ALBUM REVIEW: Time Is A Razor – Stone House On Fire
Bursting full of Latin American energy and flair, Brazil’s STONE HOUSE ON FIRE are a scintillatingly exciting band who have now returned with their highly anticipated third album Time Is A Razor. Being described as a late 60s/early 70s throwback band, STONE HOUSE ON FIRE harken back to the blues rock legends and pay homage but simultaneously bring their own unique twists and turns. Channelling more psychedelic elements within their sound and unafraid to explore strange atmospheres, the band are able to create dynamically vigorous songs filled with all the fuzz and thunder of the best psychedelic/doom bands. Coupled with their Latin American spice, you can’t help but be drawn into Time Is A Razor, effortlessly moving along to the album’s infectious rhythms.
Firstly, Time Is A Razor is without a doubt the heaviest and most psychedelic album that STONE HOUSE ON FIRE have released. You can only describe it as the love child of JIMI HENDRIX and LED ZEPPELIN with some extra LSD and mushrooms thrown in for good measure. The album is drenched and dripping in the band’s unique formula of explosive blues riffs and mind bending, trippy psychedelics. With the occasional excursions to add obscure Latin rhythms and reality morphing atmospheric passages, it is ludicrously easy for the listener to be hypnotised and sucked into the album’s mesmeric world.
The most extraordinary thing is how this album sits perfectly in the past, present and future concurrently, utilising old school, classic influences with contemporary psychedelic and progressive elements that sound a few steps ahead of everyone else. It is a mind bending thought to get your head round but a testament to the band’s song-writing and arrangement. Exceeding their usual outré and advancing further into the obscure, Time Is A Razor feels like the band have hit the sweet spot of their sound.
The album takes on the form of the Amazon River, meandering through a diverse range of sonic environments and psychedelic ecosystems. With constantly shifting dynamics and an incredible fluidity, the album’s title is quite deceiving in that sense, as the sharpness of the metaphorical razor comes from the band’s reliance on jamming. Given the album’s incredible precision it is beyond comprehension how tight and consistent the performances are across the board. To be that in sync with one another is a rarity and it gives Time Is A Razor a unique authenticity as the band lay it all out for the listener to drink up. One of the other fascinating elements is the inclusion of more Latin based percussion on White Canvas and Waterfall. Both songs break the mould in that sense as it is not something that is often utilised in this area of music, but here it is done so to marvellous effect. Alongside the traditional instrumentation, STONE HOUSE ON FIRE add some extra flare that will get you moving in ways that you never usually would, as if your third eye is opening and you can finally see.
Uzumaki is the most LED ZEPPELIN influenced song on the album, utilising bombastic blues rock riffs that push and pull the feel of the song throughout. This gives it a sense of urgency that shakes up the album mid way through. Despite channels the psychedelic blues of Hendrix, with dual guitar melodies constantly ascending and descending in both ears simultaneously. In many ways it could be argued that if BLACK SABBATH went a bit more psychedelic it would sound like this; the riffs are heavy and rumbling, underpinned by formidable bass groove.
Overall, this album is a real stunner, showcasing a band that has pushed the boundaries to create a record that is highly intuitive and creative. Time Is A Razor feels like all the band’s experimentation has been worth it, and is an album packed with spine tingling sweet spots that are sure to enthral and excite everyone who listens to it. This may very well be the making of STONE HOUSE ON FIRE, placing them firmly on the global psychedelic radar.
Rating: 9/10
Time Is A Razor is set for release on January 28th via Electric Valley Records.
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