US psychedelic doom metal giants Acid King release new album »Beyond Vision« today on Blues Funeral Recordings; extensive summer tour announced!
US psychedelic doom metal giants Acid King are releasing their fifth full-length album »Beyond Vision« this Friday, March 24th, 2023 via Blues Funeral Recordings.
Tracklist:
01. One Light Second Away
02. Mind’s Eye
03. 90 Seconds
04. Electro Magnetic
05. Destination Psych
06. Beyond Vision
07. Color Trails
Courtesy of Purple Sage PR:
Bay Area’s psychedelic doom behemoths Acid King release their long-anticipated new album »Beyond Vision« today on Blues Funeral Recordings. Sign in for a one-way trip to the farther reaches of space now, and get ready for their upcoming summer shows across the globe!
Propelled by an undulating, lysergic pulse, their new album »Beyond Vision« launches a new era for the band who built the template for thundering, swinging, trip-inducing heavy. One might even call it a concept album, contemplating interplanetary migration and the winding path of existence. The album is the result of a special collaboration between Acid King founder, guitarist and vocalist Lori S., Black Cobra guitarist/vocalist Jason Landrian (Black Cobra), bassist and keyboardist Bryce Shelton (Hawkwind) and drummer Jason Willer (Charger, Jello Biafra). Watch Acid King’s new videos for »Destination Psych/Beyond Vision« and »Mind’s Eye«!
Acid King on tour – All tickets on sale from 3pm CET at this location!
June 3 – San Francisco (USA) Great American Music Hall
Aug 3 – Karlsruhe (DE) P8
Aug 4 – Feldkirch (AT) Poolbar Festival
Aug 5 – Munich (DE) Free & Easy
Aug 6 – Segrate (IT) Circolo Magnolia
Aug 7 – TBA
Aug 8 – TBA
Aug 10 – Moledo (PT) Sonic Blast Festival
Aug 11 – Kortrijk (BE) Alcatraz Festival
Aug 12 – Marienthal (DE) Hoflärm Open Air
Aug 13 – Hamburg (DE) Knust
Aug 14 – Copenhagen (DK) Stengade
Aug 16 – Berlin (DE) Cassiopeia
Aug 17 – Dresden (DE) Chemiefabrik
Aug 18 – Regensburg (DE) Alte Mälzerei
Aug 19 – Döbriach (AT) Sauzipf Rocks
Aug 20 – Vienna (AT) Viper Room
Aug 22 – Luzern (CH) Sedel
Aug 23 – TBA
Aug 24 – Eindhoven (NL) Effenaar
Aug 25 – Wörrstadt (DE) NOAF
Sept 8-10 – Sao Paolo (BRA) Setembro Negro Festival
Sept 23 – Austin (USA) Ripplefest Texas
Photos by Kevork Demirjian
New album »Beyond Vision« out now on Blues Funeral Recordings!
Available on Blues Funeral website – Bandcamp – EU store
Deeper into Acid King…
“What do you do at this point in your career, when you’ve been around for so long?”
That’s Lori S. from San Francisco’s Acid King. These days, she’s asking the big questions. The storied guitarist and frontwoman has been building her electric empire, riff by riff, for nearly 30 years. Though Acid King’s lineup may change, Lori remains the driving force and master cylinder.
Adopting the nickname of notorious teenage slayer Ricky Kasso, Acid King came screaming out of San Francisco in 1993 with a sound that fused heavy ’70s proto-metal with the kind of bleary, slow-rolling dirge power being harnessed by their contemporaries in Sleep and Electric Wizard.
The band’s 1993 debut 10” was followed two years later by their full-length debut »Zoroaster« (Sympathy For The Record Industry), which set the stage for a trio of crucial releases on Frank Kozik’s famed Man’s Ruin label. Acid King’s acclaimed 1999 album »Busse Woods« solidified their reputation amongst a generation of riff worshipers, weed heads and heavy rock enthusiasts. Two decades of hard touring and sporadic recording ensued.
After parting ways with the musicians who played with her on 2015’s »Middle Of Nowhere, Center Of Everywhere«, Lori formed a touring lineup for the »Busse Woods« 20th Anniversary tour in 2019. At its conclusion, Lori wasted no time pondering her next move. She had been plotting a possible collaboration with Black Cobra guitarist/vocalist Jason Landrian, and the sweeping lockdowns that attended the great plague of 2020-2022 provided the opportunity.
“It wasn’t gonna be a new Acid King record,” she explains. “I had a kind of an obscure, avant-garde instrumental thing in mind. Once we got together and started writing, it was clear that it was much more. Some of the songs really needed lyrics. Once we embraced the idea that we weren’t doing an instrumental record, and that these were really good songs we were proud of, it became an Acid King record.”
The result is »Beyond Vision«, and it’s unlike anything Acid King has done before. “I’m not the same person I was when the band started 30 years ago,” she says. “It just seems natural to progress. But it still sounds like Acid King. It’s not like Neil Young’s country record, where it’s like, ‘What are they doing?’ but it is different because I took a step away from the usual lyrical themes that I’ve worked with for so long and decided to branch out.”
The undulating, lysergic pulse that underscores »Beyond Vision« marks the dawn of a new era for a band that previously relied almost exclusively on thundering riffage. Don’t get it twisted, though: There are blistering guitars aplenty. »Beyond Vision« is simply Acid King in widescreen technicolor and interstellar cinemascope.
“The band was never really that psychedelic, but this is definitely more trippy because we’ve got keyboards and synthesizers,” Lori explains. “That’s something we’ve never had before on Acid King records. The songs really have no beginning or ending – they all just flow into each other. It’s meant to be listened to as one piece. The whole point was to have the listener feel like they’re on a journey. If you put headphones on, it’ll take you to whatever places you’d like to go to.”
One might even say that »Beyond Vision« is a concept record of sorts. “The record is based on the journey of life,” Lori says. “Jason and I were having these heavy pandemic conversations at the practice space for two years, talking about all the stuff you go through being in bands, touring, your relationships in life, all that stuff. You think this trip is supposed to go one way, but it goes in very different ways that you can never imagine.”
It’s not just life on Earth she’s talking about. »Beyond Vision« contemplates life on Mars, life on the moon, and death in the furthest reaches of space. Kubrick’s sci-fi mind-fuck »2001: A Space Odyssey« was a key influence. Then there was the mesmerizing 2019 documentary Apollo 11. “I was hugely inspired by that documentary,” Lori enthuses. “I absolutely love the soundtrack Matt Morton did for that. I’ve probably listened to it a million times. I really loved the journey it took me on, even without the movie. It just made me ponder life.”
Example: swirling power dirge »90 Seconds« contemplates the horrifying prospect of space expiration. “90 seconds is how long you can last in space without oxygen,” Lori explains. “The song was inspired by Yoko Ono. She did a record called Rising with her son, and it’s pretty heavy. There’s a song on there that’s kinda like a poem with Tibetan singing bowls on it. »90 Seconds« was very influenced by that.”
»Beyond Vision« was recorded with Acid King’s long-time producer Billy Anderson. “Billy has recorded every Acid King record,” Lori says. “He knows the drill, which is what makes it awesome. I really enjoy working with him. Recording can be tough, especially when you’re in a band that doesn’t have bottomless funds and tons of time. So, there’s a comfort factor working with Billy.”
Lori chose Sharkbite Studios in Oakland because they had an analog two-inch tape machine. Or so she thought. “Billy brought some old two-inch tape with him, but I called the studio to ask if they had any more in case the tape was no good,” she says. “They said they didn’t have the machine anymore—they gave it away because it was too much of a hassle. I made them get it back for me.”
Just as Lori had anticipated, the tape Anderson had procured was past its prime. Somehow, the ghost of Jerry Garcia saved the day. “Good luck finding two-inch tape on the day you’re supposed to be recording,” Lori recalls with a laugh. “I called up my friend who works for Dead & Company. They have a two-inch tape studio in Marin, and he let me borrow the Grateful Dead’s tape stock. I replaced it for him later.”
It’s that kind of serendipity that permeates »Beyond Vision«. What began as an experiment became the path to a silver future. “It’s probably a direction I’ll keep going with,” Lori says. “I felt like the last record was a little step in this direction, but this is a big step. We’re done dabbling. We’re going for it. And I can’t see going back.”
Acid King is:
Lori S. – Guitars and Vocals
Jason Landrian – Guitars
Bryce Shelton – Bass and Synths
Jason Willer – Drums
“In the now-30-year history of the band, nothing under their name has attempted this magnitude of sound.” – The Obelisk
“This is truly an album for escaping reality, whether it’s to reflect, contemplate or simply space out.” – Distorted Sound Magazine
“Acid King have delivered what has to be called their finest work to date.” – GBHBL
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well