ALBUM REVIEW: IV: The Stream Of Forgotten Thoughts – Weedpecker
Poland’s WEEDPECKER have always challenged what it means to be a “stoner” rock band. With their deeply intricate, complex and abstract approach to psychedelic rock, the band have continually broken new ground with each album. IV: The Stream Of Forgotten Thoughts continues their tradition of creating otherworldly psychedelic music infused with heavy riffs, but travels further into the world of progressive rock than the band have gone before. With this in mind, the album is saturated in psychedelic themes and imbued with a plethora of other influences that come together with an incredible flourish. WEEDPECKER are a band that have never done anything by halves, and IV sees them enter a world of mind bending possibility and optimism, transcending any and all limitations and gaining the ability to run wild and free.
The first thing that you notice about IV: The Stream Of Forgotten Thoughts is its Jimi Hendrix style swagger and the mind bending psychedelic 60s/70s vibes. Outside the heavier, groove laden riffs, these elements really are the core of the album. Experimental and expansive, you are thrust into this strange and crazy world of swirling patterns and vibrant colours. It feels like an engrossing novel – with every turn of the page you get a new surprise, and the album is packed with such nuance and subtlety that there is certainly a lot going on between the lines. It is clear that WEEDPECKER put a considerable amount of time into this record, as it stands head and shoulders above its predecessor III.
IV is contradictory in many ways, as the band have refined themselves, tightened everything up but also pushed the boundaries to allow fluid and unrestricted creativity to flow. This ties in with the more progressive stance the band took when creating the record. These progressive rock elements give this album something unique, adding an extra layer of complexity that only pushes the WEEDPECKER sound forward in the most positive way. Bringing this new dimension to the band’s sound, it makes the big riffs that they’re synonymous with have a much bigger impact throughout the album. There is also a traditional heavy metal influence that gives the album its edge, and these two ingredients thrown, alongside psychedelia, into the band’s melting pot have created an interesting and enjoyably complex mix.
Conceptually, the album takes on the mantras of thought and perception to an almost meditative state. For large stretches of the album you feel completely lost within its folds, exposing various aspects while aimlessly floating along to its melodies. In this space and time anything seems possible, and reality is a concept that is mouldable. Big Brain Monsters carries the weight of the Jimi Hendrix style elements on the album, opening up with a ball-busting Voodoo Child-esque anthemic riff before morphing into a groove-laden epic of soaring vocals and hulking riffs. Contrasting that, The Stream Of Forgotten Thoughts is more delicate in its approach, a series of layered elements that lull you into a trance, as if you’re floating down a calm river. Unusual Perceptions stands out for its BEACH BOYS and PINK FLOYD-esque dreamscapes that want to take you away to galaxies over yonder, but it is rooted with a solid bass groove that keeps you on track in the realm of thoughts. The carefully constructed layers throughout the album make sure that with each listen through you pick up something new, or gain a new perspective on what you’ve heard before.
WEEDPECKER‘s IV: The Stream Of Forgotten Thoughts goes beyond all expectations; a band that is fearless in its experimentation has crafted something exquisite. The album really is a sonic journey in the clouds, where thoughts and memories crystallise and swirl around you in a bright and vivid kaleidoscope.
Rating: 9/10
IV: The Stream Of Forgotten Thoughts is set for release on December 3rd via Stickman Records.
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