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Red Spektor: Red Spektor
Red Spektor 2016 Debut Album CD Album Review

Red Spektor: Red Spektor

Heavy/Psychedelic/Stoner Rock
3.5/5.0

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Kozmik Records
Words: Craig Hartranft
Added: 27.07.2016

On the heels of a successful self-titled EP in 2015, Stoke-on-Trent heavy rockers return with their debut long player, once more self-titled, and on the Kozmik Records label.

Red Spektor Band Photo

Red Spektor

And the simple conclusion, at the start, is that Red Spektor merely picks up where they left off. There's no mystery to their sound. Red Spektor plays heavy, yet melodic, rock infused with elements of psychedelic and stoner rock, touched by latent blues. The heaviness comes from the bottom end, the rhythm section. The rest comes from John Scane's guitar lines, the centerpiece of the Red Spektor sound. His fuzzed out and bristling guitar riffs and solos abound, essentially swarming and surrounding everything else. At times he reminds me of a combination of Cream-era Eric Clapton with early solo Robin Trower, but more wild and abundantly present. In arrangement, the pacing is varied, with swings from plodding to forceful and deliberate moderation to frisky briskness.

I think, after two or three spins, I come to several conclusions. One is that you have to an inherent interest and predisposition to this style of music. This isn't exactly the music de jour in the contemporary music scene. Another is that, reflecting my aforementioned description, there's an inherent redundancy or repetition to the Red Spektor sound. How much fuzzed and psyched out guitar can you handle? But that returns us to my first point. Third, and fundamentally, Red Spektor knows their chosen genre and knows how to craft music of the same with precision and interest. There's no faulting any band when the successfully execute their style of music in this way. Bottom line: if heavy psychedelic and blues infused stone rock is your thing, Red Spektor are masters of their trade and this debut album is a solid and significant work.

Red Spektor - Cosmonaut


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The Bottom Line

If heavy psychedelic and blues infused stone rock is your thing, Red Spektor are masters of their trade and this debut album is a solid and significant work.

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