There are many reasons to find yourself in love with the modern landscape of all things in the overreaching realms of psychedelic rock, and the grand variety of instrumental creations is but the tip of the spear when it comes to the magnificence that we’re spoiled with as the scene continues to deliver at every turn. Whether you want something that really takes you to the trippiest lengths of the sound like The Re-Stoned or a more modern heavy psych approach like Black Sky Giant, there is more than enough glory to lose yourself in. Should you be paying even a little bit of attention to this particular vein of the sound, Yawning Man has been a name that you cannot truly escape for all the right reasons. It’s been a name that has demanded respect for a long time now with this new offering only giving them another opportunity to show why that has been and will continue to be reality.

When you’re a band that has become a virtual cornerstone of the genre as we’ve come to know it, quality tends to be the only possibility that can come of any new material. Real titans of that American southwest heat that have always taken their time but made damn sure their music is always something that demands to be heard, “Long Walk of the Navajo” is but the latest in that trend of glory the likes of which we’re not able to witness often at all. But three tracks adorn this wordless creation, but it is across over thirty minutes that this album takes Yawning Man to some of its thematically darkest and sonically heaviest reaches that the band has ever been in with the results fittingly immense by all accounts. A true representation of how Yawning Man is constantly evolving their sound without once allowing themselves to become stuck in the pitfalls of the past for so much as a second, “Long Walk of the Navajo” has virtually meditative properties as you can practically feel the very sun on your back as well as your spirit as the rhythms, melodies, and atmosphere that Yawning Man has become legendary for all come together in such magnificent quantities in this creation that one cannot help but become rooted in place. I would not blame anyone for considering this an easy contender to be one of the best works of the genre that 2023 will see by far for “Long Walk of the Navajo” has it all. And should you find yourself questioning whether this album is worthy of such a concept, then, clearly, you’ve not experienced Yawning Man before.

The red sun rising in the east, slowly dances across the sky, and returns home under the horizon in the west as you take the journey that is “Long Walk of the Navajo” and the desert comes to life with the very Joshua trees seeming to whisper the name of Yawning Man as they weave their gripping magic. Yawning Man’s return is not to be denied nor underestimated with the very soul of the land rising to herald the arrival of this adventure.

“Long Walk of the Navajo” releases on June 16th via Heavy Psych Sounds!

LISTEN to an advanced track from “Long Walk of the Navajo” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Yawning Man on Facebook here.