Aside from the obvious irony of bands being deemed authentic for essentially mimicking bands from 40 years ago, there’s something unerringly fresh about the blend of heavy psych rock and proto-doom that Beelzefuzz have embraced.
So many bands do this kind of thing that it’s difficult to distinguish the diehards from the rest of the, erm, purple heep, but these Maryland beard-wearers have a more diverse compositional palette than most, with shades of more recent purveyors of languorous, doom-laden riffing like Graveyard and Avatarium underpinning an otherwise avowedly retro trip.
The subtly ornate arrangements betray a sense of acid-fried mischief that fans of Bigelf will immediately appreciate, and even fairly straightforward bluesy ballads like Rat Poison Parfait benefit from a surfeit of skewed ideas. If this isn’t the real thing, it’s a brilliant thing, and one executed with love and great conviction.
The story of Captain Beyond, stoner rock pioneers
