Since German psychedelic/stoner act Samsara Blues Experiment announced an indefinite hiatus in 2020, it was only a matter of time before some stuff from the vaults surfaced, and we now have this new release Demos & Rarities. This set collects demo tracks and early versions of songs going back to 2008, some scorching jams and a few others acoustic variations. For the hardcore fan, it's the rambling, psychedelic jams that will be of most interest here, featuring the scorching lead guitar and beefy riffs of Christian Peters, which is fully on display in "Singata Mystic Queen", "Double Freedom", and a live version of "Red Rooster Jam", the latter quite funky and seeing the guitarist go off on his wah-wah pedal. "Back to Life" is more of a heavy stoner/doom basher, as is "For Lost Souls", but the back end of the album concludes with mostly acoustic demo tracks featuring an overabundance of sitar, which, depending on your love for sitar, might overstay it's welcome after about five minutes.
For the Samsara Blues Experiment completist, you'll want to have this, but for newbies I'd suggest starting with any of their regular studio albums first and then work your way towards this rarities set.
Track Listing
1.
Singata Mystic Queen (demo) 08:34
2.
Double Freedom (demo) 12:55
3.
Red Rooster Jam (live) 07:27
4.
Back To Life 03:45
5.
For The Lost Souls (demo) 09:05
6.
Singata Mystic Queen (acoustic) 05:44
7.
Double Freedom (acoustic demo) 04:41
8.
Wheel Of Life (demo) 03:13
9.
All Is One (demo) 12:24
10.
Singata Retro Queen 00:56