Some band names you just know the members came up with after several drinks. You get that sense with BIG MUFF BRIGADE, a Stoner Doom band out of Valle de Trápaga-Trapagaran, Spain. In truth though, the name comes from the Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi distortion pedal. If you’re in a Stoner Rock band, chances are you’ve seen more than one of those. I mean you got a band name and the name of your first album, “π” (or “Pi”), all in one go. How much easier can it get than that?

But I still think alcohol was involved. Just saying.

And so it goes with BIG MUFF BRIGADE and their debut full-length album “π” which releases on November 29 via the mighty Argonauta Records. This seven-track album clocks out around the 40-minute mark but takes us on a journey that seems far more expansive than those metrics suggest. While the tempo is Doom paced and the groove is all Stoner, there’s also jam vibe going on. It’s like playing a MMORPG—there is a definite linear narrative, but you can’t help but go wandering around a bit before you seal the quest line.      

Except for the final track, “Season Affective Disorder,” which is ironically one of faster paced tracks, all the tracks are north of five minutes. Aitor’s vocals are clean and a little on the sneering, nasally side like he’s leering as he sings. People will make Ozzy comparisons, which will then take us to Sabbath comparisons, but BIG MUFF PARADE is much more sophisticated in their arrangements. The rest of the band plays like a tight trio with the extra horsepower of another guitar. There always seems to be momentum and the bottom never really falls out even during the drops.

Loads of great songs on the album. The first three lean into the Doom spectrum and the second half seems more Stoner. With that in mind, my favs all land in the latter section with “Dead Inside,” for its existential lyrics paired with peppy fuzz; “Let It Go” for its rocketship riffs of atomic energy; and “Terre Haute” for its SERGEANT THUNDERHOOF vibe.

BIG MUFF BRIGADE rolled their ten-sided dice, and this album came up solid eights on the Metal Temple review scale. Smart songwriting, fucktons of fuzzy groove, and even a splash of Prog sophistication. Gotta love this band, gotta love this album.