Late night stoner rock.
Dead Meadow's self titled first album was originally released in 2000. This re-released version has been re-mastered from the original tapes and includes an extra track. The re-mastering hasn't taken away of their low-fi fuzzyness but it now sounds fresh and new, unlike the retro sound produced by the band themselves. The tunes on 'Dead Meadow' are firmly rooted in the past. Influenced by and sounding just like they're straight out of the 60s/ 70s; all the tracks have a 60s psychedelic backdrop and are peppered with 70s rock sounding guitars. This is stoner rock at its most hypnotic; it's so laid back its practically asleep and the often epic length tracks are full of swirling, droney distorted noise that encases you in a separate little world to drift away into and get lost.
Whether you like this album is really going to depend if you like that 60s/ 70s sound; think Led Zeppelin and Hendrix, you also have to get past the lyrics which sound like they're straight out of a fantasy book: "the north star dances above/the white dove/the stairway that never ends/ends around the bend". However, it may be possible to forgive them the dodgy lyrics because many of the tracks including opener 'Sleepy Silver Door' feature a beautifully fuzzy, scratchy guitar sound. Sometimes their sound is so fresh and raw that it seems like the band has been recorded during a jam session and you are listening in on a private moment.
The album makes really good late night listening if you can stay asleep through the more hypnotic tracks like 'Dragonfly Lady' which at some points slows down so much it seems it will come to a complete stop before the song is done. There are a few heavier sections on the album that will definitely keep you awake, the quiet/ loud approach on 'At the Edge of the Wood' has some really nice heavy riffs, which depending on you point of view will either sweep you away or bore you to death with their single minded relentless pulsing beat. And 'Beyond the Fields We Know' has a nice little tune and a real groove to it. The album as a whole though could be quite an acquired taste, not just because of the epic length and repetitive trance-like quality it has but also because of the vocal style which is quite pinched and nasal; at times sounding a bit like Bobby Gillespie, so it probably won't appeal to everyone.