Wayfarer

Though Finland stoner outfit Void Cruiser's sophomore album has some doomy elements to it, it soon reveals its true colors as a more rock-oriented sound. Grunge elements predominate: Not the grunge that everyone started producing in the mid-90s post-Nevermind, but a darker, heavier sound from before "alternative rock" stopped being on speaking terms with heavy metal, all built, however, on a firm foundation of metal. The ultra-heavy tube amps of the guitars are a crushing but echoey affair, sharp-toned but psychedelic. This perfectly matches vocalist Santeri Salo's style, which is laid back but with some harshness in it, kind of a cross between Kyuss's John Garcia and the late Chris Cornell, with a little Layne Staley thrown in for good measure. For that matter, while the Void Cruiser sound is more lumbering than aggressive, there's a lot of Kyuss in that big, fat guitar tone. There's also space-rock references here and there, but unlike the rest of the band's sound, they seem tacked on and don't provide the atmosphere such a thing requires. Wayfarer shows a Void Cruiser still relying pretty heavily on its influences, but the foursome are excellent at what they do, and the songs are top-notch examples of stoner heaviness -- some of the arpeggio riffing on Seven Years Late is simply magnificant to hear. Even if the space theme doesn't really come off well, the echoing production and the slack vocals create a powerful atmosphere of their own. Listen and prepare to be crushed like an eggshell. Bandcamp: https://voidcruiser.bandcamp.com/album/wayfarer