Metal stoners from Sweden, I AM LOW released their 4th full length album Uma. Stoner metal will always be one of my favorite metal genres. In my opinion, BLACK SABBATH was the creator of this genre (and heavy metal in general) and great bands came after like KYUSS and DOWN carrying the stoner flag. Heavy riffs, great melody and touches of psychedelics are expected if they want to stamp their names together with the masters of the genre. Let’s see what they got.

 We start the album with “Gunman”, with a sludge intro riff and some heavy bass lines, the band already prepares you for what's to come. Slow, crunchy and full of melodies with some mood changes kind of metal. We follow with “Dead Space” with a more mellow introduction. Imagine yourself floating in space and suddenly a number of alien spaceships show up. Too trippy for you? That is the idea my friends. Trippy and lysergic as fuck. Slow melodies followed by a wall of heavy metal crunchiness. We get the energy back with “Ruins”. The band gives me ALEXISONFIRE vibes. Powerful riffs with no solos and a vocal that reminds me of the great Scott Weiland. Short good tune and direct to the point.

We reach “Wake” with a easily felt bass vibe from good player Anton Höög in the forefront of the song, following an unique drum pattern, the guys will also add some good double vocal melodies to this tune. Stoner metal usually has a lower vocal register  on top of a more melodic output and this is shown throughout the album. The fifth tune is “Uma” which gives the album its name. With a more syncopated drum beat by the excellent drummer and backing vocalist Oskar Melander, the band goes way down the stoner rabbithole. The vocal line sounds like stoner skaters singing out of their fried brains. Good guitar riffs and musicianship in general and we even got a simple melodic solo on this one.

The album follows with “Pigs” ( a PINK FLOYD homage?). With a more cadenced drum rhythm, the tune reminds me of ALICE IN CHAINS with those extended words in the vocal lines. The band explores well what the genre can be, drinking from a variety of sources. Perhaps it lacks a strong chorus to be more memorable. Almost all the songs in this album, except for one, are titled with a single word. “Time” is no different. The band takes you again into a journey into whatever is in your mind. A wall of distorted riffs by guitar and vocal Oskar Melander and long singing melodies to follow.. The album is starting to get a little predictable at this stage and this is concerning.

“Void” is next and starts with a more somber vibe guided by a bongo drum and dome clean guitars dexterity. Remember BLACK SABBATH’s Planet Caravan? More or less like that but without vocals. An instrumental that in my opinion, did not add much to the overall package. It does not compromise. We reach the end of the album with “Release”. The band has a psychedelic 60’s vibe as well on this tune. The vocal duet reminds me a lot of bands like THE YARDBIRDS or BLUES MAGOOS. A lot of musical heaviness with a soft, almost des pretentious vocals following a vague melody line.

Good effort from a band that is still maturing to find their definitive sound. Some tunes are memorable but others are not and still fall in the redundancy basket. All influences are clear and I believe there's more to explore. Perhaps more tempo and melody changes, or a captivating chorus. I look forward to checking their future work.