Psychedelic rockers are two a penny these days. Whether it’s pot-addled beardos worshipping at the altar of Black Sabbath, or Kevin Parker’s latest Tame Impala offshoots in Western Australia, everyone’s been getting their freak on.
Based in Nashville – but wholly removed from the countrified ‘contemporary Nashville scene’ – All Them Witches freak out with more power and originality than most. But on 2018’s ATW album they seemed to fall back to earth. Which was fine, but a little lukewarm for those of us enthralled by the otherworldly delights of their previous records, (especially 2017’s boundary-pushing Sleeping Through The War).
Perhaps they just needed a change of scene, judging by the resounding success of Nothing As The Ideal.
Comprising eight enveloping tracks, including two almost-ten-minute epics, it feels as much like a film soundtrack as it does a hooky rock’n’roll album.
From Saturnine & Iron Jaw’s haunting ambience and chugging Led Zeppelin guitars, to the trippy, pitch-black tones of See You Next Fall and the cathartic finale Rats In Ruin, it’s a dark, enticing feast for the senses, with one foot in ancient times and the other in some far-off dimension.
