Photo by Eddie Brnabic
BrooklynVegan is currently streaming “Agua Caliente” from Portland, Oregon-based psychedelic stoner doom collective ROBOTS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD. The track comes off the band’s Mystic Goddess full-length, set for release via Small Stone Records on May 21st!
Notes the band of the track, “‘Agua Caliente’ is a song about hitting rock bottom and doing it fast; a track for those who have spiraled out of control and the only one to blame is yourself.”
Adds BrooklynVegan, “Portland’s ROBOTS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD make psychedelic stoner doom with a hint of Seattle grunge (and they recorded their upcoming album Mystic Goddess with grunge veteran Jack Endino), and vocalist Caleb Weidenbach tops it off with a howl that sounds more than a little like Danzig. It’s heavy, riffy, and catchy, and if your taste veers towards this corner of guitar-based music, you should definitely check this band out.”
Stream ROBOTS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD’s “Agua Caliente,” exclusively at BrooklynVegan, HERE.
Mystic Goddess, which features cover art by Swedish Robin Gnista, will be released on CD and digital formats via Small Stone Records with Kozmik Artifactz handling a limited vinyl edition.
Find preorder options at THIS LOCATION where the title track can be streamed.
Created because of a rare 2015 planetary alignment, ROBOTS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD made an immediate impact with a meteor shower of cosmic grooves and high-octane riffs in the galactic vortex where doom, psych, and stoner rock collide. As a live act, they are a force with which to be reckoned and their 2019 debut Cosmic Riders has garnered over 300,000 plays and counting on digital streaming sites, including Bandcamp, Spotify, and YouTube.
Eager to take their sound to uncharted regions of the galaxy, ROBOTS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD entered Seattle’s Soundhouse Studios in February 2020 to record with Jack Endino, famed sonic architect of the grunge revolution, and his longtime protégé Mikel Perkins. They emerged through the wormhole with Mystic Goddess, a forty-three-minute hallucinatory sound excursion through a wide range of styles that keeps listeners engaged while never losing focus or sacrificing flow.
“Raw, powerful, no nonsense production is what we were seeking,” says guitarist Justin Laubscher. After connecting with Endino through a friend and veteran of the grunge wars, Laubscher says the band “scraped up every nickel we could and went for it.”
Recorded, mixed, and mastered in six days, ROBOTS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD‘s Mystic Goddess almost crashed and burned prior to liftoff. Four days in, Endino abruptly fell ill, “wrecked from this weird flu from hell,” according to Laubscher. “At the time, COVID-19 was not yet a thing in the US.” Perkins engineered the final two days of tracking. “Perkins is a legend, stepped in without missing a beat, and we all felt at ease. He entertained our more fringe ideas, the ones up until that point I was apprehensive to present to Jack.” Endino eventually finished the mixes remotely and Perkins is credited as co-producer.
Musically, the new album includes nods to stoner rock titans like the Stooges, Kyuss, and Boris but the band also wasn’t afraid to borrow ideas from Guns ‘N’ Roses and Santana, while deep diving into their usual lyrical fetishes.
“I’m intrigued by psychedelics, esotericism, and conspiracy theories. I love to go deep with secret societies, other dimensions, and all that jazz. So, when you hear the Carl Sagan intro to ‘Cosmic Riders’ or David Icke closing out ‘Mystic Goddess,’ it’s a tribute,” notes Laubscher, “a nod to those dudes who are a creative inspiration for my song writing.”
ROBOTS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD:
Caleb Weidenbach – vocals
Nico Schmutz – guitar
Justin Laubscher – guitar
Trevor Berecek – bass
Harry Silvers – drums
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