Album Review: High Leaf – Vision Quest (Riffslayer Records)

Philadelphia, PA band, High Leaf play a mix of stoner rock, grunge, and hard rock. They will release their debut album ‘Vision Quest’ on May 5th, 2023, on Riffslayer Records.

With a big hit of the bong, High Leaf introduce listeners to their brand of grungy stoner rock with Green Rider. Showcasing a monotonous tempo, groovy riffs, and trippy vocals to make you feel like you’re a little bit high.

Apt really, considering their name, and happily, the remainder of the album will give you plenty of reasons to light up, lean back, and let the mind drift with the groovy heaviness of High Leaf’s rocking sound.

The longest track on the album, by some distance, Vision Quest ups the ante when it comes to laborious melody, empathic riffs, and heavy stoner groove that twists and turns. At nearly nine-minutes long, it does an exceptional job of grabbing and holding the attention.

Two tracks in, two enjoyable hits, High Leaf have set a ‘high’ bar. So, it’s a smart move for them to go with a more succinct effort in Subversive. The grungier side of the band really coming to fruition here. Followed then by Dead Eye, a track that has some of the weightiest riffs of the entire record, and Hard to Find, which is a track that is much more energetic. As the band themselves say:

Wake the fuck up.

It’s a return to the more methodical grunge-infused stoner groove with Painted Desert and March to the Grave. Before The Rot gurns and grins in delightful fashion with off-kilter melody, funky rhythms, and the consistent dreamy rock heaviness that High Leaf has showcased across the entirety of the album.

There’s nothing bad about this trip.

High Leaf – Vision Quest Track Listing:

1. Green Rider
2. Vision Quest
3. Subversive
4. Dead Eye
5. Hard to Find
6. Painted Desert
7. March to the Grave
8. The Rot

Links

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