Not since the days of The Insect Trust and Mighty Baby has there been an album that bared as many different shades and facets of the psychedelic spectrum as WEEED’s You Are The Sky.

Hailing from Portland, Oregon, WEEED is a crack team of pure virtuosos, with each member credited to multiple instruments and effects. The band here rages at peak strength, attacking each track with a stormy energy that leaves no survivors. One minute, they’re ticking away at a feverish and robotic kosmische-inspired trance, then the next they’re chugging through a mind-shattering acid rock jam. From there, flavors of psychedelic folk, spacy ambience and even hints of spiritual jazz are handled with satisfying ease. Yet, when push comes to shove, it’s the moments where they cut loose and play totally unleashed that shine the brightest.

For instance, the almost Cosmic Dead-meets-Hendrix like jams that erupt in the sublime “Where Did You Go?” are certainly record highlights. The two drummers and extra percussionist lead a fast-paced hypnotic charge while sparking guitars weave an intricate web of tight leads before boiling down to scratchy chunks of pure wah-wah bliss.

Elsewhere on the album, tracks like “Caramelized” and “You Are The Sky” take on a near-ceremonial vibe, with soaring vocals, hazy shredding and deeply mesmerizing drumming, all under an overall dreamy atmosphere. If shamans were fed nothing but Guru Guru and Wooden Shjips records and magic mushrooms, then this is the sound that they might come up with.

For a spiritually rewarding, spiraling tour through every sound that psychedelia had to offer, then dig into this WEEED album over and over again. You will not be disappointed.

-KH

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