Album Reviews : Lomera – Lomera II

The heyday of stoner/sludge music has perhaps been and gone. There since have been many great bands within the genre that have may not have received quite the recognition that they deserve. It seems though, this kind of music is making resurgence of late with heavyweight bands such as Kyuss Lives, Orange Goblin and Unida among others having either already graced our shores or will soon do. Sydney’s Lomera have been flying this genres flag high for all to see for some time now and have just unleashed their second slab of pure stoner goodness upon the unsuspecting world.

Opener “La Marcha De La Muerte” or “The Death March” for those not fluent in Spanish (much like myself), begins with a riff that instantly screams Kyuss or perhaps even a sludgy version of a Mastodon riff from their latest album The Hunter. Groove and a heavy, fuzz soaked rhythm section dominate this track. The vocals gravely and whisky soaked in nature, bring to mind comparisons to the likes of Kirk Windstein (Crowbar/Down) and John Garcia (Kyuss/Unida), yet also carry enough character and grit to be set apart from the fore mentioned singers.

“Prayer Light” demands attention right from the offset, with an infectious opening riff, that gives way to a heavily stoner influenced section that would make the rhythm section in Down proud. The vocals also seemingly possessing a touch of Phil Anselmo influence in certain sections. The song is rounded out by a heavy, crunching riff, that will sure to have you tapping along in approval.

The tempo is shifted up a gear in the strongly Kyuss influenced track “Death Tonight!”, it is perhaps the simplest track on the EP, but the bare bones approach and the sense of urgency the band exhibits on this song is a refreshing change of pace. The down tempo and groovy as all hell “Thrones” closes out the EP in slow/down-tuned, head bobbing fashion.

Lomera’s fittingly titled second EP, ‘II’, carries all of the hallmarks that fans of the genre have come to love, and is sure to help them achieve more fans in the process. The bands sound is refined and watertight; they are however, perhaps still trying to find their place within the genres they cross, but there is very little to fault on their second EP, well except for maybe the runtime. We can only hope for an extended release in the form of a full length album from these plaid warriors next time around!

Band:  Lomera
Album: II
Year: 2012
Genre:  Sludge/Doom/Stoner/Rock
Label: Self Released
Origin: Sydney, Australia
http://lomera.bandcamp.com/

Track list:
1. La Marcha De La Muetre
2. Prayer Light
3. Death Tonight!
4. Thrones