Mount Palatine is a Finnish trio that sludges, dooms, and stones through extensive psychedelic jams. Six of those jams make up their second full-length album, "Wormholy World," a "trip through destruction and recreation, that is, the chaos of life and universe itself." The album's Bandcamp information is quite intriguing, especially when you discover that their bassist is named Count Boogie, their drummer is Lord of the Groove, and the main man, handling vocals, guitars, and synths, is Jean the Baron. Their rather silly aliases either hint at some heavy, trippy shit or downright goofy noodling, but either way, I'm sure I'll be amused.

"Freedom, equality, love – will they ever be realized in this wormy world?" Mount Palatine cites this quote by Finnish writer Minna Canth as inspiration for their record. Now I'm not sure if Canth ever did realise such things in this wormholy world, but in this "WormHOLY World," I myself realised that Mount Palatine are masters of creating a foggy, dreary atmosphere that constantly lingers on. Each song is a long-form development of musical environs, whether it be dusty and Southern in "The Sands," with guitar twangs and solos aplenty, or psychedelic and extraterrestrial in "The Dreaming," with healthy doses of sound effects. To result in these tracks, Mount Palatine takes their jams and applies layer upon layer of distortion, sound effects, and even more instrumentation. It is a longer listen, clocking in at fifty-three minutes, so patience is definitely needed. I often found myself daydreaming during its runtime, as its tribalistic tendencies can get a bit stale.

The band gets their sludge tag through Jean the Baron's strained vocals. which fit the album's feel perfectly. Not too harsh, not too clean. During segments of repetitive lyrics (see "Newborn Sun"), his raspy wails deliver them with attitude and angst in the token sludge metal custom. The Baron also handles guitars, synths, and FX. I didn't pick up much from the synths, nor was there a ton of FX, but the guitars were solidly fuzzy and dissonant. Lord of the Groove always reigns the jam in, directing where the song should go next with his plodding drums. Sadly, I couldn't hear much of Count Boogie's contributions, which sucks, 'cause he's got the coolest name. Well, aside from Mactus the Magemaster, who oversaw production.

"Wormholy World" is a fine album, but at times, it's an onerous listen. However, I'm satisfied to affirm that this isn't downright goofy noodling. It's a Finnish adventure I'm glad I took, but it isn't one I plan on taking again.