Band: Asylum On The Hill
Album title: Passage To The Puzzle Factory
Label: Suburban
Distributor: Suburban - Bertus
Release date: 08/10/2010
Release: CD

Kentucky based band Asylum on the hills unites Dave Angstrom, Jason Groves, JD Garner, and Phil Kring under one banner. They all rose from the ashes of previous rock n’ roll projects and began defining their sonic mayhem of stoner rock in early 2009.
On this 64-minute 18-track album that lasts around an hour (but unfortunately 15 are actual songs) a lot is going on. In the end they deliver a versatile and enjoyable album where they didn’t fall into the typical stoner genre and made 15-minute long songs built around a single riff, but managed to keep each song short and to the point. Some songs even sound happy and are a welcome treat after listening the more down and groovier tunes. But I guess this is mostly due to the fact that the guys had a blast, the fun of making the record comes blasting right through the speakers and shows of in the end product.
Best described as not the best of the best, but a welcome change to other bands in the genre like Tool or Mastodon. More happy rock elements to keep things interesting.

93/100

Jeroen.