Greenleaf – Echoes From A Mass (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 46:11 minutes | 574 MB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Napalm Records Handels GmbH
Emerging in the wake of what might be considered the second wave of stoner-rock groups, Kyuss, Monster Magnet, Fu Manchu and so many others, Greenleaf are nonetheless veterans themselves. Sweden has long been a breeding ground for the genre, despite its roots in the California desert. After all, didn’t the Scandinavian country give us Spiritual Beggars and Dozer, with that guitarist, Tommi Holappa, branching off to form Greenleaf in 1999? The band’s eighth album fleshes out a discography turning more and more towards blues and rock, less sludgy than yesteryear. Marked by the isolation everyone has experienced to varying degrees during the pandemic that brought the world to its knees in 2020, the group delivers an album with a melancholy feel and song lines that are more melodic than ever, setting the tone from the start with the superb single Tides. Greenleaf have often drawn comparisons with Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age due to their reliance on softer, more measured vocals than bands who roll in a deeper, more aggressive register. Echoes From a Mass is nonetheless firmly entrenched in the tradition of albums powered by badass drumming, swathed in reverb and pushed back in the mix to avoid crushing the fuzz-soaked guitars (and bass), but never over-compressed, with room to breathe and maintaining that vintage flavour. That’s how this album earns its status as stoner rock and desert rock, as much as classic hard rock (the solo in Bury My Son). That lineage reaches all the way back to Black Sabbath, whose long, dark shadow hovers majestically over the magnificent 6-minute-plus Wings of Gold. While this highly-codified genre leaves little room for surprise, Echoes From a Mass manages the feat through a complete mastery of the basics. Admittedly, the recipe doesn’t change much (dirty yet melodic guitars, muscular sound with a reassuring shot of ’70s, reverb here and there for a touch of psychedelia…), but the palpable emotion and vocals that sometimes verge on a false note make the whole thing deeply human, even fragile. Those are the elements that make for great music. Taking responsibility for your choices and weaknesses without seeking perfection at all costs to maintain authenticity… mission accomplished, Greenleaf. – Chief Brody
Tracklist:
1. Tides (04:42)
2. Good God I Better Run Away (04:39)
3. Needle In My Eye (05:01)
4. Love Undone (03:28)
5. Bury Me My Son (05:52)
6. A Hand of Might (03:39)
7. March on Higher Grounds (03:56)
8. Hang On (03:38)
9. On Wings of Gold (06:28)
10. What Have We Become (04:53)
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