Band:	Sleestak
Album:	The Fall Of Altrusia
Style:	Psychedelic rock, Stoner metal
Release date:	July 2011
A review by:	BitterCOld

01. In The Beginning
02. Exiled From The City
03. The Prophecy Of The Great Sleep
04. Regression Within The Hive
05. Disturbance Of The Coccoon
06. The Marshall Prophecy
07. Pakuni Shaman Chant Of The Altrusian Moth

Five months ago I reviewed Sleestak's 2010 release, Skylon Express? in retrospect, underscoring it. Call it an 8. In any case I drew a comparison between them and the band immediately preceding them on my mp3 player, Sleep. Five months and one release later, they have furthered that comparison. Kind of. So I'm gonna run with that as my intro bit. Stoner Doom/Rock Sleep followed up their awesome Holy Mountain with the monolithic one track Dopesmoker? Stoner Doom/Rock Sleestak followed up their awesome Skylon Express with a "one track" epic The Fall Of Altrusia.

But that's where the similarities end.

Whereas Dopesmoker is basically two riffs over 50 minutes, The Fall Of Altrusia consists of songs that blend into one another, almost like chapters in a book. (These tracks are separate as well, so you can easily skip or back up.)

This go around the band has evolved from a Stoner Doom jam band into what could be described as Stoner Doom Psychedelic Space Rock. Or something like that. The band is still anchored in Stoner Doom, but in much the same way Halley's Comet is anchored by the Sun. Powerful doom riffs and shouted vocals make a stirring appearance before the band takes off for a long space voyage. For those slow with metaphor translation? this album is like 35% stoner doom and 65% tripping balls and floating through the cosmos.

The doomed sections sound great - everything sounds big, expansive, and powerful. It has impact.

The "space retro-psychedelic rock" sections have a bit of a 70's vibe to them, reminiscent of Pink Floyd's early work. Saucerful of Sleestak, anyone? Stripped down, clean guitar (with reverb!), sparse peripheral drumming, bass lifelines are combined with keyboards making for some cool retro-stylee space truckin'. In contrast to the sparse but crushing doomy bits, these passages are as mellow and hypnotic as an episode of [url= http://youtu.be/raXanYjTF18 ]"The Joy Of Painting" with Bob Ross[/url]. Happy little Sleestaks. These passages are well thought out and orchestrated? but still have a loose, jam feel to them. Great music to just lay back and chill out.

Speaking of sleestaks, this album, as with the band name and their last album, continue to thematically explore the heady concepts of a nearly forty year old kids show done on a shoestring budget? stuff that was far ahead of its time with concepts and ideas that are on par with Lost. For those that know the show, the band's attempt at immersion is complete enough to the point the closing track is a shamanic chant bit done in Pakuni, revering the Altrusian Moth found on the album cover art. (side note: fuck Chaka.)

Trying to break this down and adequately describe it in 500 words or so is a Herculean task, if not outright impossible. For sake of brevity/convenience I've basically broken it down into two sides on one coin, however the actual listening experience is vast and expansive. To continue the comet metaphor, it catapults you into the far reaches of the solar system and arcs back to return you from whence you came before launching off again. While on some level I'd like more time devoted to the crushing aspects of this album, the psychedelic sonic tangents are so easy to get caught up in that they render my "MOAR DOOM!" complaints mute. And moot. And while the band shows off their influences, they've succeeded at molding those influences into their own creation.

Highly recommended to those of you who find the loose concept of "Saucerful Of Sleep" intriguing.