It’s time to get out those lava lamps, purple bell bottoms and joss sticks. Charlotte, North Carolina’s Cosmic Reaper are here to bring some Sci Fuzz to the happening in your house.  

This two-year-old quartet are pretty heavy on the Electric Wizard worship but their sci fi drenched psyche Doom sprinkles enough cosmic magic dust to keep it interesting. The musicianship is great throughout and hints at a great live outfit but a crazy production floor let’s this album down. By the end I feel like I have labyrinthitis.  

When I saw the opener was titled “Hellion” I wondered if there were gonna be some Gleen and KK twin axe attacks. I was wrong but not that disappointed. Big melodic hooky Doom riffs backing a far off vocal. The sound seems to swirl from speaker to speaker in a nature that disconcerts and slightly annoys me.  Or does it? I feel discombobulated which isn’t always a bad thing.  

It appears that this is the style of the album – the production makes each song sound as if you are listening at an outdoor festival with the wind carrying the sonics hither and thither – which detracts from the heavy psyche business these boys are up to. 

There is certainly a lot of groove on this collection – “Heaven’s Gate” has a laid-back Uncle Acid vibe whilst Stellar Death channels Geezer and Bill from the early Seventies. Nothing I have not heard a hundred bands do before but these guys are pretty good at it.  

Wasteland comes in 2 parts the first being a big Sabbath riff blasted over by a psychedelic guitar solo and then a funky bass throb before part two drops in a with a gigantic fuzzed up riff. Like Iron Man on mescalin and quaaludes.  Again, the mix of the vocals lets the track down.  I don’t know why Cosmic Reaper have decided to make Thad Collis sound as though he is in a lifeboat attached to the barge they are recording on – forcing him to shout his vocals against the wind as the waves carry him nearer and then further from the action. Let the poor bloke on the boat! 

With a name like “Planet Eater” the penultimate track needed to be pretty large in both sound and longevity – whilst at nearly nine minutes it meets the second requirement the track meanders along without really paying off in the heavy department – it all feels a little Spinal Tap Mark II Jazz fusion. (Are those puppets ready to go on backstage)? 

By the time Intrasonic rolls around I have decided that Cosmic Reaper are the kind of band I would love to see live in a smoky club but the wavering sonics of this album mean I won’t rush back to listen to it – which is a shame as they have chops and some real groove.  

(6/10 Matt Mason)

https://www.facebook.com/cosmicreapernc

https://heavypsychsoundsrecords.bandcamp.com/album/cosmic-reaper-cosmic-reaper