Bandcamp Solar Mantra make the kind of stoner rock that sounds like it was tracked live in a room with the amps already warm. State of Joyful Lightness, the Roman four-piece’s second album, is ten tracks of earthy, fuzzed-out riffing built on a growling, dominant bass and a loose, organic swing, and the first thing that strikes you is how human it sounds. After a long run of records mastered to within an inch of their lives, here is one that just breathes.
That warmth is the record’s biggest asset. “Appaloosa” is the standout, all rich fuzz and high-definition riffing over a precise, knurly bass, the master left dynamic enough to let the groove actually move, and across the album the band lean into a comfortable, mid-paced heaviness that owes as much to Kyuss and the desert as to doom. When they settle into a groove, like the rolling crunch of “A Brand New Grave”, they are genuinely good company.
Where it stumbles is in the low end. The mix is warm but cluttered, and on several tracks the low mids pile up around the bass until the guitars lose their definition and the whole picture goes a little muddy. “Holy Water” and “Avetrana” both feel like the bottom of the mix is fighting itself. A cleaner low end would let these riffs breathe the way the dynamics already do. It is a production quibble rather than a songwriting one, but across ten tracks the murk adds up.
None of which spoils the good time. State of Joyful Lightness is a warm, riff-first stoner record made by a band who clearly love the form, and for anyone who likes the earthy, un-glossy end of the genre there is plenty here to nod along to. Turn it up, let the fuzz do its work, and forgive the mud.
State of Joyful Lightness is warm, earthy stoner rock recorded for a live-in-the-room feel, and refreshingly free of loudness-war crushing: the dynamics breathe, the drums are organically miked, and a growling, dominant fuzz bass drives most of the record. “Appaloosa” is the best-sounding track, rich fuzz and defined riffing over a precise bass. The recurring limitation is the low end, where several tracks (Avetrana, Holy Water, A Brand New Grave) pile up the low mids around 250 Hz until the bass masks the guitars and the picture turns muddy. The warmth and groove are the strength, the cluttered low end the main thing holding the clarity back.
Standout tracks: Appaloosa, A Brand New Grave
