The doom scene in Portland is pretty crowded right now, and the oodles of great bands all seem to be awesome - Holy Grove are the latest band from this scene to come into my sphere of awareness and I can't help but to be impressed by their Sabbathian riffs and soaring female vocals. This is a band who take the traditional doom blues format used by bands like Witch Mountain and even Windhand and inject more than a little psychedelia to get a sound that is as much a physical experience as it is any sort of mental one.
The way that the band trudges forward and uses wonderfully psyched out vibes to encapsulate a warm and whole sound is strangely satisfying. The guitar tone in and of itself is a treat - and when brought into conjunction with the rest of the record it's impossible not to have a good time as you fade out into the psychedelic haze painted by Holy Grove. Beyond that - there is an earthy magic to these songs that helps to ground them in a sort of greater reality, and just a touch of catchiness, making the album an addictive listen - one that crosses the breadthof the human experience and gives you something to vibe out too for hours on end.
Holy Grove aren't breaking any sort of special boundaries on this debut album, but I don't necessarily think they intend to. What they are doing is creating some wonderfully brainy and addictive music that reflects the scene. With tasty guitar lines that are soaked in the heady scents of the devils lettuce its hard for any stoner doom fan to not fall in love with Holy Grove. This is a band who understand the freaked out 70s and inject it with a beauty of their own. Crunching forward and making you question your very existence Holy Grove is rock and roll for the ages.
Find them on Facebook!
https://www.facebook.com/holygroveband/?fref=ts
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