With a mix of 90’s grunge and nu-metal, slices of psychedelic 70’s, chunks of ska and decades of metal, after 18 years the trio that make up Jollymon return with the powerhouse that is Void Walker!
The self-confessed stoner metal band consist of frontman and principal songwriter Carey Rich (vocals, bass), Mark Blackburn (drums), and John Colgate (guitar, vocals) and were originally formed in Oregon, US.
The “Apocalyptic Space Groove-Mega Mega say they are "Sabbath meets Hendrix and Floyd"
The long-awaited album finally gets its release in June this year (2018) and kicks off with a true grinder and opening single, Tsunami.
“One of my favourite lyrics on the album is a line from 'Tsunami,’ in which I sing,
'Your soul is fine, even though you war and parasite. This is not to punish you for crimes or for all the sins of humankind.’
This comes during the mellow, melodic bridge in a pretty heavy song. It’s about a celestial maintenance spaceship that travels about completing orders to 'clean’ or 'maintenance’ planets. This particular job is on earth; the spaceship can cause mass natural destruction and/or kill off any living thing, or any specific species, in any particular way. These lyrics are part of the song where the ship is explaining to earthlings that they’ve done nothing wrong, that this is just a scheduled job and not to worry, it should be over quick.”
The heavy beats pound through your soul as Monkey Hawk takes up the reins before leading into the foot-stomping, head-banging sing along track that is A Good Day.
Ever-present funky basslines of the Jollymon groove-rock formula continue with Be Nice, Slice Of Life and Forecast…. really spacing you out on that Floyd/Hendrix mix that makes you smile in atmospheric bliss and screaming solos!
Jollymon then get the hard-rocking back into motion with Missile Commander and title track Void Walker, which, believe me is a true rocker!! Love these metal tunes that make you want to pull faces, scream, shout, raise a fist in the air and mosh like there’s no tomorrow!
It gets all trippy toward the end, pausing for breath and sucking in some space air, while prepping you for the final journey through the Jollymon cosmos of Sky Burial.
Rich explains that the album is entitled Void Walker because it “is what Jollymon’s name should be,” he says with a laugh.
“Before life began, before even the cosmos took shape, there was light - and there was void. Both were unfettered by the confines of time and space, swelled across all existence in the form of a boundless sea of sound.
So, Void Walker is a kind of symbol of what our sound is. It’s hard to describe, because it’s really left up to the imagination, which has been more of what we are: less wordy, forced lyrics, but simple imaginative shorelines with an epic soundtrack to back whatever is said.”
Jollymon are a new band for me and I’m hoping to get a listen back through their discography to see exactly where this space trip began! They released their debut full-length, Sailing, in 1995 on Eugene's Elemental Records. They followed up Sailing with 1997's Nobody Knows Who You Are and 1998's Stoned Nation Radio, both on Elemental Records. Then, in 2000 they released their fourth full-length, the self-titled album, on Battle Arena Records, before imploding shortly thereafter, walking away, with no plans to return.
And I’m glad they did! I for one, am a new fan and certainly look forward to what the next 18 years will bring…..
Go To Tracks - Tsunami, Be Nice and Void Walker GnT Rating – 5/5