Cardinal - Omut (2018)

When I first stumbled across this album on Bandcamp, I couldn't find ANY info about Cardinal - it was as though "Omut" had simply been pulled out of the abyss. Thankfully the label (Crab Stoned But Rocking) eventually put a bio up on their website, which Google then kindly translated from Russian to English, so now I know these guys are more than a sweet, dark dream. Much appreciation to all the wicked forces out in Moscow that conspired to bring Cardinal's first full-length album out to the world - this is a rocking piece of female-fronted stoner-doom with tunes that will drive into your ears and create a rhythmically churning tornado in your head! The album kicks off with a completely original rendition of "Me and the Devil Blues" from the legendary Robert Johnson. It takes the blues classic and throws it in a blender with big chunks of modern, fuzzy rock 'n' roll and sprinkles a little black magic in for flavor to create an electric stoner rock anthem. It's a good one to put up front because it sets the tone for the bluesy stoner-doom that's to come. The band doesn't hide their influences, musical or otherwise, because aside from the Robert Johnson cover, they also put a Pentagram tune on here and turned a couple of poems from Lord Byron into songs. It's clear that they've got a solid foundation of good taste! But on top of that the album's got a ton of stoner groove with some psychedelic and occult touches that come to the surface from time to time. It's definitely the kind of stuff I want to jam - this album should be heard! -Brandon