I have been lucky enough to be doing these reviews for over eight years now with over three thousand having been typed by these fingers, but there still are some bands and some albums that terrify me when it comes to reviewing them. From big bands like Cannibal Corpse to Slipknot and rising names like Inter Arma and Monolord, I find it quite intimidating to review certain albums because there’s so much to talk about and I always have the goal in mind of my words needing to do the album justice given my desire to review the material. It’s been quite some time since I came upon an album that left me stumped for hours on end, and yet, somehow, I knew that was going to be exactly the case whenever Black Space Riders would release a new album given the band’s track record since their debut, but very little could’ve prepared me for what they’ve delivered on their seventh full-length album.

To know this band is to know, in my opinion, one of the quintessential names in the modern landscape of anything related to psychedelic rock, space rock, or whatever it is you want to call it. Since their very beginnings, they’ve been a name to know since their self-titled effort came out just twelve years ago with works like “Refugeeum” in 2015 and the double-album of “Amoretum” just the latest showcase of what Black Space Riders is capable of as their craft only gets more refined and more wondrous as the years go on. No territory feels untouched, every facet of their sound has a place to shine in each album, and every single creation has more than enough to find within that cannot be considered anything less than captivating. Consistently, this band has upped the ante with every subsequent album showcasing somehow even more talent, sights, and wonders that we haven’t seen before or, at the very least, an even sharper vision of what Black Space Riders has been delivering for years now. The very announcement of “We Have Been Here Before” was enough to get my attention instantly, but it’s the entirety of these fifteen tracks that stretch over 80 minutes that see Black Space Riders at the very top of their game.

Simply calling “We Have Been Here Before” an album is doing it immense justice. From the very moment you dive into all that it is, it’s made clear that this is a journey the likes of which you’d be hard-pressed to find elsewhere in the world of rock even if you were to look at the sharpest names in each scene across the world. Nothing is else back in any one of these fifteen pieces as Black Space Riders make for an enticing, captivating, and dreamlike experience that each flow into one another while still having their own identities, personalities, and stylistic differences that make for a glorious multi-layered listen that allows the listener to really become a part of every tiny morsel of Black Space Riders’ sound in its absolute entirety. Whether you want to lose yourself in immense dreamscapes like “Queen of Light”, punk-laced bouts of catharsis like “AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGH”, become trapped by undeniable melody by “Leaving the Hill” or “This Flow”, or be brought to near tears by the messages like in “Almost The Lost”, “We Have Been Here Before” has to be hailed as another unanimous victory for Black Space Riders. You could take any track from this album, set it out into the world as a single, and it would be the perfect ambassador for what one could hope to find within this sprawling wonder of an album. No filler, no weak moments, nothing but undeniable masters at the top of their game wholly immersed in their elements; Black Space Riders has done it again!

Some creations are simply meant for greatness, and Black Space Riders truly know how to make that happen on a regular basis. Never once have they delivered a record that feels lackluster or a betrayal to their sound or the messages that they want to convey, and I’m very tempted to sit here and make the claim that “We Have Been Here Before” is their greatest creation yet. But how can I sit here and compare utter greatness with another work that is also utter greatness? To walk amongst the stars and through the very travesties held within is to find yourself at one with all that is Black Space Riders with their sound all but unequivocally compelling. There is no other band quite like them in the entire world, and creations like “We Have Been Here Before” only cements that simple, undeniable truth.

“We Have Been Here Before” releases on October 21st via Cargo Records!

LISTEN to Black Space Riders on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Black Space Riders on Facebook here.