Egonaut: Deluminati

Sweden’s stoner rockers switch to a more mellow strain

You can trust Louder Our experienced team has worked for some of the biggest brands in music. From testing headphones to reviewing albums, our experts aim to create reviews you can trust. Find out more about how we review.

Egonaut – Sweden’s self-professed inventors of their own genre, called ‘Bastard Rock’ – return for another journey into stoner rock’s gauzy netherworld.

Where 2013’s Mount Egonaut snarled with coarse riffage and hyper-aggressive tempos, Deluminati is a quieter, more measured trek.

Layering crunchy riffs across driving, uncluttered tempos, the material starts strong, but fails to tap into any visceral sense of relief. Pariah simmers with tritonal menace – a slow-burning groover that takes off into a moody, atmospheric jam, only to sidestep its much-needed, lighter-raising climax.

Nonetheless, Deluminati has no shortage of interesting ideas, not least The Beholder with its doomy, Maiden-esque narrative that will play in your head long after hearing it. But if Mount Egonaut celebrated wild, punchy abandon, Deluminati serves up a double helping of moody, mid-tempo introspection that never quite pinpoints its compositional endpoint. Credit is due for such an ambitious course correction, but absent of the urgency of their last record, it can’t help but feel like a step back.

Joe Daly

Hailing from San Diego, California, Joe Daly is an award-winning music journalist with over thirty years experience. Since 2010, Joe has been a regular contributor for Metal Hammer, penning cover features, news stories, album reviews and other content. Joe also writes for Classic Rock, Bass Player, Men’s Health and Outburn magazines. He has served as Music Editor for several online outlets and he has been a contributor for SPIN, the BBC and a frequent guest on several podcasts. When he’s not serenading his neighbours with black metal, Joe enjoys playing hockey, beating on his bass and fawning over his dogs.