For all intents and purposes, psychedelic rock can be quite vast in what it can be. Where many styles can have firm boundaries, all that remain within psychedelia have more ethereal borders that are subject to shifting and changing from one band to the next with the style being quite inclusive as a result which lends to many new approaches coming into the fray even if it doesn’t mean reinventing what it means to be part of psychedelic rock. With its debut album, Gora Mama is a glorious embodiment of that.

It can be quite difficult for any band, veteran or otherwise, to make an interesting claim in the vast wilderness that psychedelic rock inhabits with all of its different landscapes, biomes, and creatures held within. As such, when a band manages to come around with a real sense for the sound despite only just having been established recently, it’s quite a sight to behold. Right from the very beginning, it’s clear that Gora Mama is just such an act with their first creation of “By the Fire” hitting on all the right notes and knowing precisely how to deliver psychedelic greatness in damn near every given instance. Not a single brand of psychedelia is left on the table during these seven gripping tracks. More than capable of immense riffage and dense atmospheres that lend brilliantly to the trippy aspects of the sound and the melodic notions that Gora Mama seems to truly revel in, “By the Fire” really feels as though you’re doing that in the dense wilderness where there are only the flames to illuminate what the stars do not as the forest itself comes to life at the beck and call of Gora Mama. Just as adept at the slow burn as they are at letting the good times roll unabated as well as knowing when to dive right into the heaviness and then precisely when to pull back, “By the Fire” really takes into account a vast swathe of what psychedelic rock can be in the right hands. It’s the best kind of amalgamation that psychedelic rock of this breed could ask for, and the mere fact that this is but the debut offering from Gora Mama is just mind-boggling.

With a massive presence and intimate understanding of the style at hand, Gora Mama has instantly poised itself for greatness with this record. Already, the band is reaping what it has sown with every bit of this record a delectable treat that can simply not be passed up by anyone who considers themselves fan of the style with “By the Fire” being an experience you’re sure not to forget any time soon.

LISTEN to “By the Fire” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Gora Mama on Facebook here.