Croatian stoner rockers The Freak Folk of Mangrovia will release a new album, Tales From Beyond The Firmament, on June 28th. Released via the excellently named No Profit Recordings, the album was recorded in Pula at the Partyzan studio in 2023 and promises a rough-edged psychedelic and experimental approach to the stoner rock genre.
The new record is enriched by the presence of several local musicians, including Vedran Župarić, known as the vocalist of the Pula-based band My Pitbull Lucifer, who lends his vocals on tracks “Dancing in The Dunes” and “Unveiling Empyreal Runes.” Additionally, Vladimir Tomić joins as the lead guitarist on the track “Unveiling Empyreal Runes.”
Tales From Beyond The Firmament offers a stellar heavy psychedelic experience, filled with experimental sounds and a deep atmosphere, characteristic of the band. Pre-orders for the record are available now, and you can purchase it on 12” blue/white marbled vinyl or digipak CD formats.
The Freak Folk is a quartet of musicians who have been colloborating in various bands for many years. The band’s tagline reads, “Cosmic druids exploring the edges of space and time.” The band says they feel most comfortable playing on the edge of consciousness, where space rock, jam aesthetics, psychedelia, and stoner rock meet. That’s an excellent place to be.
The new record consists of four songs, starting with “Astral Nomads.” The track begins in a mystic daze before getting into harder-rocking stoner territory, enveloping listeners in a thick cloud of hypnotic rhythms and fuzzed-out guitar. Already, the first track shows how The Freak Folk fuses stoner rock with psychedelia, creating a sound that’s simultaneously heavy and ethereal.
“Dancing in the Dunes” is perhaps a nod to the desert rock genre, but it also had me thinking about the Dune movies and books. This is probably me just letting my mind wander, though. For all the sonic experimentation on this song, it never loses its sense of groove. And, of course, it maintains its heaviness over seven-plus minutes of hard-driving stoner rock madness.
“Cosmic Druids” is one of the shorter songs, running a little less than five minutes. It opens with perhaps the most psychedelic instrumental passage on the record, a Floydian mix of guitar and synth. Eventually, the band cranks up the volume again and gets back to the stoner rock, blending the gritty allure of hard rock with the free-form improvisation of a jam band.
The record closes with “Unveiling Empyreal Runes,” an ambitious closer lasting more than thirteen minutes. The mean, fuzzed-out guitars are present, as always, as the song unfolds like a musical supernova, and The Freak Folk takes the stoner rock template and turns it on its head.
Tales From Beyond The Firmament is an excellent pick for stoner rock fans, an album that mixes sonic experimentation, hazy atmospheres, and a heavy, riff-driven sound that embodies the stoner rock spirit. If you like the record, dig The Freak Folk of Mangrovia’s previous works, such as 2020’s Temple of the Second Moon. Enjoy!
Check out Tales From Beyond The Firmament by The Freak Folk of Mangrovia on Bandcamp here.
You can support The Freak Folk of Mangrovia by finding them on Bandcamp, Facebook, or Instagram.
You can support No Profit Recordings by finding them on Bandcamp, their official website, or social media (Instagram, YouTube, Facebook).
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