Order of the Underground

  Ascending the ranks of the underground scene and finally taking Europe by storm at Netherlands’ 2019 Sonic Whip, Chicago’s heavy psych and doom metal masterminds Rezn unleash a whole new dimension to their sound in a consciousness-expanding odyssey to another realm. Conjuring the heaviness of a cthulu-cult’s madness, and the hypnotic spacyness of a middle-eastern snake-charming trance, Rezn beckons the listener deeper through the unexplored contents of their mind. Lysergic guitar layers channeling Hendrix and space rock pioneers Hawkwind soon give way to crushing riffs of fuzzy, voracious doom.  After a killer set at Club Ghirabaldi in 2019, I had the chance to ask guitarist/vocalist Rob McWilliams what the theme for their next album was going to be. I was given two words: “the desert.” Chaotic Divine delivers, channeling desert-ritual vibes used by shamanic bands like Om to allow the listener to reach an altered state through mantra-like rhythms, most notably on “Gard