Playing in different albums and performing for several different bands, Jason Hartman is a busy man. He's made a name for himself as a guitarist with psychedelic rock/doom metal band JEX THOTH as well as a core member of the ever-evolving VANISHING KIDS but is now exploring a different musical side to himself with what is essentially a solo album of a new project and self-titled album, OLD SPIRIT. Hartman, however, is not content to explore only one side of his many ideas and is also releasing his alternative/electronic project NIGHT EYEZ as well. Hartmen himself explains, "I've had so many ideas and songs I've wanted to record over the years. I dabbled in four track stuff years ago, but I couldn't find anything good enough to release beyond that of a demo until recently. I began to notice that friends of mine could get really good recordings, even on their phones, it kind of amazes me sometimes."

But the impetus for the project grew out of a need to explore material that just didn't fit into his current outfit. He admits, "I've had all these metal songs that just didn't fit into my current band, VANISHING KIDS. On top of that, it's really hard to get a project together with a bunch of people where you have to organize schedules, practice, and find a studio, all of which is time-consuming. OLD SPIRIT was something I could do by myself, on my own time, when I was at home, so that's kind of what it was and how it came about." What eventually happened though was that he recorded two albums at the beginning of last year, 2021. Right now, he is back in the studio hard at work on the new album for VANISHING KIDS but fans of his have much to celebrate with this mini-album of material under the name, OLD SPIRIT.

If I'm being perfectly honest, the kind of indulgence and unrestrained, raw lack of focus on OLD SPIRIT is not entirely what I enjoy listening to. As someone who prefers their albums to have a near perfect degree of polish and finesse, I had to lay aside some of my bias and try to enjoy the absolute spur-of-the-moment style Mr. Hartman employs here and judge it differently. I still have to mark down the production a bit because while I know the fuzzy guitars and near KING DIAMOND-like vocals at times are intentional, the whole album is actually really quiet dynamically unless the guitar is soloing with the drums taking up a bit too much of the sonic space for the other instruments to shine.  There is something fascinating about this strange blending of MERCYFUL FATE singing mixed with the shoe-gazing nature of MOGWAI and the punkish, grungy attitude of the MELVINS but it never seems to have a focus. On the track "Feel the Stars" you feel a pit of PINK FLOYD vibe of exploration and experimentation in a spacy pattern while "Cave" is just a goofy and ridiculous track with all the seriousness of an early NIRVANA track. The latter half, especially "Catastrophe" and "Seasons", is a bit more straight-forward but still tinged with psychedelia and trippiness while adding a bit of thrash and a much heavier "metal" vibe. Essentially, if you like more experimental stuff, stick to the first three tracks but the more straight-ahead and structured - if they can be called that - tunes are on the latter half.