adg211288 Just a year on from their debut album Lemanis (2016), Poland's Spaceslug, a name I can't think of without picturing Star Wars' Jabba the Hutt (which is likely in no small part due to Stars War influenced melodic black/death metal act Hoth having a song called Interstellar Gargantuan Space Slug), are back on Earth with their second cosmic offering, Time Travel Dilemma (2017).

The trio's debut album Lemanis has been described as a stoner/doom metal release and the same is more or less true of Time Travel Dilemma except that stoner metal by far outweighs the presence of any doom metal in this album and Spaceslug have really played up the psychedelic influences of the stoner genre, with sounds ranging from heavy psych to space rock. The result is a six track journey that has the heaviness of stoner/doom metal coupled with an atmospheric approach which along with softer passages of music is also reflected in the cleanly sung vocals, a role shared by all three band members, which are very much done in such a way that they're supposed to be heard as part of the overall atmosphere or as another instrument. Furthermore some vocals are spoken word/voice overs, including U.S. President John F. Kennedy's May 25th 1961 speech about putting a man on the moon during the track Parahorizon.

The whole aim of Time Travel Dilemma is obviously to take the listener on a trip and it's certainly a successful release on that front. The individual tracks, of which there are six, could perhaps stand to have more identity between them, but it's not too much of a detraction from the quality of the release as Spaceslug have produced a very enjoyable album that remains an absorbing work from start to finish, which is certainly the best way to experience their music.