Dean Allen Foyd vs Sherpa – Psychedelic Battles - Volume Six

VE Recordings (VELP029)

This is the sixth volume of the split album series Psychedelic Battles on Italian VE Recordings label. Previously we have had some ear candy by bands like The Luck of Eden Hall, Sendelica and The Spacelords, among others. Unfortunately the latest one with A.M.T. and Lee Van Cleef had some quality issues and some copies had bumps on the end of the A.M.T. side. Luckily VE now uses different vinyl plant with better quality so no problems!

It's been six years since we heard anything from Sweden's retro psych rockers Dean Allen Foyd so it was about time get some new music by them. I really liked the 60s inspired debut and Road to Atlas 12" as well, but never somehow got the previous release, the Sunshine Song 7" released in 2014. The four songs here are pretty similar in style to their older stuff so if you liked that you will enjoy these as well. First we get two shorter, pop oriented songs and then the band stretch out some more on the longer ones. I especially like "The Shining" that has a cool  60s (13th Floor Elevators even) psych vibe and long, progressive jam section. "My Bloody Walls" is a rather minimal acoustic song that doesn't not do that much for me.

On the B-side of this limited sky blue vinyl we've got two long tracks by Sherpa. This is a rather new band who have two albums out on the excellent Sulatron Records. You can read my review of the debut over here. So occult Italian psych music is the name of the game. "Look To La Luna" is beautiful, tranquil and dreamy piece that gets heavy in the middle. Very impressive! "Moon's Biology Portrait" is rather minimal and experimental stuff with a strong occult vibe. Not bad but not that interesting either. You need to be 100% focused for this I guess. All in all, a very good album by these two great bands, I can't say which one won the battle this time!

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