Scorched Oak is a stoner rock trio from Dortmund, Germany, primarily influenced by heavy rock, blues, and doom. They're gearing up to release their sophomore album, Perception, on March 22, 2024. Perception boasts seven tracks of heavy stoner goodness, including a bonus track entitled Wizard. Following the precedent set by Scorched Oak's other releases, the song titles on Perception are one word in length. The album was live recorded in October 2023.
Scorched Oak is known for their burly stoner riffs and captivating live performances. Case in point:
However, what makes this band especially distinctive are the incredibly unique, haunting vocals of its two lead singers, Linda and Ben (who also play bass and guitar, respectively). Linda has one of the coolest female voices in heavy music that I've had the pleasure of hearing; commanding and hypnotic, yet melodic all at once. Ben, in contrast, has a low, gravelly tone that lends itself exceptionally well to Scorched Oak's unique brand of stoner doom. All of these elements work together to create layers of sound that completely surrounds you with intensity and dimension. That being said, it's amazing that this huge sound comes from a three-piece band.
Now, let's get into Perception, track-by-track:
Perception
1. Delusion
This song is a great way to begin the album, utilizing a lot of building. Nearly the first two minutes of the song consist of toned-down instrumentals that have a very desert rock sound to them, including some very cool percussion, before exploding into heavy riffs and distinctive vocals from Linda and Ben. These things along with Delusion's lyrics lead me to picture an apocalyptic landscape. There's certainly a sense of dread and doom here, a feeling that the band communicates remarkably well both instrumentally and vocally.
There's also a very cool music video for Delusion:
2. Mirrors
Mirrors is driven by a doomy backing riff with some bluesy guitar work and emphasis on the ragged bass in the middle. This song is primarily handled by Linda when it comes to singing duties, its lyrics focusing on feeling conflicted. Mirrors stands out in contrast to Delusion as having infinitely more of a doom metal influence as opposed to desert rock/stoner metal. That being said, it's apparent from the start that Scorched Oak is quite adept at playing multiple styles of music.
3. Relief
This track is even more doom-focused than the last. Vocals here are primarily handled by Ben's gruff tone, warning the listener of vengeance that's fueled by some rather dark forces.
4. Echoes
On Echoes, Scorched Oak reverts back to more of a stoner/desert feel on the instrumentals. We also find Linda back on vocals, giving a very powerful and emotive performance about loss.
5. Reflection
Reflection begins with a quiet yet apprehensive acoustic guitar part that definitely had me wondering what was about to happen, before I was smacked in the face by the heaviest doom riff yet, along with Ben's trademark vocals, sounding altogether unholy. I'm quickly learning that doom and Ben go incredibly well together. This song is about another world on the "other side where nothing is the same...stuck in your dream." The last minute of the song picks up the pace with a killer doom-laden guitar part that I absolutely fell in love with. Kind of makes you wonder what happened to that poor guy that was stuck in some parallel dream world, though... My instinct says sleep paralysis demon, but that's just conjecture on my part.
6. Oracle
Oracle is made up of some expertly crafted layers of sound. It begins with toned-down guitar and bass backed by booming percussion, before launching into some lovely mid-tempo stoner/desert riffs. Linda's vocal abilities utterly shine here, focusing more on vocal undulations. All of this surrounds you like a sandstorm, adding to the desert feel. I was beyond content vibing along at this pace, when suddenly the tempo kicks up double time, a pleasant surprise. Linda's voice switches from ethereal and melodic to compelling and commanding. The lead guitar brightens and pops behind her singing, and that nasty bass pushes through, making itself known... Wow! What a way to end an album. As much as I thought Delusion stood no chance of being defeated as my favorite song on the album, I have to say Oracle ultimately took the prize. The way Oracle progresses is just absolutely delicious, and that all-encompassing desert tone is to die for. Absolutely gorgeous. *Chef's kiss*
Final Thoughts
Scorched Oak is a very unique band indeed, one that has the power to appeal to a huge variety of heavy music fans and that will never leave their listener bored. The band handles the styles of doom, stoner metal, and desert rock with ease, vacillating among multiple genres in any given song. While listening to Perception in its entirety, I was really enjoying how the band moves between doom and stoner/desert songs; it's really like getting (at least) two albums in one! Of course, it goes without saying that Scorched Oak's trademark feature is their co-lead vocalists. Having both a strong, emotive female vocal and intense and raspy male vocal further expands the variety of sound, feelings, characters, settings, and stories the band can utilize in their music. Scorched Oak's instrumental prowess and varied vocal approaches leave them with an endless variety of musical avenues to explore, and the band makes it evident on Perception that they intend to do just that.
No matter which genre of heavy underground music has your heart, I'm certain that Scorched Oak's Perception has something...probably several things, that will speak directly to you.
More About Scorched Oak:
Scorched Oak Are:
Linda - Bass, Vocals
Ben - Guitar, Vocals
Freed - Drums
Scorched Oak will be going on tour immediately after Perception's release, starting with a release show on March 23rd in Dortmund. Check out the band's social media pages for more info about upcoming shows (social media links below).
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