Consuming the Tangible

From November 14, 2024

So many bands continue to expand, to grow in ambition and explore further musical avenues as their careers progress. Sometimes it works; oftentimes in the loose and shaggy folds of a new direction the spark that made the band come alive gets lost along the way. Somerset, UK’s Sergeant Thunderhoof have a lot to prove after their barnburner in 2022’s EOY charter This Sceptered Veil, and their approach was to draw in, focusing on that album’s successes and distilling the essence of everything I love about the band into 45 minutes of pure rock heaven. So yeah…The Ghost of Badon Hill is not only great, but possibly the best album the band have released to date. My only problem is going to be figuring out just how high to put it on my list come December.

Read the rest over at Nine Circles.

So where did it land on my EOY list? I cheated; rather than incorporate into my overall list, I gave it the premiere spot in my 2024 Best of Stoner & Psych. It’s still a record I come back to again and again, largely due to vocalist Dan Flitcroft. He has a great knack for a anthemic melody in his vocal phrasing, and simply one of the best voices in rock music. Mark Sayer and Josh Gallop’s guitar work is sublime, and Gallop’s production and engineering work ensure The Ghost of Badon Hill is also one of the best sounding albums in the genre space.

Not reviewed but interesting if you want a different take on this music: Gallop went back and remixed/re-interpreted the tracks as a chill ambient experiment called A Momentary Lapse of Badon you can check out right here.