The Janitors
Horn Ur Marken

THE REVIEW

This album here is a true call to arms.

The Janitors (Jonas Eriksson, Henric Herlenius, Anders Thorell, Jon Graffe, Andreas Bergman), the psychedelic rock band from Stockholm, Sweden, active since 2004, notably present the latest album with an actual declaration of war 'against nihilism, blind faith in religion and false prophets, the powers of the clergy, capitalist egotism, racist idiocracy, and fascism that disguises itself in ignorance.' Recorded in August 2016 at Helter Skelter Studios in Stockholm, 'Horn Ur Marken' (Sky Lantern/Cardinal Fuzz), the band's latest studio LP, is therefore a true concept album with social content and something unprecedented in the world of neo-psychedelia and at the same time clearly the album of maturity and the definite consecration of the group.

With this album, in fact, the group surpasses that psychedelic garage sound that made them known within the neo-psychedelic community and pushes beyond any limits reached up to this point in their previous discography, recording an album that leans toward proposing a droning and obsessive psychedelia, almost hypnotic and loaded with an intense John Carpenter 'thrill' and veins of acid blues.

The compositions are mostly based on a recurring formula supported by the powerful sound of the rhythm section and an imposing bass that centers the voice of Jonas Eriksson, a kind of snake charmer. A suggestion amplified by the fuzz sound of the guitars and the noise clashes worthy of Mark E. Smith, which overlay a certain solidity of sound typical of the Black Angels. The album alternates more intense moments like 'Trojan Ghost' and 'Neon Times', with electric guitars as sharp as the ice in 'Blizzard', the tantric blues of 'Into The Woods', the drone mantras of 'Fear Of All' and 'Alarmatica'. To which are added two 'bonus tracks' downloadable for free from the band's Bandcamp site: 'HrOmRxN', a twelve-minute session of acid blues psychedelia; the seven-minute rock-blues of 'Fire Hole'.

All this makes 'Horn Ur Marken' one of the best psychedelic rock music albums of this year 2017 and the best studio album by the Janitors, as well as constituting a genuine appeal: come out and fight fear by making your voice heard against the oppressor and fight so that everyone has their rights. Long live psychedelia, down with the capitalist enemy.