Pharm – Vortex

 

 

Pharm – Vortex
Self released – 2022
Rock, Stoner, Prog
Rated: ****

Many moons ago, before the war in the western world started, we mentioned the first single Acolyte by Canadian three-piece Pharm. And now, only about a week ago, they released their full-sized debut Vortex. A wild maelstrom of heavy rock! Based on stoner and prog their constantly shifting brackets between which the three go crazy, let them implore every imaginable source of heavy rock. Often bewildering the amount of weird memories about other bands and albums that might pop up, if only for a second. Prog rock legends will come to mind, but so will Baroness, Umphrey’s McGee and Primus. Pharm is serious business, but within the cluster of ideas, the fusing element is always the energy conveyed. Offering the option to experience Vortex as a state of being. Where the two interludes offer a moment of ease, a peaceful moment in the eye of the storm. But those are short moments of respite between the stupefying amount of guitar work, masterful bass and insane drumming that all have this dizzying effect. And not just because there’s so much of it, but because it is this good. So much beauty shines through in all those highly dynamic, only seemingly chaotic tapestries of prog compositions, that you might avert your eyes at one point because it feels like you are starting directly at the heart of the sun. Opener Acolyte and following Conqueror are already freaky highlights, but Device, with its tolling bell, its punk energy sets you up properly for the Vortex ride. Crystal Ships goes absolutely bonkers with the shifts and breaks; and that middle part, yowzah! Orbiting The Vortex ends the album properly, with a nine-and-a-half-minute tour de force, showing you once again what Pharm can do before they close it all off with this weird two-minute-long ditty called Thanks. Pharm is serious business, but there’s enjoyment here as well, and I guess Thanks showcases this best. The end of a nutty, quirky, and dazzling carnival ride….

(Written by JK)

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