Subgenres come and go, but thunderous, psychedelic doom is eternal. SKYJOGGERS hail from Tampere, Finland, which may not seem the most likely breeding ground for records like this, but the Scandinavians do tend to be great at just about everything, and “12021: Post-Electric Apocalypse” is an absolute monster.
We all know the formula. Huge, lumbering riffs that indirectly salute both BLACK SABBATH and HAWKWIND, with all the cosmic space rock trimmings, and fiery, power trio chemistry that links everything directly back to the analogue ’70s. These things are not meant to be complicated. Fortunately, SKYJOGGERS are anything but stoner clones. Across four songs and 37 minutes, they are relentlessly inventive and almost casually psychedelic, as if the sound of three shit-hot musicians lost in the mind-expanding moment is more than enough to make the listeners’ brain spin, with or without chemical enhancement. At their heaviest, the Finns touch upon the monolithic trip-metal of SLEEP and ELECTRIC WIZARD, but bludgeoning with riffs is only one part of their battle plan. After several minutes of spellbinding trad doom, opening epic “Huevos Rancheros / Rapid Round” abruptly spirals off into the stratosphere at speed, as SKYJOGGERS prove themselves to be highly adept at full-throttle desert rock with a crazed, psychedelic undertow. The band’s performances are incredible. When the barrage of high velocity acid rock threatens to wind down, it starts up again with even more manic energy. 13 minutes whizz by. The joints practically roll themselves.
Two much shorter tunes come next. “Newtonin Kanuuna” is a classy blast of outrageously overdriven ’70s proto-metal, executed with nimble-fingered, jazzy flair; and the harsher, heavier “Døpehølm” is a slow-motion sludge freakout, with vocals drowning in reverb and delay, and modular synths piercing the wall of fuzz like strange missives from outer space.
But it is the final part of this EP that goes furthest towards dismantling any sense of riff-driven normality. “Tessæil” is a truly wild piece of music. Many bands wander down this path, but few know exactly where they are heading, SKYJOGGERS have that precious power trio intuition. They weather every tempo change and atmospheric mutation with laudable ease, and despite its episodic, mind-frying nature, “Tessæil” flows majestically: from fidgety, funk-adjacent grooves and post-punk minimalist guitars, to a scorched earth shuffle that ripples and pounds with menacing intent, and spidery, B-movie synth melodies that twinkle and glow in the darkness. Part languorous jam, part meticulous head-trip, it is all the evidence anyone needs to prove that SKYJOGGERS are the red-eyed and rampant real deal. This is an unmissable addition to the space doom canon. Bongs at the ready.
Source: blabbermouth.net
