ALBUM REVIEW: Variant – Greenbeard

Imagine you’re finger-flicking your way through a crate of vinyl records. There are the staples that are always in stock, and there are the duds that always get skipped past. And then there are the real gems you stumble across once in a blue moon. It might be something from the 70s, unearthed in all its original glory. It could just be a rare variant of a record you love. It could be something that differs from the standard, like any variant does. Or maybe it’s Variant by GREENBEARD. 

The aptly-titled follow-up to 2016’s Lödarödböl takes the desert rock template that KYUSS built, runs it through the groove metal meat processor CORROSION OF CONFORMITY created, and laces it in the psychedelic acid trip of latter-day QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE for an album that brings stoner rock into a whole new era.

Opener Creatures Of The Night lights up like a spliff, sending out a rollercoaster of psych-rock riffs that ride under vocalist Chance Parker’s lo-fi vocals. From here on in, it spirals out of control like a waltzer ride gone wrong – only everything here feels so right. 

Bleeding between genres like a junkie does drugs, Variant stretches the spectrum of stoner rock. One minute you’re riding down the highway to hell at breakneck speed, as Parker and guitarist Joe Samson channel guitar gods journeying down devil drummer Buddy Hachar’s formidable fills; the next you’re selling your soul to the devil as their psychedelic waltz of woodwind instrumentals helps you indulge their power solos. 

It’s no surprise that Variant breaks the mould; GREENBEARD have spent four years simmering it, letting it stew away and brew into its own beast. It’s a testament to their growth that its seven tracks meld together like molten lava, taking you on a spiritual journey. It’s hard to find fault here, with the record’s only flaw being that it leaves you wanting more. 

If you’ve begun to lose your way with the stoner rock of yesterday, you’ll find yourself front row and centre at the next instalment of Desertfest, joint firmly in hand, once you’ve soaked yourself in Variant’s sounds. If GREENBEARD give up now, it’d be a damn shame, because they’ve single-handedly resuscitated a genre that relies far too heavily on legacy bands. 

Rating: 9/10

Variant is set for release on April 8th via Sailor Records/Kozmik Artifactz.

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