siLLy puPPy The Bochum, Germany based SCHUBMODUL (German for Sheer Modulus) was formed in 2019 and has so far released a few singles and two albums. This trio of Fabian Franke (guitar), Christoph Kellner (drums) and Nils Stecker (bass) returns two years after its debut “Modul I” with its sophomore unit LOST IN KELP FOREST which has caught my attention due to the mesmerizing album cover. This album features seven tracks and runs about 43 minutes and features a unique mix of stoner rock and post-rock.

This trio is all instrumental with the exception of spoken word radio broadcast recordings that pop in sporadically. This album is on the mellower side than i was expecting with a tag like stoner metal and the album indeed comes off more as a post-rock release with a bit of grungy guitar parts adding some serious distortion to the mix but how can it be stoner metal with a vocalist? Well somehow it is but post-rock styled stoner metal. While competent tracks as far as maintaining a flow that offers some variety, somehow it just seems like a major element of the sound is missing by having no vocalist on board.

While i wouldn’t call SCHUBMODUL neither a top tier stoner metal band nor a masterful constructor of post-rock, the band does deliver a set of pleasant stoner metal rockers that offers the classic softer intros that build up to heavier climaxes in the vein of post-rock with the expected stoner metal attributes of heavily distorted fuzz guitar with accompanying bass and drums albeit the percussion is a bit on the lazy side as it rarely does more than act as a metrometer. The tempos are generally slow but tracks like “Ascension” do ratchet the speed up to a midway point. The tones of the instruments are nice and the mixing is decently done as well but nothing ever really feels like it evolves past practice session territory.

Overall LOST IN KELP FOREST is a listenable set of stoner rock tracks that offer just enough variety to keep my interest for the album’s entirety. There’s nothing inherently bad about this album in any way but at the same time it all sounds so middle of the road and lacks any sort of vitality that would make it rise to the ranks of bands like Elder, Clutch or even Monster Magnet for that matter. Given the anonymity of the band due to the lack of vocalist, the entire album sounds a bit generic as anything with the stoner rock tag usually requires the bravado of a strong vocalist to take things to the next level. Sure the field recordings help a little but overall this album just doesn’t ever seem to take off. It truly feels LOST IN KELP FOREST and needs help finding its way to the surface.