11Paranoias – Reliquary for a Dreamed of World (Review)

This is the third album from 11Paranoias, a UK sludge/doom band.

The album cover alone makes me feel paranoid, not to mention confused and slightly panicked, and this is before I’ve even pressed play.

When I do press play I’m greeted with some heavy psychedelic doom. This is 58 minutes of crushing music. It may be trippy and drenched with psychedelia, but the sprawling passages that mark this album are not without focus or intent.

Strange vibes and space-jams populate the doom landscape of Reliquary for a Dreamed of World. Taking a drugged out peek at what Warhorse, Electric Wizard and Cough are up to, 11Paranoias steal away into the night with their pilfered secrets, using these to feed the fevered dreams that have birthed this sterling piece of doomery. Is doomery a word? Well, it should be.

Swirling, unearthly melodies and slow, twisting rhythms gradually collapse around each other as the songs make their mark. This is engaging stuff; the material strikes the right balance between psychedelic rock, monolithic doom and filthy sludge. Combining these ingredients to make something super-palatable is no easy thing, but the band are experienced and talented enough to pull it off and make it look effortless.

The songs are full of stand-out moods and there’s a deep sense of intricacy and layers to the music, almost as if the band are creating something tangible in addition to what they perform. It feels as if you can almost reach out and touch these tracks, so substantial are they.

If you’re a fan of acid-soaked doom then there’s nothing you won’t like here.

Highly recommended.