Mouth Of Clay
Darkened Sun

It's been a while since I've heard about Akarma, a label from La Spezia that was notable in the past for a series of reissues of small classics of English and Italian progressive music. Now, under its brand – and with the distribution of Black Widow – comes a double CD by Mouth Of Clay titled Darkened Sun: it's a historic Swedish hard-rock band very active in the past decade. Mouth Of Clay was formed precisely in 2000. The lineup consisted of Jocke Erikson (vocals and guitar), Jugge Lindhult (bass), Brunnken Brunnkvist (drums), and Hawkan England (guitar). Subsequently, some members of Mouth Of Clay would join Siena Root and Three Seasons, highly valuable groups in the realm of doom psychedelia. The double CD collects material composed between 2000 and 2002, released only in demo format and limited editions. On the first CD, you'll find the demos Colors Of Utopia – which was composed after only a few rehearsals – and A New Beginning recorded at the time on a four-track, while on the second CD we can listen to the subsequent What Have You Got To Lose? which, however, was recorded on a sixteen-track.

Listening to Darkened Sun will take you on a time machine journey into classic '70s rock where bands like Deep Purple and Uriah Heep were all the rage: the love for certain sounds seems never to wane. In this sense, the singer Eriksson's voice is very warm and expressive, like it came through a time portal. The sound is a vintage hard-blues tinged with psychedelic nuances: however, even though we are dealing with a highly derivative product, original ideas are not lacking, even if the melodies are traceable to a precise framework. We are in the realm of heavy, very energetic hard rock tending toward doom, which will surely delight fans of this genre. The compositions are of good quality even though not all are at levels of absolute excellence. The atmospheres vary from dreamy to harsher, with a very incisive guitar. Critical feedback has always been quite positive, attesting to the quality of this project.

For those interested in exploring further, this edition by Akarma is an unmissable opportunity to understand the evolution of a band that certainly does not deserve to be forgotten. The beautiful digipack packaging features a very psychedelic design by Alessandra Barucchi, while inside there are several photos of the band. Available at http://www.blackwidow.it/.