Cactusfizz - "The Ruins"
Admittedly, I can be a bit of an unobservant person, but it seems to me that Copenhagen-based band Cactusfizz just kind of blasted their way into the heavy underground scene out of nowhere. The band really created a buzz in the stoner/doom community when their latest album, The Ruins, was featured by the always awesome Weedian in mid-April. A little digging tells me that Cactusfizz has actually been releasing music since at least October 2022, with their debut EP Dust and Religion. They've also been playing a plethora of live gigs both locally and abroad, including providing support for March 2024 Doom Charts favorite Skraeckoedlan.
The Ruins was released on April 3, 2024, a project on which the band collaborated with friends Jye O'Sullivan and Maria Baez. The album contains seven tracks (including an intro, interlude, and outro) and has an almost twenty-two minute runtime, but trust me when I say there is a LOT packed into this relatively short masterpiece. Let's get into it:
The Ruins
1. Intro
2. Tunnel
The howling winds of the intro lead us into Tunnel, which begins with drums (delightfully heavy on the cymbal) and some psychedelic, desert-tinted guitar. Heavy bass begins to rumble from beneath, creating more dimension. Bubbles of brightness rising up from the cymbals and guitar are the icing on the cake, creating a multi-faceted psychedelic desert trip. Vocals come in at the halfway point, starting off in a smooth, soothing tone, but quickly building and swelling along with the instrumentals in a crescendo that culminates when a heavy amount of fuzz is dropped. Lots of variety in the pacing of this track always leaves you wondering what's coming next.
3. The Mould
This song takes on a much faster pace and a funky, 70s psychedelic tone. The vocals play a much larger role here, including some spoken word parts interspersed between some melodic singing, creating a feeling of frantic apprehensiveness that keeps the listener on their toes. The overall vibe here is quite trippy, the funk factor and groove remaining constant.
4. High Tide
This is a gorgeously eerie interlude track that features low background male vocalizations with beautiful, haunting, standout female vocals hovering above them. You can't help but think of a siren song.
5. A Long Wait
A Long Wait is an infinitely darker song on which the lyrics focus on some of the bleakest problems in our modern world. Vocals alternate between a half-singing/-half-spoken cadence, melodic and mournful singing, and more spoken word. Instrumentals are likewise more melancholy overall. This one will certainly put you in a contemplative mood.
6. No Life Found
This is a really great follow-up to A Long Wait. Still colored with darkness and uncertainty, No Life Found feels like a natural continuation. The highlight here is the bass guitar that again has a sublime way of rising up from the depths to be the shining star here; you feel it rumbling in your body, immersing you both physically and emotionally in the song. Somber psychedelic rock guitar and cautiously optimistic percussion beautifully complete the mood.
7. Kodu (Home)
On the outro, we hear the howling wind again behind a spoken incantation, bringing the album full circle.
Final Thoughts
In spite of the brevity of The Ruins, Cactusfizz adeptly manages to provide us with a complete thought; four full songs that progress very naturally. These songs not only leave one marveling at the musicianship present throughout the album, but they certainly inspire a bit of thoughtful contemplation as well. Happening upon The Ruins was the most pleasant surprise for me, giving me a digestible but quality sampling of heavy psychedelia with a garage rock flair that I was able to both thoroughly enjoy and mentally process in one afternoon, leading to this article. I would recommend this album to any fan of psychedelic rock, but I think it makes an especially good album for fans who are just starting to get into the genre or those who don't have the attention span for those 10+ minute psych rock tracks (I'm guilty of that, myself!) Above all, hearing what Cactusfizz is capable of on The Ruins has made me very eager to see what the future has in store for this immensely talented band!
More About Cactusfizz
Cactusfizz Is:
Cesar Quintela - Guitar, Vocals
Lev Koval - Drums, Backing Vocals
Julen Ordenana - Bass, Synth, Backing Vocals
You can listen to/follow Cactusfizz on the following:
If you enjoy Cactusfizz, you'll also like Sykofant!
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