The words 'Heavy truckin' space fuzz' is bannered on the PSYCHLONA's web page, and I think that's a perfect description of what this band is about sound wise. Desert rock, Psycheldelic or Stoner Metal being the more utilized description. Their album "Mojo Rising" is the Bradford UK's band debut and it's chock full of punchy bass, heavy fuzz laden guitar crunch and reverb saturated vocals.

"Stone" casts forth a heavy riff that just seems to come at you like a violent severe storm. The drums and bass rumble like a steady thunder while the vocals strike like lightening. All the while, the guitar fills the remaining space like that chaotic energy that's ever present in severe weather. This really is a great track. Very impressive. "Ride" takes the tempo up a notch and the themes in a different direction. Hitting a repetitive groove that completely works in a droning mantra-ish way.

"Down in the Valley" takes us to somewhere within the middle pace of the first track and second, and rocks hard. Really hard. With fuzzy rumbles, and feedback laden guitar, again I'm reminded how accurate the words, 'heavy truckin' space fuzz' really are. "Big River" is next up, and this one rolls in with a jazzy/bluesy feel before erupting, only to return back and forth. The lyrics seemed somewhat reminiscent of the song of the same name written by JOHNNY CASH, but maybe that's just me. Regardless, the song has a great flow.

"Your God" has likely my favorite guitar work in it's intro. I could easily seeing this riff and song jammed out hard and heavy when the band performs live. I would imagine this song fits well as a vehicle for "jam" improvisation. Vocally and lyrically the song has a Punk feel that I love. It's unusual, but fabulous. The bass weaves in and out like a solo only to have the guitar join it like a two headed serpent's hypnotic dance. Next, is "Juju" and I found this one to be my favorite overall. Slow and heavy it's the most complete song, and the one that I think would appeal to fans of different genres the most.

"Black Dog" follows, and I was half expecting a cover of ZEPPELIN's classic. Not the case, rather it's an engaging open hi-hat rager of their own creation. Vocally, here I was reminded of Phil Lynott. Most interesting indeed. "Mojo Rising" closes with the seemingly genre appropriate epic track. Clocking in at over 9 minutes, "Beakfoot" covers a lot of ground, musically and lyrically. Another song that could serve as a vehicle for drawn out jams, the band closes out as strongly as they started.

As far as a debut goes, the overall production value is mid-range. This is a band that has all kind of potential sound wise. I can't wait to see where that takes them once they can put together things to really record their music professionally. This isn't a dig at them in any way. Think early albums of YOB compared to where they are now. Those early tracks from YOB are outstanding, but sonically, don't even compare to this year's masterpiece. That's what I hope to see from PSYCHLONA. The talent and potential are definitely there.