With the year winding down to a close, I always like to make at least one more stop in each of my favorite styles to end the year on a good note with some excellent material released at this time to welcome in the new year. The realm of psychedelia has almost always been kind to me, and when the territories of doom and rock overlap in the world of psychedelia, great things can happen. And it’s with their latest album that Lord Vapour made some simply fantastic in that sprawling area of stoner music.

We all know of the intertwined nature of drugs and the best psychedelic rock is something that cannot be broken for a minute, and I know there are many people out there who don’t enjoy how it’s the massive thing that it is but clearly those people haven’t heard anything like the sheer joy and wonder that is “Semuta”. This is one of those records that’s simply the epitome of what the style can become every now and then as Lord Vapour takes huge swaths of influences that go into all of the stoner music world to compact it in these six tracks that are all fantastically entertaining from start to finish with riffs adorning every song and a tasteful haze draping “Semuta” in glorious fashion. A record that can meander but not lose itself in its own grandeur as the band in question can bring in so many different elements to create something that’s exceedingly flavorful and exciting is one that isn’t all that common and it’s because of bands like Lord Vapour in all of their glory with “Semuta” in all its greatness that allow us to see these entries of hazy trips in a light like very few others. Every year is a great year for stoner music, but it’s with 2018 that Lord Vapour has provided one of the tastiest albums we could’ve asked for to close out with,

Something that can keep your attention, try something new, and even stay true to the core ideals of the genre is the very definition of a great album in my opinion and it’s here that we see it unfold beautifully with “Semuta” being the gold standard for the stoner scene. Lord Vapour has already had an established and loyal fanbase before, but it’s with this album that we finally see this act from Guernsey take their country’s incredibly small scene to new heights alongside fellow brothers in metal like Brunt and Byzanthian Neckbeard in glorious fashion.

LISTEN to “Semuta” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Lord Vapour on Facebook here.

FOLLOW Lord Vapour on Twitter: @LordVapourBand