Finnish six-piece Jess and the Ancient Ones are an interesting bunch. They’ve made their mark in the psychedelic rock and occult rock scenes over the past few years and were personally selected by King Diamond to open for him last year on his North American tour. Also, they wrote one of my favorite songs of all time, “Astral Sabbath”. Seriously, this song is fucking amazing. It has an absolutely groovy surf rock-inspired riff and all kinds of psychedelic wonder. It contains a very strong vocal performance with melodies to die for. Listen to it! To be honest though, the band hasn’t really interested me beyond this one amazing song. I gave their debut LP a listen and I wasn’t all that impressed. Nonetheless, I’m definitely willing to give them another chance. With their sophomore full-length, Second Psychedelic Coming: The Aquarius Tapes, I had the opportunity to explore the band’s aural energy. The record has a 22-minute-long track in the middle of it, effectively dividing the album into thirds. With that in mind, I pressed play, and I was in for a strange psychedelic odyssey. The record commences with “Crossroad Lighting,” starting with soulful harmonious vocal chants that conjure the feeling of old [...]
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