Spider Kitten have been around now for over twenty years and this Cardiff based Stoner / Doom metal band release their eleventh full length album `A Pound For The Peacebringer` this week.
It was recorded sporadically over the span of the past seven years and delves into a loose conceptual exploration of the elusive pursuit of peace, encompassing various themes such as therapy, drugs, altruism, political movements, religion, and ultimately, the controversial notion of achieving peace through death.
The album opens with title track `A Pound For The Peacebringer` and running at just under seventeen minutes long it`s a hefty intro to this release. A fairly trippy dreamy stoner flavoured number that really ignites when the title is intoned. The lyrics seem to be an almost stream of anguished consciousness and allude to hearing voices, a possible sign of bipolar or schizophrenia. Although the title might suggest something different `Safe To Drown` is a much more upbeat offering. It`s stripped back with a strummed guitar and vocals with harmonies and birdsong that leads us in and out and is sprinkled throughout. A song of salvation maybe for somebody close.
`Bellwether` is a doom-laden slow burn with lyrics that seem to hint of an alternative religion, cult, or sect and as a bellwether is something that leads or indicates a trend, it may well be a warning or prophecy. We have more of a cynical reflection on religions and faiths with `God`s Song` which is riddled with biblical references and shared over a strummed acoustic guitar.
This long player closes out with `Fluid Druid (Float On)` which is a rhythmic slice of sludgy doom with some delightfully heavy riffs and grooves that lead you along and become wonderfully absorbing.
There was much to enjoy on Spider Kitten`s `A Pound For The Peacebringer` which has some thought-provoking lyrics that can be interpreted in a number of ways and are shared against a musical soundscape that is delightfully hypnotic at times.
Rating 8.5 / 10
