ALBUM REVIEW: Samsara Joyride – Samsara Joyride
Originally starting as a living room project in 2020 by the two founding guitarists Florian Miehe and Michael Haumer, and based in the famous historic and musical city of Vienna, SAMSARA JOYRIDE carry on a rich musical tradition in the Austrian capital. Rooted in bluesy riffing and stoner psychedelia, the band’s debut and self-titled album embodies the definition of samsara as it takes you on a wandering journey through the astral plains of psychedelic stoner music. Bringing in elements of the Palm Desert scene, Samsara Joyride is a blend of peaceful soundscapes that gradually evolve and flourish into fuzz-soaked riffs.
The charm of this album is that it has that warm and nostalgic 1970s live recording quality of early LED ZEPPELIN and BLACK SABBATH albums. You can hear the fuzz and fizzle of amplifiers working to their maximum capacity as the drum compression ties the kit together. The music itself is heavily rooted in blues, much like the aforementioned bands. However, instead of rolling lazily into the metal side of things with the devil’s triad and the usual Phrygian intervals, SAMSARA JOYRIDE lean into their roots and give blues rock the stoner treatment. Slowing it down, soaking it in fuzz, they have taken the essence of rock and stirred it in with a psychedelic mushroom brew. With blues licks and runs being dished out by dual guitars in tandem alongside the soulful and unique tones of Miehe and Haumer’s melodies and harmonies, the album is earthy and simultaneously ethereal. As possible students of the golden age of psychedelia in the 1960s, at multiple points throughout Samsara Joyride you imagine yourself swirling through those classic colourful spirals as a vast array of flowers fall around you.
As the album progresses, it becomes increasingly artistic in its nature and even though things sound cohesive, Samsara Joyride very rarely tread the same ground. It ebbs and flows through dynamic soundscapes before taking short diversions into bluesy fuzz to keep you grounded. If this album was a drink, it would be Willy Wonka’s Fizzy Lifting Drink as it is very easy to float away into your thoughts with this Samsara Joyride. The band have certainly shown their psychedelic ambitions throughout the album, with the latter half of the record being more of a hallucinogenic trip into the unknown through a quadruplet of songs that are elongated jams that explore the limits of the band’s sound. Having brought forward several elements from their debut EP Stranger, this album feels much more defined yet is still has the exciting characteristic of a band searching for who they are.
Opening with Kingdom Of Fear Pt.1 you get a sense of what this album is about: down-tempo blues rock blended with stoner psychedelics. It draws you in with the aforementioned old school charm with a blistering solo to match. Playing War is a slow builder; the picked chords are soaked in reverb and gently lull you intro a trance before the deep vocals come in. The song eventually ramps up with some solid SABBATH-esque riffing taking over. Who Am I? brings in some of the more Palm Desert vibes into the fold as shifting guitar leads in swirling reverbs transfix you in your daydreams. Shadow Of Man is an all out earthy blues rock song – think ZZ TOP’s Texan blues with a European twist, as you cruise through the luscious landscapes of Austria.
Kingdom Of Fear Pt.2 continues this venture into blues, taking the form of a mournful acoustic blues track. Woody acoustic guitars ping with brilliant blues licks while the rustic vocals lay over the top. Feed On Me slowly brings us back to the electrified setting with a nine-minute dreamy adventure through 1960s flower power atmospheres and jangly chords. When Gods Were Man is a bit darker, and brings back the epic solos and psychedelic jams that you hear at the beginning of the album. Wild Woman has that classic BLACK SABBATH vibe – slow chugged verses and big riff choruses whilst still remaining distinctly blues rock. Album closer, the 12-and-a-half-minute epic Lingering Thoughts, contains moments of classic blues balladry mixed with the flower 1960s psychedelia reminiscent of a melancholic PINK FLOYD jam.
SAMSARA JOYRIDE have been incredibly ambitious on their debut album and it has worked wonderfully well for them, going back to the blues basics of rock and gradually building it into a relaxingly atmospheric and artistic album. This record harks back to the sounds and nostalgia of yesteryear and modestly bringing them into the modern world with delightfully refreshing creativity.
Rating: 8/10
Samsara Joyride is set for release on October 22nd via self-release.
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