"Doom Machine" is instrumental stoner band MAJOR KING's second album, and a very interesting piece of stoner lore it is.

Following in the footsteps of greats such as EARTH, SUNN O))) and ELECTRIC WIZARD, this Polish band's sound is based mostly on heavy riffs - tune low & play slow, that's how we all go, isn't it? So I guess if you went so far you don't need a lecture of what the hell is drone music and what it sounds like, rather I'd tell you how this particular band is different from what'd pop to your head to moment you hear the phrase "instrumental stoner music" (it's called object-oriented storytelling, write that down...)

First things first, the band does not play that slow. I mean, it's not a 260 BPM blast-fast, but it's considerably faster than the usual drummer-gets-a-drink-between-drumbeats slow. Add that to the fuzz not only being a super-bassy drone you hear through your legs, and you get something that is sonically rather interesting.

While the usual method to compensate for the lack of a vocalist would be to make everything super slow and super bassy, thus lulling the listener into a trance, MAJOR KONG's went the other way - making the other instruments take up the melody and musical interest of the songs, without losing anything in heaviness - no easy feat. And since we're talking about melody - the guitar leads are numerous, very well done, and surprisingly trebly - again, drawing musical interest where it's needed while still very heavy.

The band as a whole has taken a very cool approach which adds uniqueness and interest to their music, but that very approach is also the band's Achilles' Heel - because the brain doesn't shut down and drones on, it expects more melody - which it receives, but not enough of.