ALBUM REVIEW: Terminal Forest – Swan Valley Heights
The German state of Bavaria is world renowned as a place of stunning natural beauty and incredibly picturesque landscapes. Nestled in the heart of this deeply historic German state is the city of Munich, home of the three bearded psychedelic rockers that make up SWAN VALLEY HEIGHTS. Since 2016 the trio have been offering up a luscious and magical brand of heavy psych, and now they follow up their excellent sophomore album The Heavy Seed with their third and most distinctive album to date, Terminal Forest. With more earthy and mellow tones, Terminal Forest takes you on an intricate and trippy sonic journey through the spacey forest of your own mind.
Crafted deep in the Bavarian forest in a wooden cabin, the effects of nature can certainly be felt throughout this album. There is a calmness that transcends the psychedelic elements, one that you only experience where you’re immersed in nature and its energy imbues your soul with tranquillity. SWAN VALLEY HEIGHTS’ previous two albums – the aforementioned The Heavy Seed and 2016’s self-titled – were much more driven affairs, equally balancing expansive psychedelia with fuzz-drenched riffs. However, Terminal Forest is a completely different entity in its own right. Mellower, earthier and trippier, you can imagine yourself walking through the vast beauty of nature as the warmth of the music washes over you. Throughout the album you experience layers of vivid colour, spacious atmospheres and the melodies all just seem to melt into one another in glorious technicolour. With that in mind, there is a more vintage feel to this album. Through the entire album there is an analogue sounding warmth, and even the heavier sections have a more rounded edge to them when compared to SWAN VALLEY HEIGHTS’ previous work.
There is a wonderful serenity to this album that reminds you of hot summer days where you can kick back in a field or lay by a lake and completely forget the world for a few hours. SWAN VALLEY HEIGHTS have taken a meditative approach to this album, and it becomes very easy to get fully immersed in the hypnotic melodies and gently ebbing and flowing grooves. There are also minimal lyrics, allowing you to really soak up the vibe and atmospheres that the band create. Yet when vocals are utilised, the melodies and harmonies are stunning, weaving perfectly into SWAN VALLEY HEIGHTS’ rich tapestry of kaleidoscopic psychedelia. This is emphasised on the magnificent 11-minute sonic journey Microbe Galaxy, where the shared harmonies powerfully yet elegantly lift your soul into the warmth of a summer sun and fill it with the purest joy.
There is masterful patience that transcends the songs; each track really takes its time to establish itself and settle in before reaching its triumphant climax. In may ways the album is a celestial and ethereal journey, each song is ornately crafted to transport you to another realm of consciousness. With Christian Schmidt’s rich, full-bodied bass grooves enveloping you, the hypnotic and prog style drumming from Andy Heir (also keyboards) and the enchanting guitar wizardry from David Kreisl demonstrating the band’s brilliant song craft, Terminal Forest really is an exquisite delight to experience.
The album opens with the chirping birdsong introduction of Microbe Galaxy and you can really feel the imbued beauty of nature in these early stages of the album. It’s a beautiful composition of euphoric vocals and intricate guitar melodies that leaves a wholesome mark on your soul. The Hunger is an equally captivating song, with shifting dynamics and grooves that make your body want to sway blissfully in the summer sun. Space Bash III is where the spacier psychedelics begin to emerge; the three-minute jam introduces more prog elements to the album with strange time signatures and swirling bass and guitar riffs.
This leads into the title track Terminal Forest, a mesmeric journey through waves of heavy psych magic as melody washes over you like gentle river water, filling your imagination with peaceful woodland scenes that you are more than glad to escape to. Looking For Bird Pet ramps up the energy, with SWAN VALLEY HEIGHTS unleashing waves of heavy riffs that are woven with moments of trippy psych melodies that evolve over time. Closing the album is the emphatic Star Fever; at this point you have fully succumbed to the enchanting energy of the album and this 12-minute epic transcends you beyond the realms of inner peace and into heavy psych nirvana.
The Bavarian trio have crafted a beautiful album that nourishes your soul with its wonderful melodies and celestial harmonies. Terminal Forest makes you want to get out into nature, explore its beauty and connect with it. So, if you’re thinking of writing an album in a wooden cabin in the future, SWAN VALLEY HEIGHTS have set a very high standard.
Rating: 10/10
Terminal Forest is set for release on March 31st via Fuzzorama Records.
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