Article By: Pat ‘Riot’ Whitaker ‡ Edited By: Leanne Ridgeway
DRUG CULT. Sounds like a good clique to belong to, does it not? As long as it is not in some kind of Jim Jones and The People’s Temple of Jonestown, Guyana sense, that is.
In this case, it isn’t. This DRUG CULT is a recently born Australian unit of pure psychedelic heaviness. One comprised of present and/or past members of such acts as Sun Of Man, Megaritual, and Wolfmother.
As DRUG CULT – guitarist Vin Steele (ex-Wolfmother, Megaritual, Sun Of Man), vocalist Aasha Tozer, drummer Dale Walker (Megaritual, Sun Of Man), and bassist Maggie Schreiber – recently released their self-titled début through Ritual Productions on June 21st.
If you have seen the recent official videos from DRUG CULT, “Mind Crypt“, “Serpent Ritual“, and “Reptile Hypnosis“, then you have an inkling of what this band is all about. That would be damned heavy-ass doom music with an uncompromising psychedelic bent to it, of course. It is delivered with abundant occult rock overtones, they are channeled through walls of distorted fuzz and accompanied by hellish, effect-heavy vocalizations.
The lysergic aspect of this densely immersive music has the power and ability to engulf, then consume the listener. Some of the tunes, ones like “Release“, “Slaylude” and “Spell“, take on a bit of a lighter feel to them, but not one that allows you to escape the pull of their audio gravity.
No, that pull is something that remains intact at all times, albeit in varying measures, with the dense mass of these compositions generating such gravity. It is magnetic, so to speak. Once you are in place, in the very moment where each song is emanating about you, there is no absconding from their grasp – not that you would want to.
This state of pseudo fright or flight is something apt to be experienced on several of the darker, infernal tracks inhabiting this album. Deluges of diabolically enhanced, searing sonics permeate such songs as “Reptile Hypnosis” and its follow-up, “The Wall“, along with the crushing “Acid Eye“. These “rites”, as DRUG CULT refers to them, are indeed akin to liturgical ceremonies where all involved openly worship the riff communally.
You too can do such, as this S/T is now out, released this past summer solstice – June 21st – on LP, CD, and digital download via Ritual Productions. It was made available in stores and on streaming platforms as of June 22nd.
Get your ass spiritually indoctrinated, and psychologically programmed with the illicit substance-like sonics of DRUG CULT!!!
