Solar Halos – Solar Halos (2014)

Arriving from the South of the USA, today we have Solar Halos and their self-titled debut album to be released on UK’s Devouter Records. Featuring six fuzzy and warm Psychedelic/Stoner Rock tracks, this trio delivers a top notch release that will instantly put them on the map. Led by the hypnotic vocals of Nora Rogers, this band sounds like a more accessible Jex Thoth with some Spirit Caravan thrown into the mix.

Opening with fuzzy distorted guitars, “The Vast White Plains” fully showcases the band’s sonic power. The music tempo is quite mellow and very bluesy. In “Tunnels” we dive deeper into the rabbit hole with warm riffs and very fitting vocals. The trio has expert songwriting skills and they show through the perfectly timed tempo changes in their songs, as we can clearly appreciate on “Migration”.

By the time “Frost” arrives we are completely hypnotized by the sultry vocals of Nora Rogers and the waves of commanding riffs thrown at us. If you think the music can get any more sludgy/heavy, “Wilderness” arrives to prove you wrong, going even a notch lower than the previous songs. Closing the release with the best song of the album, “Resonance”, we are left with a very good impression from the band and we can’t wait to see how they evolve in the future.

As a whole, “Solar Halos” is a very solid debut album that showcases a very promising band. While there are still some issues with the songs being a bit monotonous, the band surely has enough skills to improve on this in the future. If you are looking for something sludgy and filled with retro and fuzzy amps, look no further and pick up a copy of this very solid release.

Label: Devouter Records

Release: January 20th, 2014

Genre: Stoner/Psychedelic Rock

Country: USA