East Of The Wall - Redaction Artifacts

Prog stoner metal dudes East Of The Wall are back with another great headphone album. Get it!You might recall my review of East Of The Wall's (EOTW) preceding effort, The Apologist. That was my first run in with the band and I thoroughly enjoyed their sound, which comes off like a heavier, "less ethnic" version of The Mars Volta - one of my favorite bands in the subgenre of what I call progressive stoner rock. EOTW's sound continues in that vein, though they've added to the vocal layer a bit, expanding their sonic footprint in yet another interesting way.

And luckily, there's more of the same great guitar-based meandering on their new album, Redaction Artifacts, but that's not to say they're retreading old ground - any more than say, Pink Floyd. Still present are the bassy grooves, beautifully restrained percussion, emo scream-vocals, and the great melodic guitar work that holds it all together into what amounts to a musical experience rather than just another album. Seriously, this is great headphone music for those cooler autumn evenings when you find yourself home alone and want to get your mind right, you dig?

The Bottom Line: If you like intelligent grooves but don't need the sharp complexity of Symphony X or even the clever thickness of Mastodon, take a trip on the psychedelic soundscape of East Of The Wall's latest. You do own a good pair of cans, right?

Tracks To Enjoy With A Pair of Marshall Headphones: Solving the Correspondence Problem, The Fractal Canopy, and The Methuselah Tree

- Genghis really could stand to get his mind right like soon...