Every Dutch stoner-rocker knows this band: Astrosoniq. I had the honour of witnessing their first show in a long time recently, and I was blown away by the sheer quality of this act. Now they have released their new record Quadrant, the follow up to their 2006 release Speeder People. And let me tell you, it is mighty good stuff!

I have to honestly admit that this is the first actual Astrosoniq release I hear, but damn has it convinced me! This record is so well produced, arranged and played, it’s almost out of this world, or as you might say, from out space. These guys take elements of classic rock, stoner, grunge, psychedelics, industrial, metal, country and avant-garde and mould it into a giant monolithic whole, topped with brilliant guitar solos. It’s like stepping into a wormhole into another dimension of rock music. And even better, every time I play it, it gets better and better! A true masterpiece indeed.

 

Every song on Quadrant has a face of its own, making every song a small trip in a whole of a giant space odyssey. This stuff goes right from Pink Floyd to Orange Goblin to Alice In Chains to Saint Vitus and back without breaking a sweat. And to make it even more interesting, you can listen to the track ‘Zero’, which also features a guest appearance by the band ZEUS (with that Lama guy Jeroen van Koningsbrugge) on both the left and right channel of your stereo individually as well as together. The finishing touch is found in a cover version of the Dutch noise band T-Nailed’s ‘Bored’.

 

Conclusion: a fucking brilliant record with a nomination for my personal yearlist! If you dig the band, or even remotely dig one of the styles they play, make yourself a happy man and check Quadrant out asap!