SPECTRAL HAZE is a Psychedelic Doom/Stoner Metal band based out of Oslo, Norway. This is the band's first album, and contains six tracks. The opening track is a slow building instrumental, complete with a swinging groove of fuzzy, phase induced guitar riffs, and an overall ambiance of the early 1970's. "Mercurian Mantra" is the first track with vocals, clocking in at over nine minutes. The vibe of the main riff falls somewhere between BLACK SABBATH and THE RAMONES, for me. As is sometimes common in this style, the vocals aren't as assertive of that heavy, fuzzy riff. During a lengthy bridge section, you get the feeling that you are heading into outer space, as something are swirling in the background. The third track, "Black Gandharvas," is over eleven minutes long. Like the engine of an old pick-up truck, it takes a while to get going, but once it does, the momentum it sustains is strong. Here I really pick up on the "jamming" vibe, as if they guys were composing the song as it goes along. The vocals are brief, echoing attacks over the bed of the instrumentation. The fourth song is another instrumental; an extension of the first track in ways. But it's in the fifth song "Decent Through the Intravoidal" where I hear more of a punk infused rhythm and chord pattern. Closing the album is the longest song on the album, entitled "Triads and Trishulas," clocking in close to fourteen minutes. I think this final song is very indicative of the style here and represents a true example of Psychedelic Doom/Stoner Rock/Metal. It's the atmosphere that is created instrumentally. It's the kind of song that I picture on a radio, heading down a long desert highway. Not for nothing, but I do believe this falls more in the Hard Rock category than the Metal category per se. Still, this isn't the kind of music that you haven't heard before.<