Second album of Nebula's psychedelic tryptic (preceded by To The Center and followed by Apollo), Atomic Ritual is an album that not only assumes the fact that it'll please sci-fi fans, but transcends it, makes fun of it, and does it well all simultaneously.
Let's go over the mild parts first, because they will be meaninglessly stomped by the qualities of this record. The cover is a a cheesy graphic design piece that would be barely good enough for the 12th re-edition of a weird Lovecraft meets Moorcock meets Asimov and Nostradamus' bastard child fanfic space opera (which 13 year old boys might appreciate nonetheless). The lyrics/titles (when payed attention to more than as an added melodic line, which they're not intended for) are not much more than an uninspired rip-off of the previous authors, mixed in with a bit of californian epicurism. Finally, Eddy Glass' voice strangely oscillates between an upper-register Ozzy and a growly Mark Arm, which might bother some.
If you're willing to put all those aspects behind you, the music equivalent of a winter wonderland will be opened to you - imagine a soundscape, covered in riffs. Like a prayer to Mudhoney, The Stooges, Hawkwind and Black Sabbath, Atomic Ritual is referential without ever stagnant, hyperactive without ever reaching the Mars Volta, and varied. Songs, which range from 3:00 to 9:42, might go from an upbeat psychoblues jam to a downtempo atmospheric in seconds, or develop a riff for the whole song Dopesmoker style.
The first wave to hit you are the guitars, provided by the ex-Manchu Glass, building layers & layers of glorious tone(they did go a bit haywire on the overdubs, sometimes with simultaneous solos, multiple rhythm parts and the like). With the classic stoner rig (SG, fuzz, phaser, wah, Marshall stack), he delivers all of the headbanging knowledge he left Fu Manchu with, but this time drenched in psyche-rock juice (noises, self-oscillations and is that a wonky filtered organ I hear in the background?).
Even if the guitars are more than reason enough to try this record, it shouldn't take to long to notice that the rhythm section is at least as worthy as melodyman Eddy. Providing a more than necessary backdrop and low end to the record (the guitar has typical boosted treble bite), they fuel the cosmic journey that is this record, going from exploratory tempos (that leave an opportunity for guitar excursions of the epic level) to a quick let's flee this hostile alien planet speed, all in a crash of cymbals, and with a touch of Spike (Cowboy Bebop) level class .
Atomic Ritual, produced by legend Chris Goss, with its memorable artwork, heavy-yet-melodic riffs, and balanced spaciousness/richness, is the '00's Space Ritual. Beyond the obvious title reference, it is, like Hawkwind's early 70's masterpiece, a collage of pop melodies (acoustic guitars, piano), drug hazed atmospheres (DikMik, wherever you are, this record is a straight up tribute to your bleeps'n'swooshes), and fuzzpower. Dave Brock should be proud, Lemmy should be pissed (but isn't he always), and Ozzy should wish he bought a phaser for Tony for the '73 christmas. I'll certainly be enjoying this record many more times.
As I said, mixes every week (!!), reviews every 1st and 15th of the month. I probably won't have time to post anything on Jan. 1st, so you can count the "shortgoodquestionnable" mix and this review as a first installment.
JNCT
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