Scorched Oak – Perception
Self-released – 2024
Rock, Doom, Stoner, Metal
Rated: ****
We’ve been listening to the German three called Scorched Oak ever since we heard that damn fine Withering Earth album back in 2020. It jumped to the Top 10 of that months Doom Charts and rightfully so. And their new album Perception has everything on board to do even better! It also comes at a better time, cause with Withering Earth releasing during the pandemic, they could not really tour that album. With Perception they can, will, shall and with a vengeance. In fact, for all my fellow Dutchies, they will be playing the formidable Love For Loud Fest in Amsterdam, this Friday the 29th of March. A date that is not to be missed! And an album that needs to be heard! Perception’s biggest change compared to Withering Earth, is perhaps the use of vocals. To be begin with, there are more. Bass player Linda Klockmann can be heard on many songs, with excellent vocals that both move and inspire. With the exact amount of careening, almost flying out of the curve here and there, her vocals will surge through your blood and either fire you up or give you goosebumps. There are tales of woe and elation, and you will feel them all. And then there are those little sighs and whispered sounds, that will do all sorts of other things to you. Guitarist Ben Plochowietz delivered most of the sparing vocals on that first Withering Earth album but did so on that album splendidly. They had its own color and even though you could hear he was trying to find the best way to use them, he sounded like he would be comfortable with his voice soon enough and it sounded on the verge of becoming amazing. On Perception, he also uses his voice more, but has now decided to set his voice to a burling tone. Which doesn’t seem to work constantly, on a few occasions even sounding like has just finished a bottle of coke and desperately needs to belch. It’s the Rob Zombie approach to singing, and I loved his earlier vocalization more. But there surely will also be fans out there on the opposite side, digging it a lot. And don’t get me wrong, there are parts on the new album where it definitely works, but also where, for me personally, it doesn't. And that’s the sole reason, this album isn’t the best album of 2024 for me, but it is still high up on the list though. Extremely high! And for many reasons…
Just listen to opening track and single, with cool video, Delusion. The way it immediately sets the scene, with its Eastern motif, painting that windswept, purple dawn of the desert. The shadowy silhouettes traversing the endless dunes, before the sound, the volume, the fullness slowly builds towards that crash, the wonderful sigh and the powerful push that follows. That luscious drum work, melodic, shifting, like the sand beneath your feet. It continues in another amazing track that follows called Mirrors. A highlight in vocals once again, a doomier approach to the riffs and the drums. Often spilling an atmosphere around you of a night sky about to tumble down. The calmer moments feeling like the last seconds you can still see the stars reflected in the motionless oasis water. Mirrors… And Mirrors, with that space, kraut influenced end part, so danceable and possibly a part that could be extended live for ages, when they see the crow go wild. A part that returns in a slightly different form in bonus track Wizard. Need to hear one more track to be convinced? Well, of course third track Relief is there for you, another more metal approach to their sound. Stomping, motoring, inching towards an edge you never knew was there. But personally, I reckon Echoes, which is another highlight in vocals, will be able to cross boundaries and make fans out of everyone. And together with the opener it’s their most stoner rock and accessible track. And then there are still the amazing Reflection and the brilliant Oracle still to follow. And after this incredibly album has finished and so many words written down, not really my best of writing, I haven’t even mentioned the fact that Esben Willems at his Studio Berserk, and who you might know from Monolord, mastered the album! Or that Robin Stirnberg, aka, Rombonaut mixed it! And there is still bonus track Wizard, which is probably called bonus track because it feels less in place with the rest of the themes and atmosphere on the album, but still holds so much great rock. Those riffs, that bass work, those drums, they will cast a spell on you. Perception is an album that should cement Scorched Oak’s place in the heavy rock firmament. And like a bright shining star it will guide all of us heavy rock fiends to the right place to rock out. And buy their vinyl… And they do that all themselves… What? Wait? They are still unsigned?
(Written by JK)
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