While preparing myself for the inevitable onslaught of existential dread and professional misery this morning—Dad duties, festival work, novel edits, articles for that other site, and a highly classified project that I’m absolutely busting to tell you about but bloody cannot yet—an email dropped through the virtual letterbox. It was from a band with an immediately arresting name: Hidden Since the Foundation of the World. They were asking if I’d spare a moment to give their stuff a listen and possibly carve out a review. Well, I am nothing if not the self-appointed voice of the underground—wow, that sounds so pretentious I’m surprised I didn’t just disappear up my own ass in a puff of mustache wax and Mongolian Flute Metal—so I immediately dropped everything and did just that.
The track I chose to immerse myself in was Man of Stated Age, and let me tell you right now: it is a fucking killer.
The band, who already deserve applause for the monumental weight of their moniker, Hidden Since the Foundation of the World, describe their sound as Psychedelic Doom. That does sum up the general cosmic, drug-hazed atmosphere quite well, but what they criminally missed out—especially on this particular track—is the sheer, unexpected Led Zeppelin vibe I got from it. Not in the: ‘Hey, that sounds like Led Zep’ kind of way, but more in the feel.
Man of Stated Age has the aura of Kashmir, ifnit had been hijacked, force-fed a toxic dose of heavy amplification, and recorded inside a wall of ten thousand doom-soaked amps with the fuzz knob permanently melted past eleven. The riff is immense and serpentine, building slowly with an almost hypnotic, ritualistic swagger. The rhythm is heavy and deliberate, but the psychedelic elements prevent it from collapsing into simple sludge. Instead, the track breathes and floats, carrying that exotic, massive sense of scale that Zep perfected, only coated in the thick, suffocating tar of pure Doom.
It is a near six-minute journey that manages to sound both ancient and utterly fresh. The production is huge, giving the central riff the gravity it demands while letting the atmospheric layers twist and bleed through the mix. This is not just a song; it’s an experience. Hidden Since the Foundation of the World has delivered a track that deserves to be blasted at volume high enough to shake the foundations of your house and to set of car alarms in your street. A dreamlike, cosmic epic that kicks ass when it needs to.
Man of Stated Age is available from the Hidden Since the Foundation of the World (greatest name ever) Bandcamp page.
BLACK METAL ARCHIVES VERDICT: Man of Stated Age is a hypnotic and massive slab of Psychedelic Doom. It takes the grand, exotic scope of classic rock titans and drags it screaming into the heavy underground, delivering a truly colossal and unforgettable sound. Highly Recommended.
