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Rhinos, Beers and Stoner Rock, your New Dose of Humulus !

Review by a new contributor, please welcome Bernardo alias Mr. Inkeeper from Portugal

With a band name derived from a plant that produces beer, a rhino in the album cover and a rather abstract album name, you already know what it is coming through those speakers, but you might be wrong… It’s the second full album by Humulus “Reverently Heading into Nowhere”.

Hailing from Brescia, Italy, Humulus delivers their new work to the stoner/doom community and once again it’s clear that the European fuzzy music is good and well for many years to come!

With a full album edited in 2012 “Humulus” and a EP in 2015 “Electric Walrus” in their bag, they explore more branches of their sound in “RHINO” (let’s call it that way), and evolve it into a more layered and fatter beast, a stampede of doom, stoner and psych, for me their best delivery to date, be aware of the Rhino!!

How is the sound ?

Remember what I’ve written? Yeah you might be wrong…

The first song “Distant Deeps or Skies” starts off with a sexy and instant attention grabber bass line that progress into a mix of stoner breaks, doom choruses and psychedelic verses that Humulus delivers with amazing grace and taste.

“Catskull” follows the same structure, a very sludgy atmosphere with a great stoner/doom riff, along with an awesome break that allows Humulus to explore the ways of the psych. Maybe gaining confidence for future albums? Maybe in the next one they’ll push further into the psychedelic part of their sound, and I’m not mad at all about that!

And now things begin to diverge in very awesome ways…

“Anachronaut” starts off with a didgeridoo and a Sabbathy like riff (Iommi is that you? Damn! It’s one of those that you close your eyes and just bounce your head), yeah you’re not stoned (you probably are) but yes a didgeridoo, after a while an organ also enters in this crazy slow dance that Humulus provides to the listeners.

“The Gold Rush” presents more psych elements to their sound for brief moments until you are crushed again under their thunderous riffs. How can a band be so heavy and so chill at the same time? I’m in love with this song ending! The bass leading the psych, the spacey vocals, and the shy layers of axe riding.

And then again they come with a colossal riff in “The Great Hunt” only to be tempered once again by the bass in the psychedelic swamps where they dare to explore.

“Rama Kushna” is the reason why this album needs to be spread, a lot! Things start off as the usual, doom with great doses of groove, and then they turn off the gain completely, and suddenly it’s kind of a 70’s funk track at some parts,

it’s so “danceable” you know?

The album finishes off with the stampeding sound of Humulus, heavy heavy doom riffs with psych parts battling its way until the end.

One more thing to say about this album, Andrea’s vocals are freaking good and confident, one of the many reasons that this joint “glued” in my head!

Why is this album worth listening ?

If you are a religious person and blindly follows the “CHUBA” mantra (Church of the Bass), this album is for you.

Perfect blend of psych and doom with parts to throw you out of your feet, (“Anachronaut” has a didgeridoo FFS)

Dark, powerful, vigorous vocals in this one

In what situation you should listen to this album ?

If you decide to clean your living room with this on and loud on your speakers, remember to pull off the master air bassist in you, you might be surprisingly satisfied, kind of a “I Want To Be Free” à la stoned.

Alone in the dark…

Something particular to note ?

I know that there are a lot of bands that are much more complex than Humulus in terms of arrangements and use of different instruments, but what makes this album very solid and fresh it’s the simplicity of their sound, a tasteful mash up of doom, stoner and psych, the use of odd instruments (In this type of music) which they incorporate in their sound without trying too hard!

Great job guys!

The Inkeeper aproves!