Strength is returning, all burdens are lifting as clairvoyant spells reveal the slow-groaning avalanche of green light across the skies via the scrying eyes of New Bedford, Massachusetts-based psychedelic/stoner doom metal solo project GRAVE SPEAKER who reveal psychedelic rock spirituals and stoner-dreamed high fantasy doom on this sophomore full-length album. Steam rises slow, reeking of its ozone stench as our protagonist’s rain soaked rotunda of solitude dries out, left wild-eyed and glowing from conjuration sickness and gripping the nearest column in accessing the wonder of the aurora which surrounds ‘Rays of the Emerald Sun‘. An ancient sounding but not-so oaken tap into the elder vein of heavy psychedelic rock and the roots (& revisionism) of doom metal, this second round is more verbose, pulled closer into the confidante’s ear and speaks a bewildered tongue through a rotted-out ribbon mic and with a chorale of baked angels readied behind.

Grave Speaker formed at some point beyond 2021 wherein heavy rock/doom metal band High n’ Heavy had released their fifth album and eventually split, leaving guitarist/keyboardist John Steele without an output for his own brand of garage rocking, fuzzed-out doomcraft. If you are not familiar with his previous band’s work consider it akin to the early output from Ice Dragon or Mephistofeles in the sense that the basis for their doom metal ideation took from the excess crispiness of Electric Wizard but also brought in 70’s garage rock and reveler’s psychedelia into their work. This project is not so far off from the heavier side of Steele‘s prior band but might be of more interest to fans of earlier Uncle Acid output while still bearing a messy, raw psychedelic doom toned in its reach. Despite this fuzzier, homespun sound ‘Rays of the Emerald Sun‘ is not all doom and gloom, eventually taking on a sort of heavy psych spiritual form as its half hour rolls on unbothered and untaxed.

The best context one could manage here is naturally the band’s self-titled debut LP (‘Grave Speaker‘, 2023) a slow rolling start where the blues-built hand of heavy psych and the crumbling fuzz revival in hand was brilliantly realized. Slow going but still strutting stuff which carried a great bass guitar tone in that early 70’s Geezer Butler inspired way. While it was a standard psych-doom record the song “Grave Speaker” is worth noting as a key point of differentiation, taking on the blues-spiritual feel of the band and less the jogging retro rock feel of High n’ Heavy which speaks to the point where progressive rock and heavy psych birthed something more dramatic, something like early High Tide but tempered down to a Cathedral-esque form. Looking back I’d say anyone who caught a whiff of that first album and geared themselves up for something exactly as fixated would likely have high expectations for the connection made via that eponymous song. Per my own experience I’d found that debut satisfyingly chasmic, distant and enjoyable to the point that I’d returned to ‘Rays of the Emerald Sun‘ with heightened senses, expecting more with that extra context in ear.

At ~34 minutes and six songs the details aren’t anything worth obsessing over here beyond some notes on personalized style, minimal sound design and of course Steele‘s mind for slo-mo heavy rock songcraft. Where we start is yet in admiration of a smaller detail, the bend of the opening riffs that kick off the album via “Chosen One” as the basement level Pentagram-esque buzz hits first before their ranting invocation, a droning psychedelic doom piece develops its ominous Electric Wizard-scuzzed vein. That songs obscurant and garage built buzzing tones are kinda demo-level stuff, overloading the mic with its warmed and slugging slow pull. The distanced, backgrounded vocals of the first Grave Speaker record are now pulled closer-in, echoing flatly in their layers throughout a modest-sized space which can barely contain the drone of the guitars yet suits the kit tapping in full surround. This is probably the heaviest piece of the lot up front but also the least novel, a song that’ll stoke the interest of stoner doom metal heads first.

The peak of my interest hits pretty quick on Side A somewhere within the stop-and-start interplay nearby the end of “End of Time”, finding its jammed rhythms alongside bluesy leads which follow the slowly fussed-out phrase at the center of the song. Most of ‘Rays of the Emerald Sun‘ carries this psychedelic doom vein in some respect but that won’t be our major destination as we get a stoner spiritual (“Sword of Life”) piece at the peak of the first half, breaking apart the droning eerie command of the riff with an aspirational moment of possession. The gloria of possession carries over into the next song, one of the bigger burning bushes of the lot via the ear-worming chorus built title track (“Rays of the Emerald Sun”) and likely the piece you’ll remember best in reflection. For my own taste the first couple of songs particularly hit, the title track acts as the peak of the full listen beyond that point and the rest expands upon the psychedelic ‘doom spiritual’ side of things within decent, largely uncomplicated waves.

Stretching into stoner/psychedelic rock muse and further exploration of vocal layers leaves key single “Bones and Steel” somewhat redundant in style and movement but well in line with the main voice of this album, a meditation-in-place rather than a bustling trip out of sight. Cowbell tapping, foot-hopping and a droning soul all hit kinda familiar-like (re: The Brian Jonestown Massacre?) even if the ancient fuzzed growl of their work still manages its spectacle. As we reach closer “Tower” the scale of the album broadens within its extended ~7.5 minute jam out, incorporating Hammond-esque organs and slow-riding rhythms with bluesy dual leads as it all clashes and rustles together. I hear the potential for that sound and what the keys bring to the song as it perks up but the result is generally forgettable as an endpoint. ‘Rays of the Emerald Sun‘ called for something bigger as an endpoint given their folding of spiritual sounds into deadpan sonic excess but at the end of the day it doesn’t harm the general feeling of the session. My overall impression of this second record from Grave Speaker is basically two steps forward in terms of style and expression being on the ups and I guess a half-step back wherein some extra care to composition, tightening up a couple of these songs, might’ve made for an even stronger overall event. That said any fan of psychedelic doom and its stonier, more transfixed associations will appreciate the rawed yet transporting steep of the full listen. A moderately high recommendation.

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