Fluid Underground – Crni Kilovati (Geenger Records)

Stoner and sludge became popular in recent years. To be more precise, they’re becoming even more popular each day, and tons of groups are playing these genres nowadays. Still, most of them are mimicking old-school sound or going deep into experimentations that often sound unbearable. It could seem like a difficult task for inexperienced listeners to maintain interest in these styles when the groups are going into extremes like this. Luckily, there is a lot of bands who’re doing things just right, and Fluid Underground is unquestionably one of them. The group knew its musical direction from the beginning, remained loyal to the roots, but gradually enhanced the sound with complementary additions. Their latest piece of artistry proves my point.

Crni Kilovati is their latest full-length material, released by Geenger Records about a week ago. Both record label and the group heavily promoted singles, such as Ja vidim sve, Potopiće se obale, Nemam vremena, and Histamin, so the loyal followers had the slightest idea about the band’s activities. These singles represent half of the full-length material, while the other half remained top secret until the release date. I have to admit that the other half is equally good as the promoted singles. I said the group remained loyal to the roots, but it would be foolish of me not to mention some experimentations with alternative, indie, grunge, and desert rock. Perhaps the group continuously levitates between stoner and smaller portions of sludge, but all other ingredients are coming between and remain there from scratch to finish.

I have to admit Fluid Underground has done an impressive job with blending all these styles but still preserving their recognizable sound. These guys are fully aware of their influences, interests and this type of music represents more than passion to them. The love for stoner sound is hearable as soon as you press play and listen to the first beats of Histamin and all the way through to the closing composition named Crno Srce. The energy, dynamics, heavy riffs, melodies, harmonies, chord progressions, low-end tones are there, fully packed in eight immensely catchy songs that offer more than you could even demand from a stoner rock band. All the rage, emotions, passion are also present in impressive vocal performance, which comes as another layer of harmonies and melodies over the already mind-blowing orchestrations. This band and their newest full-length deserve your utmost attention, so consider checking them out. You surely won’t be disappointed. Head over to the Fluid Underground Bandcamp page or Geenger Records to purchase/listen to this stoner rock masterpiece.