Virginia is home to some of the haziest doom and rock in the United States. Genre greats like Cough and Windhand reign from the Richmond area, a surprisingly strong hot bed for metal of late. Smoke billows into the Virginian sky, but those with a keen eye will see it's not just those two bands making it. One such band within the last year or so is the one-man effort of Mindkult. Led by Fowst, the occult-driven project melds stoner riffs with a shoegaze aura.
Take the title track to his debut full-length album, Lucifer's Dream. At nine minutes, it allows a listener to fully submersion themselves in the gloomy fog coming from this song. Fowst's voice is certainly the most shoegaze element of his music. It lends itself to Adam Franklin of Swervedriver, if Franklin was really into early Electric Wizard. Comparisons aside, Mindkult wonderfully mixes metallic and non-metallic tropes. Classic, rolling doom riffs dominate much of the "Lucifer's Dream". For brief moments, Fowst turns to spacy, psychedelic reprieves before returning to the early doom that many metal fans will resonate with. That is where much of Fowst's strengths lie in his songwriting. Many acts have brought shoegaze into their music recently. It takes something unique or special to break the mold. His uncanny knack for finding parallels between these genres has consequently given his work one of great metal's most redeeming qualities: immersion.
Stream the title track to Lucifer's Dream now ahead of its September 20th release. Pre-orders for the album are up as well through Transcending Obscurity. Also, follow Mindkult on Facebook for regular news and updates.
