Kreisor

One of our town's cannier quaalude-metal acts, Kreisor are a dense and spacey power trio whose drone seems descended from bands like Hawkwind, Dust, Chrome and Captain Beyond. Their new Graveyard of Your Mind sludges even heavier then it's predecessor. "Curses" is lovely and their is a real good Doors cover to boot.

"One of NYC's best Stoner outfits " - Chuck Eddy - Village Voice

For some reason, many people have called Kreisor (or Aytobach Kreisor, as they were called before) a stoner band. I don't get that. Granted, like most - if not all - stoner bands out there, they owe a huge debt to '70's hard rock, yet they have evolved into a different direction than most proponents of the genre. Instead of laying down mud-thick grooves that evoke all things desert-fried, Kreisor conjure up an original blend of slick arena hard rock, psychedelic rock, classic rock, in-your-face metal and also - and this is where they really take things into a different direction - alternative guitar pop/rock. The band might remind you of space-rockers Hawkwind, of Blue Öyster Cult and Motörhead, but also Monster Magnet and Dinosaur Jr. are bands they must've listened to at some stage. The album immediately kicks off with the hard-hitting "Reloader," which manages to combine the force of hard rock with a certain accessibility that too many bands seem to shy away from. In this respect, they're somewhat similar to Black Nasa, another band that rocks hard, has its roots firmly in the seventies, yet that also adds laidback vocals and melodies you wouldn't exactly expect in this context. An even better example is the excellent "Trilight," during which the band manages to combine fist-pumping biker-rock with pleasant sounding harmonies that go back to Mascis/Barlow-era Dinosaur Jr. or even the suave sound sheets of the Stone Roses and Ride in their heyday. Disorienting? You bet, since third track "Work" develops a Motörhead-styled pace after a lengthy intro and never looks back again. Throughout the remainder of the album, the band keeps swinging from one side to the other, from considerable force to unexpected subtleties, from almost abstract structures to rudimentary riffs. The title track, for instance isn't exactly your average rock song, but a dark, extended, drug-fueled slice of heavy psychedelica with a droning modulator, treated vocals and the occasional noisy energy outburst. Even better and arguably the album's best song, is "Curses," a swaying beast of a song that gives both psychedelic rock and jam-based rock a good name and contains some of Kenny's best guitar playing. Also their grinding take on the Doors' "Waiting for the Sun" handles the soft/loud-dynamics in a good way, not unlike On Trial paid tribute to their heroes. Of course, it's not all about mind-expanding workout sessions, as the band also offers its share of more straightforward material. "The Deep" again reminded me of Black Nasa's balance of muscularity and infectiousness, "Lazarus" even flirts with speed metal (damn, that drummer plays fast and tight), while Underneath the Light" is a greasy, pumping boogie that sometimes even comes off as a faster version of AC/DC's immortal "Go Down." With Graveyard of Your Mind, Kreisor haven't exactly made a mind-blowing innovative record (as if that was the intention), but they did manage to deliver a 50-minute album that's entirely their own, with an eclectic mix of influences and sounds and in the contemporary "heavy" scene, that's already much more than you can ask for. A-OK, is what I say. Still a weird album cover, though. - Guy Peters (Holland)

Formerly Aytobach Kreisor and guitared by Rubric co-founder Kenny Sehgal, Kreisor proves that a power trio ain't no dead horse on its second album Graveyard of Your Mind. There's plenty of crops-razing hard rock here, but Sehgal and his bandmates explore outer space as well. When the trio puts a boot in both camps, as with "Curses," the result liquifies your brain the way the sun melts a chocolate bar on the sidewalk - Michael Toland - High Bias

The stoner-riff ideas of NYC's erstwhile Aytobach Kreisor sound more generic than Oneida's, but their vocals sound more pre-psych-fleshed-out and less post-indie-wallflower—Kenny Sehgal's singing dances madly backward on a sea of air, and its motion counts for a lot, especially at a moment when the beatless retreat to '90s indie amorphousness of TV on the Radio's inept album is the most acclaimed game in town. Oddly, Kreisor insist their own melodic drone is partially inspired by '90s shoegaze bands, and their sophomore album's one cover version ("Waiting for the Sun" by the Doors) has a bit of blowhardiness to it. But with less blatant intelligence quotient aforethought than Oneida's, their impatient arrangements achieve comparable turnarounds, and their purple poetry ("fruits of my labors fermenting on the ground, snatched up by varmints wearing plastic crowns") can amuse even when not satanically masked.
They clearly love the doom-grimed rocketship rumbles that evolving metal stegosaurs chugged out between 1966 and 1972. So even full-tempo passages trapped under enough Euro-ice to pass for Voivod ("The Deep") or early Metallica ("Lazarus") come with greasy old-school-American hooks attached.
- Chuck Eddy (Feature article with Oneida) - Village Voice

Graveyard of your Mind really reminds you of the early 70's sound of bands like Lucifer's Friend and Black Widow. There is a great mixture of material on this CD and shows that the band have really grown and expanded. - Lowcut Magazine (Denmark)