Warrior Soul
Chill Pill

1990-1991-1992: three explosive albums released in quick succession; especially that "Salutations from the Ghetto Nation," one of the best works of the nineties. Warrior Soul reached 1993 and were dropped by Geffen Records: very low sales and an entirely uncontrollable character like Kory Clarke. But they still had one album to complete, due to their contract. They locked themselves in a New York studio and emerged with their most drug-fueled, sick, psychedelic work of their career. A somewhat lackadaisical effort that reflects the heavy atmosphere the band had sunk into.

Cover image and internal photos show us a band in bad shape: drugs flowed like rivers. That's undeniable. Nebulous and rarefied photographs of a stoned band. The result is an album that, as always, aims straight in the direction of Jane's Addiction; with the added Hard-Psychedelia of Monster Magnet's "Superjudge."

The short "Mars" is set to open the piece: God Bless America proclaims Kory while a lysergic, spatial atmosphere is immediately established with guitars sketching suffocating and acidic patterns. "Song In Your Mind" magnifies this sense of mystery that pervades the listening; a song that unfolds with slow, spiraling musical textures. An endless high.

For a moment, Warrior Soul remember they are warriors, Punk at heart: hence "Shock Um Down" and "I Want Some." Barbaric, fast, and mean just enough. The outburst is brief; they quickly return to enveloping paths with the two delirious concluding songs. Over six minutes of "Soft," with a voice so similar to Perry Farrell's; shamanic, to be listened to at high volume so as to be penetrated and pierced by a heavy acidity that reigns supreme in the long procession. The equally spirited "High Road" which features an unexpected and tormented harmonica: a mad Heavy-Blues that seems never to end, so narcoleptic.

A successful album, but not one for top marks; I always preferred their earlier works, more direct and outrageous.

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