ALBUM REVIEW: Key To The Universe – Mage

There’s a lot to respect about Leicester based stoner/doom crew MAGE and their fourth full length, Key To The Universe. It’s their first full length since the sad passing of founding guitarist Ben Aucott back in 2015, although the feel and sound of the album channel his presence throughout. It’s also a crowdfunded release, a testament to the esteem the band have won from their loyal following, all the more impressive considering the recent series of balls ups with PledgeMusic that have left MAGE and many others in the lurch. Also respectable is the four pieces’ strict adherence to the tenets of sludge-soaked hard rock. Although formed in 2010, there’s a deference to the old school at play on Key To The Universe that values bluesy licks, swaggering riffs and methodical construction over modern frippery.

Opener Zen Blues starts things as they mean to go on, smooth vocals and slow stoner grooves ushering in a climbing main riff, moving through trilling guitars, hefty chugs and sleazy solos before ending on a climax of warbling feedback. You Hate Speech is instantly upbeat, swaggering to pulsing kicks and busy bass, layers of hoarse, shouted vocals throwing out rebellious, political lyricism.

Facts rings with trippy, spacey guitars that come down into crunchy, doomy chords and trudging drums, loping towards a downward spiral of screeching guitars. It’s ponderous, weighing in around nine minutes, and the three modes it rotates through aren’t quite gripping enough to avoid it overstaying its welcome. Grind does just that with buzzing chords and bouncing grooves, picking up pace throughout like a foot edging a gas pedal slowly towards the floor. The title track gallops away into a stoner drive, coming off like a more trad THE SWORD, shot through with threatening bass and spears of feedback. Le Destin Tragique (which sounds like a Del Boy quote, but isn’t), menaces with ringing chords before picking up into a lurching swing that arcs over pounding toms. Closer Black Totem drifts through wistful acoustic guitar lines before dark riffs and pulsing drums spirit us to a close.

Key To The Universe seems to hail from the beer chugging, double denim wearing, ‘if it ain’t broke’-ing school of metal thought – it’s an album without pretension, made to be turned up recklessly loud and best enjoyed in some kind of state of blissful inebriation. It’s not a challenging listen, but it’s not meant to be; some of the lyrics sit on the cliché side of things (“Yeah it’s all right/It’s darkest before it’s light,”) but they’re universal in their ‘back of a school notebook’ simplicity. A solid and serviceable record that will delight MAGE’s hard earned fan-base and other trad-stoner-dads besides.

Rating: 6/10

Key To The Universe is out now via self-release.

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