KING BUFFALO is a Stoner/Desert/Psych Rock band out of Rochester, NY. They released their self-titled demo in 2013 and in the following nine years have produced a steady output of stunning recordings, including two full-length albums in 2021. These two albums are respective installments of a trilogy, the final piece to be released in 2022. The first of the trilogy, "The Burden of Restlessness," is an intense and deep reflection of our weird times and ranked as one of best albums of 2021 on a plethora of 'best of' lists. If you haven't experienced the album, I highly recommend a quick click over to Bandcamp. While you are there you should also pick up "Acheron," the second album of the trilogy and the focus of this review.

"Acheron" picks up where "Burden of Restlessness" leaves off-psychically, spiritually, emotionally afloat on the river Acheron on our way into the underworld. The album was literally recorded in the Howe Caverns in New York. Yep, in a cave. In fact, there are sections on the album where you can hear the flowing water in the cave. And while I know there are plenty of field recordings of running water on plenty of albums, the combo of the water and cave and the hypnotic melodies cast me back 46 years to RUSH's "Discovery" on "2112." The cave itself, of course, is reminiscent of Plato's only slightly older allegory of the cave.

Both installments of this trilogy in progress have a runtime of 41 minutes, give or take a hand full of seconds, and while "Acheron" has the look of an EP with its lonely four tracks, all of them tease or defeat the ten-minute mark. Each track on the album is a self-contained world exploring variations on a theme at times languid and fluid, other times crunchy and angular. Personally, the highlights of the album always feature Sean McVay's harder riffs steadied and paced out by the patient rhythm of his counterparts Ray Reynolds (bass, synth) and Scott Donaldson (drums) and cut through with eerie synth waves. The title track, "Acheron," is probably the best example of this interplay and ranks as my favorite track, though all four are excellent. And if you're counting, "Shadows" has to rank as my number two favorite on the album, followed by "Cerberus" and "Zephyr" in that order. I should also note that Sean's clean, harmonic vocals add a sense of somnolent drifting throughout the album, juxtaposed by its harder edges and deepened by sympathetic synth embellishments.

The cover art was created by Ryan T. Hancock and does a great job of capturing the ethos of the album. The band has said the final installment of the trilogy should hit in 2022. Whereas "Burden of Restlessness" divulged the inner dialogues many of us were having during our COVID year(s) and rendered them into shortish Prog infused compositions, and "Acheron" reflected our residual internal infections in long-wave with mean elbows and full-fisted riffs, I am anxious to see what the third album in this exploration will bring.