This goes without saying, we have had a revival of sorts in Stoner Metal in the last few 4-5 years. Before that it was nothing to write home or it was Black Sabbath clones and whatnot. KAL-EL are a band from Norway formed in 2012, comprised of members of THEATRE OF TRAGEDY, SIX EYES LOST and DESSPO. The look of the band on their website is quite striking, in all its steampunk glory. It's a good change of pace of band photos of their genre. "Ecosphere'' is their second full length album after ''Pakar'' that was released in 2014.

The renaissance of the Stoner Metal genre started with KADAVAR, ORCHID, UNCLE ACID and the DEADBEATS and this follows in their footsteps. KAL-EL and their album ''Ecosphere'' are a breath of fresh air and their album is truly a great surprise for me. Most of the songs talk about Space Travel and anything Sci-Fi. Their band name is based on the Superman name as well. Their album covers do remind us of old school sci-fi movies of the 1950's.

They manage to keep us dreaming about the universe with their slow methodical stoner melodies. Some songs are move groovy like ''7^th Sun'' and ''Shockblast'' but most of the songs are quite slow and we can hear the sorrow and feeling of the singer throughout this release. Though sometimes, the drum and bass make the vocals of Cpt Ulven disappear. A few songs, we barely can hear the singer through the banging on the drums. It makes an uneven sound on a few songs. The vocals remind me of a mix of UNCLE ACID with a dash of Pepper Kennan back in the early days of CORROSION OF CONFORMITY.

Just another fine album in the Stoner Metal sub-genre and makes me want to listen to their previous release. For fans of UNCLE ACID and the DEADBEATS, PALLBEARER and KADAVAR. They are quite the departure of their respective bands and it's a continuation of the great music Norway has given us these last few decades and a nice change from the traditional Power Metal, Melodic Death Metal or Folk Metal from that great country.
A band not to miss if they hit your town!