Electric Taurus: Veneralia Moonlight

Decent debut from Irish stoner trio.

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Dublin doesn’t usually leap to mind as a hotbed of doom metal, but Electric Taurus are currently heading up a healthy scene that includes bands like Engines Of Ruin and Mongolia.

On Veneralia, the three-piece make a fine fist of co-opting the constituent parts of Black Sabbath, Monster Magnet and fellow worshippers Sleep to create a set of heavy, heavy tunes marked by an unshakeable belief in the deathless power of a monolithic riff. If at times they can get a little too repetitive for their own good, their better moments pack in ideas by the bus-load.

The near 12-minute Mescalina/If/At The Edge Of The Earth, for instance, morphs from strange, atmospheric drizzle into a full psychedelic shower with some terrific gurgles of guitar from leader Matt Casciani. Similarly, Prelude To The Madness is a chaotic marriage of sludgy Sabbathisms and the kind of rattling boogie blues more associated with Canned Heat.

Rob Hughes

Freelance writer for Classic Rock since 2008, and sister title Prog since its inception in 2009. Regular contributor to Uncut magazine for over 20 years. Other clients include Word magazine, Record Collector, The Guardian, Sunday Times, The Telegraph and When Saturday Comes. Alongside Marc Riley, co-presenter of long-running A-Z Of David Bowie podcast. Also appears twice a week on Riley’s BBC6 radio show, rifling through old copies of the NME and Melody Maker in the Parallel Universe slot. Designed Aston Villa’s kit during a previous life as a sportswear designer. Geezer Butler told him he loved the all-black away strip.