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HAZEMAZE: Stockholm, Sweden.

DOOM ROCK TRIO 2016-2022.

The Stockholm trios eponymous full-length is just about as good as it gets for all the groove its giving. As the record spins, its hypnotic gaze takes us back through the maze of time, surrounding us in the electrically charged haze of the feel good era. It sounds for all the world like this could be a contemporary of Ozzy and the boys, though it never condescends to full-on Sabbath worship.

No, Hazemaze has found their own way, niching somewhere between the early styles of doom that manifested on both sides of the Atlantic, though I hasten to add slow, blues-infused hard rock might be a better descriptor than straight-up heavy metal. That is, unless this exciting release had come out in the seventies. Back then, it would have been considered the epitome of heavy metal, just as Zeppelin and Priest were in teenage years. Capturing this authentic a sound and making it so alive, so vibrant, so nowwell, that is no small feat.

Truly, a standout album, especially if youre as diehard a fan of old school doom as I am. Fresh artistry is fully on display all over Hazemaze Give any one of these tracks a spin and youll see, though you should be warned (in the words of Black Mamba II): One bite and then you are gone.

400 Limited bloody red vinyl.