Last Updated on June 14, 2023, 9:08 AM | Published: June 14, 2023
Once upon a time, say, thirty-or-so years ago, an entire counterculture sprang up in the deserts of southern California around a particular kind of driving, persistently rhythmic, psychedelic metal spurred by bands like the legendary Kyuss.
The sound was as expansive, sweltering, and relentless as the desert heat itself.
All these years later, that desert sound is alive and well, even right here among the rolling plains and waving wheat, spearheaded by Oklahoma’s own psych-rock flag-bearers, Helen Kelter Skelter, who drop the brand new five-track EP “Chroma Crawl” this Friday, June 16th.
As we stare down the barrel of what promises to be a brutally hot summer, there’s probably no better soundtrack to the season than this collection of pounding, high-energy, high-fuzz stoner jams that sound like they were plucked from the desert like a prickly pear.
Describing or defining the HKS sound to the uninitiated is a tall order.
It’s dense, textural, filled with walls of fuzzy guitars, fuzzy basslines, swirling, spaced-out, usually unintelligible vocals, and above all else, the barreling, unstoppable battering of the driving drum beats, propelling each track always forward with barely a break or change for anything like a traditional chorus.
And yet, it tends to be a lot more than simply the “tonal barrage” that the band often uses to describe themselves.
The songs aren’t just an unceasing, nebulous mash of red-eyed, smoke-filled freakouts. There are colors and shades and unexpected hooks and a wealth of perfectly hypnotic beats like the soundtrack to an all-night drive through a grindhouse revenge movie.
It’s engulfing, wooly, and direct, but with a decidedly kaleidoscopic “psych” slant. Like Iron Butterfly covering “Mississippi Queen.”
And then at the halfway point, you’re hit with “Ship of Fools,” which roars across the starting line with an epic opening fanfare and then settles into something unexpectedly groovy and swaying and seemingly more atmospheric.
Then it hits an odd-time, herky-jerky turnaround, drops you back into the groove and builds to what you think will be an equally epic climax before the floor falls out from under you and the track gives way to a sped-up frontal assault that charges the song to a close.
And it does it all in under three-and-a-half minutes.
Far from simply “stoner-metal” or psychedelic-rock,” this is the sound of full-blown heat stroke psychosis.
Even as the EP draws to a close with “Chill,” it does so with a long fade out, as if the band and their entire sonic environment has only flown by momentarily and now they’ve headed off away from you, never stopping, never letting up.
Anyone familiar with HKS and their already well-established place in the local scenes and sounds of the past decade will know just what to expect here. As chaotic and intense as it all is, it’s also surprisingly refined and focused on delivering the “Helen Kelter Skelter sound” that keeps fans flocking to shows across the state.
But any headbanger that isn’t yet familiar with their sound, or anyone just looking for something to match the looming, head-spinning summer heat, will find what they need inside the enveloping walls of noise and unstoppable momentum of “Chroma Crawl.”
“Chroma Crawl” by Helen Kelter Skelter drops on streaming services and Bandcamp Friday, June 16th from Horton Records.
Saturday, June 17th sees the official album release show in a massive, outdoor event at Lazy Circles Brewing in Norman.
Follow Helen Kelter Skelter online at facebook.com/helkelskel, on Instagram at @helenkelterskelter, and on Twitter at @helenkelterskel.
And … This!
Speaking of OKC/Norman-based psych-metal, the scene’s reigning king weirdos, Rainbows Are Free, just dropped a blistering live album capturing the band’s triumphant 2021 post-pandemic return to the stage at Norman’s outdoor Summer Breeze concert series as “Heavy Petal Music.”
Already being hailed as one of the year’s best and boldest metal releases, the set showcases the band at the top of their game and the height of their energy, tearing through eight massive tracks of dual-guitar domination and singer Brandon Kistler’s trademark howl.
Always fashion-forward, the live album takes its name from the night’s debut of a new, flower-crowned, pastel-colored look for the band inspired by recent classic cult-horror “Midsommer,” an appropriately disquieting and shocking influence.
“Heavy Petal Music” by Rainbows Are Free is available now on all streaming services and Bandcamp.
Follow Rainbows Are Free online at facebook.com/rainbowsarefree, and on Instagram and Twitter at @rainbowsarefree.
Brett Fieldcamp has been covering arts, entertainment, news, housing, and culture in Oklahoma for nearly 15 years, writing for several local and state publications. He’s also a musician and songwriter and holds a certification as Specialist of Spirits from The Society of Wine Educators.
