this plenty of spins since it arrived, well the running time and the addictive qualities of the songs makes it one of those albums that’s hard to ignore. The one problem I do have had is choosing a favourite song, there’s not an ounce of filler here. ‘Siren’s Song’ starts slow and speeds up and chugs away with a mid-paced beat, some fiery riffs and a vocal performance making it sound like it has arrived in a time-machine from the 70’s. ‘Hypnotize’ does just that it is a slow burner (wouldn’t call it a ballad) and one with an arcane flavour that if heard alone would no doubt have the band getting lumped into that damn occult rock coven of bands. It picks up and the bass is lovely and thick chundering away before the vocals really hit their epoch with some great wails heading for the stratosphere. Ok along with the opener it’s possibly my favourite and parts of it would make the likes of Ghost cry. Is that some ELP we hear from the Hammond keyboard sound on ‘Lonely Creatures,’ could well be and with the beseeching vocal play the song is one of mystery, a sideshow circus with a carnival feel about it, come in and see the freaks! Finishing off with the fragrant and heady waft of ‘Light That Blinds’ we get an invigorating mix of classic rock and doom leaving you in a really good place. The only big problem is when it comes to change the disc as it’s just too damn tempting to simply press play again.
There have been some great albums from the aforementioned Jex Thoth, Blood Ceremony and the likes of Venomous Maximus and Orchid this year, giving us a great trip back in time and this sits solidly up there with them. Sell your soul and check them out down below!
(8.5/10 Pete Woods)
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Beelzefuzz/130358826999655
21/08/2013 at 8:52 am
Definitely looking forward to my copy arriving.
27/08/2013 at 8:15 pm
Well, my Beelzefuzz CD arrived in the same post as a massively discounted Black Sabbath 13 album. The were played back to back, and I’ve got to say one will be on regular rotation, and the other consigned to gather dust. I’ll give you a clue; the one on regular rotation does not feature Autotune Osborne.