Album Review: Mondo Drag – The Occultation of Light

Mondo Drag – The Occultation of Light
Release Date: February 26, 2016
Label: Riding Easy Records

The first time I ever saw Mondo Drag live was the first time I had ever heard them. I remember them making a good impression but maybe it was that I just wasn’t ready for them at the time. Something about them just didn’t connect with me. Well, like most great bands, sometimes it’s just not the time and place to make that connection but after just one listen to their latest album, The Occultation of Light, Mondo Drag did more than make a connection with me. With this album, Mondo Drag reached deep into my multicolored psychedelic soul and played on my heart strings with their sonic organ driven psychedelic face rock.

Deep Purple, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Captain Beyond, Emerson Lake & Palmer, Yes, The Doors. These are all the bands that come to mind the minute I popped in Mondo Drag’s latest album, The Occultation of Light and trust me when I say this, that is some serious, heady, top tier face rock to be compared to and deservedly so. The opening track, “Dying Light” kicks things off with a sonic ELP kind of instrumental jam and then eases into this somewhat doom tinged Black Sabbath kind of ditty but it’s the track, “The Eye” that I found to be the total show stopper of this album.   Sounding like a lost Doors masterpiece, “The Eye” left me wanting more, causing me to go in for a repeat listen of this song not once but twice.

 

Mondo Drag has definitely made a believer out of me and with The Occultation of Light, they have opened up a sonic portal that takes the listener on a cosmic ride of epic proportions. It feeds the love of progressive 70’s instrumental lovers while possessing the natural, poetic beauty to color in the beautifully haunting, moving, and jarring landscapes that the music creates. The Occultation of Light is without a doubt mind music. Put this album on, close your eyes, and watch the colors, shapes, and landscapes unfold right there in your mind. Yes, I was sober when I listened to this album but by the time it was done I felt high as a kite. Trust me folks, you need this album in your life.

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