I’ll be honest with you: it was a bit of a whirlwind to schedule this premiere. Packed work schedules, multiple contact points, and other details that are our chaotic industry got in the way. But, as they say, life, uh, finds a way and the riffs on this track/album/band are too powerful to be kept down for long and here we are, with a premiere for Grave Bathers‘ “Brain Thief”. This little nugget of psychedelic doom comes to us from their upcoming debut release, Rock ‘N’ Roll Fetish, due to drop on August 5th through Seeing Red Records. It’s a romp and a half through doomy, riff-tastic, feedback laden rock so make sure to light up, scroll down, and check it out!
The first part of the track hits hard enough but when we get to the two and a half minute mark and its pregnant silence is where things really kick off. The groovy riff which takes over that part of the track, the verging-on-a-scream vocals, and the incredibly effective drums and bass combos just skyrocket this track into the stratosphere. It makes one think of the groovier Clutch tracks (or, if you’re particularly well educated in this field, The Bakerton Group). But this is far from where the track ends: there’s an unexpected, and very articulate, drum solo, the return of the riff for an explosive outro, and a blistering guitar solo to wrap everything up.
Grave Bathers do an excellent job of controlling all of this chaos in ways that remind us of King Crimson but with, of course, a fair amount of sludge and dirty doom added into the mix. The end result is wild but expertly driven, aimed at a coruscating, furious type of rock that’s delightful to hear. You can head on over to their Bandcamp above to pre-order the album. In the meantime, play “Brain Thief” loud as fuck and roll on towards that blazing sunset.