A wise man once said the more blown-out and distorted the music sounds, the better. Ok, I said that. Anyways, Castle Club is a band that could have been a peer of the likes of Motorhead, Black Sabbath, or Candlemass. Since forming in 2017 in Austin, Texas, Castle Club has maintained a consistent output of records and live shows around the Austin area and beyond. On new full-length release III, Castle Club goes the distance by showing the constant honing of their eclectic craft.
Omni Portal kicks off the record with a wall of noise that shines through with a doom metal edge. The tornados of sound throughout the track make for an exciting instrumental introduction to the record. Wastoid is also a rock and roll rager that makes for a catchy singalong with a well-deserved punk rock attitude. You can read my full-length single review of Wastoid here.
The psych-pop vibes on Bedhead possess these feel-good grooves that are something that you’d probably hear on the likes of Magical Mystery Tour or Their Satanic Majesties Request. The tambourines and compelling drum fills on this track also provide an experimental edge that keeps the jam going until it fades out with an ethereal synth passage. The instrumental clashes on this record are common, and what they come together to do on each track becomes wall-to-wall excitement without fail.
The album’s 2nd single Sleep Reaper shows the band going deep on their sludge metal roots. The band goes on a simplistic minor jam that soon erupts into a fuzz metal tsunami that doesn’t let up until waves of reverb and feedback carry the track to the finish line. When Castle Club goes deep on a raging guitar solo, the band follows its lead into a jam of cacophonous madness that doesn’t wear out its welcome across all 10 of these tracks.
Superdefeater is a noisier track with frontman Patrick Keller at his most passionate and loudest. The whole last minute of the track is a vicious concoction of crunchy guitars, shouted vocals, and drums that pack incredible energy that make drummer Jackson Webster shine in a concise presentation of utmost sludge metal mayhem. “I think that’s one of the few recordings we’ve been able to get that close to how it “should” sound. That one took maybe 2 hours to finish from writing to having a finished recording, so there’s just a good vibe about that one for us.” Keller said.
End Times feels like something right off a classic 70s hard rock record. The fast-paced, ear-wormy main riff reminds me of the rock and roll badassery that offers nothing but a good time in a DIY space where the circle pits and thrown fists are going wall-to-wall with excitement. The distorted vocal delivery on this track also feels like they were made in a sun-baked neo-psychedelic chamber. It feels like the listener is running a marathon barefoot on top of hot coals while being rained upon by an erupting volcano.
The progressive rock vibes that rage all throughout Mountain Pass are also a deservedly intricate addition to the record. The piercing guitar also leads the electrifying noodling to the point of deep-fried madness paired with the sun-baked synth that makes itself known with a vengeance wherever they appear. The psychedelic whirlwinds that exist across this track prove Castle Club has a variety of mystical influences that make for a shameless endeavor of clever genre nods and high-octane jams.
Castle Club is a band that’s been as inspired as they are endlessly prolific. With each record, the band explores their passions furiously and eloquently. Whether it’s the eccentric vocal delivery, the explosive percussion, or the wailing guitar solos, Castle Club finds a way to paint themselves into any genre they’re influenced by and do it quite well. The band is moving fast, and all 10 of these tracks understand the assignment to, for lack of a better term, rock.
Listen: https://ghostspacerecords.bandcamp.com/album/iii
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