Heavy Glow - The Filth and the Fury

If there is such a thing such as reviving the Psychedelic Hard Rock sound of the late ‘60s and ‘70s, then San Diego’s Heavy Glow is right there and here to stay. Following in the footsteps of Blue Cheer, Budgie, Leaf Hound, Black Sabbath, and the Jimi Hendrix Experience, they bring the sound to a huge undertaking, and are definitely one of the most surprising bands to come out of the 21st century. The EP, The Filth and the Fury, which was named after the infamous punk band, The Sex Pistols first TV appearance by using foul language on the Bill Grundy show with the headline after their controversial debut, it seems that Heavy Glow have discovered a Time Machine and traveled to the golden-era of heavy psychedelic metal that carry the roots that they are carrying. Recorded in over 6 hour session during the summer of last year, their mission of the reviving Hard Rock and Psych is a glorified tribute: It’s like looking through a telescope and seeing that Black Sabbath have a grown-up son that formed a band that’s kicking plenty of ass.
Amazingly, the opening number I Almost Prayed sounds more like Sir Lord Baltimore rather than the Yardbirds. The guitar solo in the midsection is shredding like crazy which consists a dooming bass line and the pounding drums making it very dramatic and the line “It almost had me next to you” confirms the confrontations of praying to god and the situation of war is going to have a long, long time to find peace. Their blues metallic sound keeps on running with Hendrix-style beauty lukewarm for a sunset summer: Love Ghost has the homage to their hero by making it sound that if Jimi was in the studio to create an eerie emotional sound as Jared Mullins sings his heart out as he goes into a mesmerizing sound as he solos like crazy bluesy psych sound while Joe Brooks is keeping up the beat very good on the bass on some walking lines as drummer Dan Kurtz almost sounding as a Jazz drummer for a brief second then gets back into the Mitch Mitchell mode on the drums to follow Jared wherever he goes.
Hot Mess, perhaps one of my favorite songs and featured on the Classic Rock Back In Black compilation for July of this year, gets very psychedelic as if Led Zeppelin and Budgie had form together to create a dynamic magnetic rocker and almost an underground single for hard rock fans to sink their teeth into. Very rough and humble in the British Rock tribute with a motorcycle guitar intro and then gets into the metallic film score tribute which is shown on YouTube an homage to Blaxploitation icon, Pam Grier, which would have made her very happy and touched for her and the sex symbols of the ‘70s. Now, on the ferocious Bourgeois Baby, imagine Heavy Glow writing music for Quentin Tarantino of a footage of a hot and sexy woman dancing to this music, it would go something like exactly what the song represents to fit the raunchy pounding beats and headbanging till the break of dawn. Part Grand Funk and a little bit Warhorse psych freak-out style.
The last number, Red July, is a boogie number as the bass done by Brooks sounds very much to the Garage Rock sound, but in this sinister number, it’s very much a tribute to The Doors Strange Days-era in a Sci-Fi rockin’ towards the galaxy. This is one hell of an album to buy that reflects Psych and Hard Rock are here to say surrounding the surface to keep on truckin. To boldly go where no fan has gone before. Very Good and Superb up a notch!