Biblical - The City That Always Sleeps album review

Toronto’s fuzz-worshipping protometallers extend their trip

Cover art for Biblical - The City That Always Sleeps album

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Biblical’s second album sees them offset their crumbling, sludge rock ballast with an utterly hypnotic voyage into the gauzy psychedelic ether. Lacking neither vision nor ambition, The City… is a peyote-fuelled space rock western, cast in jangly guitars and moody, synth-driven interludes. Opener Mature Themes unleashes a barrage of driving, hard rock riffs meshed into galloping tempos and prismatic, wild-eyed fretwork. This is simply a launching point for what follows – an enrapturing journey into an emotionally arresting cosmos of strange textures, exotic melodies and spectral atmospherics. Tracks like Spiral Staircase and Fugue State point back to the measured brilliance of Pink Floyd’s earliest forays into LSD-inspired space rock experimentalism. The City… establishes Biblical’s startling capacity for alchemising the most familiar elements of 70s psychedelia with thoroughly modern notions of groove, space and melody. Best absorbed through headphones for maximum trippiness.

Joe Daly

Hailing from San Diego, California, Joe Daly is an award-winning music journalist with over thirty years experience. Since 2010, Joe has been a regular contributor for Metal Hammer, penning cover features, news stories, album reviews and other content. Joe also writes for Classic Rock, Bass Player, Men’s Health and Outburn magazines. He has served as Music Editor for several online outlets and he has been a contributor for SPIN, the BBC and a frequent guest on several podcasts. When he’s not serenading his neighbours with black metal, Joe enjoys playing hockey, beating on his bass and fawning over his dogs.