siLLy puPPy Psychedelic rock and metal hybrids have become quite the thing in the last couple decades with the doom metal section of the headbanger’s supermarket leading the way. While some bands haver completely slipped over the line into stoner metal and weed rock, some bands such as the Madison, Wisconsin based JEX THOTH have firmly situated themselves into a retro doom metal sound in vein of classic Black Sabbath riffing and Iommi frenetic solo styles while adding the early 70s experimental sounds of psychedelic freakery from some of the bigwigs of Krautrock, most notably Amon Duul II and other psychedelically fueled acts.

This band began in Slab City, California before relocating to Wisconsin and released a self-titled EP under the moniker Totem before re-evaluating where they were going and opted to rebrand by naming the band after the charismatic Jessica Bowen who adopted the stage name of JEX THOTH. The project began as a collaboration between her and her ex-hubby James Jackson Toth, who was the main songwriter and leader of the psychedelic indie folk band Wodden Wand. In 2008 the band released a second eponymously titled full-album only this time under the new name with the distinct red and white cover.

Much like similarly minded bands of late such as Canada’s Blood Ceremony, Chicago’s Mount Salem and the Dutch band The Devil’s Blood, JEX THOTH has an affinity zeitgeist for the classic retro sounds of the early 70s and what could have been if only someone had thought of it at the time. While the metal seems a bit tamped down to be considered a true headbanger’s album, JEX THOTH excels in the psychedelic acid rock realms with thick distorted guitar riffs courtesy of Silas Paine who always dishes out some Tullish flute runs and even a bouzouki appearance or two. Grim Jim delivers groovilisicous bass runs that fit right in with the early doom metal influences of classic Black Sabbath and Zodiac serves as the keyboard player who takes the best of late 60s and early 70s psychedelic trippiness to satisfying levels of floatiness.

The least dynamic player in this lineup is the drummer Johnny Dee who suffers the fate of many doom metal percussionists whose job is merely to keep a beat and rarely are offered the opportunity to bust out a frenetic solo or two. The star of the show is clearly the lead lady charm of JEX THOTH who narrates tales of mythology, Paganism and spiritual topics that are divided into 12 tracks that hit the 51 minute mark. While the tracks are all fairly similar in delivery, the highlights included the opening “Nothing Left To Die” which confidently time travels to the not so distant past and mines the possibilities of a more promising hybridization between psychedelic rock and early metal. The four part “Equinox Suite” also exhibits a mature overarching concept that could easily have been taken into extreme progressive rock territory.

While JEX THOTH falls more on the psychedelic rock side of the equation there are energetic moments of metal with heavy riffs, sizzling solos and an opportunity for the lazy nonchalant rhythm section to explode into pyrotechnic exuberance for a few moments but overall this is a trippy album more in line with albums such as “Yeti” from Amon Duul II with a few Sabbathy doom metal moments to cement its inclusion on metal databases. Whether this formula works for one person or the next is a matter of preference but personally i think this album works quite well by skating the psychedelic rock side of the fence over the metal moments as if it would have included too much bombast it probably would have given it a lopsided feeling. Moments such as the short “Invocation, Pt 1” completely leave rock altogether with a trippy organ driven ambience that pretty much sums up the mood of the album. Pretty cool stuff here.

adg211288 Blood Moon Rise (2013) is the second full-length album by US psychedelic rock/doom metal Jex Thoth (also the moniker used by their vocalist, real name Jessica Bowen). It's been quite a while since Jex Thoth released anything, the last being the EP Witness (2010) and still longer than that since the self-titled debut (2008). Jex Thoth returned in 2013 with a largely new line-up compared to what features on the debut, aside from Jex herself, although drummer Nick Ray Johnson did also play on Witness.

When Jex Thoth released their debut there was some debate about whether they counted as metal or not. Female voiced psychedelic doom has had several bands rise to prominence in recent years, a little scene that included Jex Thoth. Much like their fellow scene members Blood Ceremony and their own latest release The Eldritch Dark (2013) Blood Moon Rise no longer leaves room for doubt, this isn't a metal album but a very clear psychedelic rock/heavy psych release.

I quite enjoyed the band's debut but I think on Blood Moon Rise Jex Thoth have found their sound. The debut was heavy, but in a very raw and fuzzy way; an ultimately riff driven album which only made room for anything else to add a bit of psychedelic flavour. Its main charm really was the vocals of Jex Thoth. It's obvious given that both she and the band share the same moniker and that she's remained the only constant member of the project that she is the star of this show and that's still true of Blood Moon Rise. She sounds fantastic; her tone is beautiful and fits so well with the melancholic music, and her singing also has a seductive quality.

The album also features greatly improved instrumental work that sways between light and heavy psychedelic rock, and features a much clearer production. It's still got a bit of fuzz in there, but the fuzz no longer dominates the sound. There's a lot more melody. It still has a slow paced doom metal feel and atmosphere to it though, although it isn't ever nearly as heavy as the debut. Both albums are melancholic, but achieved in different ways. Songs such as The Places You Walk and Keep Your Weeds show off both the rocking and pure psychedelic sides of the album respectively and are both easy highlights, but the real gems are the two longer tracks, Ehjä and Psyar.

Blood Moon Rise shows a bit of a different but also more evolved Jex Thoth, an album which isn't quite doom metal but I expect would still appeal to fans of the genre and the band's debut. The mix of riffs and captivating psychedelic sounds and especially Jex's vocals have certainly won this metal fan over to the new lighter direction. A four and a half stars range rating is deserved.

87/100

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven: http://metaltube.freeforums.org/jex-thoth-blood-moon-rise-t3308.html)