Beyond Vision is my first excursion into the doom laden depths of San Francisco's Acid King, a band who have been around for a long time, but with so many starts and stops in their career, this latest release for Blues Funeral is only their fifth album. Guitarist & vocalist Lori is the only holdover from the earlier days, and she's joined here by drummer Bil Bowman and returning bassist Rafael Martinez. Fans of long, fuzzy songs dripping with atmosphere will feel right at home on Beyond Vision, right from the start with the eerie "One Light Second Away", straight into the crushing, bluesy doom of "Mind's Eye", with Lori's savage guitar riffs & solos on overdrive, and her vocals right out of the '60s psychedelic scene. "90 Seconds" is quite heavy, pummeling, and ominous, while "Electro Magnetic" is a delicious slice of heavy psych, the guitars trippy yet thunderous at the same time. Things get even more 'out there' on "Destination Psych", but over on the groove-a-licious title track, the band goes for a fun retro sound not unlike Lucifer or Blood Ceremony. Closer "Color Trails" finishes the show with massive riffage and acrobatic drums, 8-minutes of haunting, crushing instrumental doom that shows the full power of this band.
Really good stuff here on Beyond Vision, and it's good to see this band back to doing what they best. Thanks to this one, I'm now working my way backwards on their catalog.
Track Listing
1.
One Light Second Away 06:11
2.
Mind's Eye 07:11
3.
90 Seconds 04:49
4.
Electro Magnetic 08:17
5.
Destination Psych 01:36
6.
Beyond Vision 06:06
7.
Color Trails 07:57