ALBUM REVIEW: Soul Divider – Deepshade

DEEPSHADE follow up their 2015 record Everything Popular Is Wrong, which brought their brand of progressive psychedelic rock to the masses, with latest album Soul Divider. Will this album push their tendencies to blend stomping desert rock with mirage inspired ambience to the next level?

Airwaves kicks off nicely, a warm chug flowing out into rich, slightly sinister tones, and oozing groove. It’s pretty chilled out, swirling and bending somewhere between QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE and MUSE. The tension rise is very subtle; as the compression builds and the desire to explode mounts, it pops in small burst rather than all out blast until the very final minute. City Burn has a nice double harmonic run through the riff to push more into an eastern vibe, and a soft vocal to draw you in. it’s ethereal droning introduction swiftly gives way to a psychedelic rock anthem that’s happy to chug away and catch  you in its raucous good fun. The party really gets going with crazy, wailing vocals and modulated keys bring a mad perversion on organ sounds, making this like a church session you never knew you needed.

Even cooler and more collected than its predecessors, Burning Up brings in the octave fuzz for a bright, flaming riff that doesn’t do flashy, but enjoys a sizzling static tension. What’s added through the sparkling, cool notes of clean notes that drip through and reverberate is a contrast that allows you to immerse yourself in a soundscape as you give way to the lyrics and the trippy atmosphere DEEPSHADE deliver. With the itch for some stomping clear, Arches of Innocence provides a NICK CAGE style decent into a darker kind of psychedelic, rising choral voices just out of reach accompanying David Rybka’s voice. DEEPSHADE are just bristling with tantalising charisma, from the banging out and out rock moments to the experimental ideas they fleck throughout.

Take a hard turn into a the most PORCUPINE TREE territory we’ve seen yet, SadSun is progressive blues with finesse, playing with a more jazz style verse, and dark explosions into uncharted territory for its heavy chorus. In need of a moment of reflection, Lonely Man offers guitar tinkles and wavers, symbols that summer, keys splashing pleasantly occasionally, and the bass pads along comfortably. This is perfect chill out music for those mellow come downs, with a real hark back to sixties and seventies melodies and mid-nineties IDM.

After your moment of solace, Soul Divider introduces the second half of the record like a dowsing of cold water. It’s just as hallucinogenic, but infusing that heavy stoner rock fuzz with a more aggressive groove and a little more malice through the ambience. Not to overwhelm, DEEPSHADE know the right times to make an impact and when to keep things pleasant. Maryland is reminiscent of a blend of ZERO 7, DAVID BOWIE and THE BEATLES– if any of them decided to fuse psychedelia with desert rock.

Penultimate track Monster is a warm, echoing swim in harmonics and low fi loops. It’s dainty and beautiful- or at least that’s what it would have you believe; fair warning, don’t turn up the volume expecting this to stay a swaying, contemplative journey, as sudden mountainous bursts will have you jumping out of your skin. For fans of GOLD KEY, this will be right up your street. On its own merit, Monster has a great audible duality to what’s going on lyrically, showing two sides of someone, the light and the dark, and what’s going on underneath. To tie everything together, we finish on Ganzua, a beast that isn’t messing around, once more becoming a towering giant of the crunchiest fuzz. Linking back to the tonality of City Burn, the sway of the music is heavily influenced by eastern music, with a western stomp all over it. It’s tidy work and booming, swishing, oscillating close seems filling for this accomplished album.

This is a definite step up, with more experimental confidence and drive to make things contrast and spark in ways you wouldn’t imagine, DEEPSHADE have proven themselves well worth noting. Soul Divider is unafraid to sit and wash over you in gorgeous psychedelic tones, and then straight up smack you in the face with it’s heavy progressive edge.

Rating: 8/10

Soul Divider is out now via self-release.

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