Review by Chris Van Etten for Acid King - Busse Woods (1999)

This is definitely some pure stoner metal, slow and heavy but not cold or depressing enough to be doom. A lot of this could come across as generic but there are some serious saving graces. First, the VOCALS! I can’t say I’ve heard a lot of female vocalists in metal, but besides just being refreshing, Lori S. has a perfect voice for this (I’m struggling for a good adjective, but ghostly and sage like come to mind). The other factor that really sticks out to me is the bass, which is pretty  up front in the mix. I like how the bass and guitar are on the same level, playing off each other like on the first three Sabbath records, rather than the bass just being below the guitar. Great tones too, I think the guitar is lower pitched than the bass! Thumbs up, but I can only give three stars since it is a little lacking. Two of the six tracks are instrumentals, and they suffer for not having the cool vocals. Also, even though it’s a full full-length at 45 minutes, it feels like it could use one more track. Still, it get’s the job done, and it’s easy to get engulfed in this. As the title suggests, perfect for staring at the sky while the fire burns out deep in the woods.