REVIEW: Grit, fuzz and riffs - This Summit Fever's Distraction Rituals


This Summit Fever, the high-octane and self-described 'heavy fuzz rock' duo from just outside of the birthplace of metal, will release their next EP, Distraction Rituals, on Friday. Distraction Rituals is a powerful refinement of the band’s heavy, riff-driven, stoner-rock-infused grunge of their 2021 debut EP, Doubt.

“We wrote and recorded Doubt between Covid lockdowns with the intention of eventually being a trio or quartet,” says Andy Blackburn, the band's guitarist/vocalist. “But when we struggled to find the correct personnel, we committed to being a two-man setup and tried to capture our live sound on Distraction Rituals. Since we’re focused on what we can do live, the guitars on this new EP are even louder, the riffs are even more interesting, and the drums are even more exciting.”


“There are a lot of bands out there that are happy to sound like Kyuss or Black Sabbath, which isn’t a bad thing at all,” says Blackburn. “However, we’re very conscious of not doing that. We’re taking a lot of different influences and trying to do something else. We’ve mixed in influences from bands like Soundgarden and Nirvana, and we’ve also pulled inspiration from genres like dreamcore.”

Indeed, there are certainly hints of Kyuss or Sabbath over the EP. The Widow, which rounds off the EP, starts and finishes with a hazy, hypnotic rhythmic mantra that could have come straight out of a lost Homme jam, and the vibe brought about by Sometimes A Tidal Wave is classic stoner rock heaven.

It would be incredibly reductive to say that This Summit Fever are just a stoner band following in the footsteps of Kyuss and Sabbath, though. Messiah, the first song from the EP, has a really fun sense of garage rock to it, illuminated nicely with a cool off-time breakdown that has shades of Soundgarden. It's a neat encapsulation of what the EP is really about, with large helpings of vintage fuzz from Andy's huge guitar tone. Distraction Rituals really is a loud, scuzzy rock release at heart.

This Summit Fever - Messiah (music video)

There's still time for some dirty moments, though. Andy's vocal delivery carries a lot of melody, but he performs with a sharp grit that definitely gives the EP a bit of added heaviness, and the opening riff to It Contorts is just pure filth. Between its laid-back jams, there are some wonderfully nasty wah moments over Sometimes A Tidal Wave, too. This Summit Fever certainly don't neglect the heaviness, particularly with some pounding drum patterns from James McSorley, and it makes their sound so much more varied than if they'd purely gone down the route of moulding a vintage garage rock sound.

I've touched on the guitar effects, but feel like I haven't done them justice yet. You would barely notice that This Summit Fever are a two-piece on a casual listen. The bass instrument doesn't feel missed when Andy launches into the sprawling lead guitars in the middle of It Contorts, for example. He creates his uniquely warm fuzz by splitting the guitar signal for both bass and guitar tones, plugging into an octave pedal, a bass fuzz, and a bass amp for the low end. The guitar amp then only captures the mids and highs. You only have to see them live to see the vast array of equipment that goes into his meticulous tone. This EP has been recorded faithfully to the live Summit sound, and still very much sounds powerful in your ears.

This Summit Fever - The Beyond (live in Birmingham, Mar 2023)

Conceptually, the EP focusses somewhat on society's tendency to ignore problems and gravitate towards immediate pleasures. Messiah looks at public distraction on mundane issues while politicians make and push through dubious laws, though The Widow explores the occasional value in distraction, especially following the death of a loved one.

With interesting song structures, plenty of light and shade, and a wonderfully rich and vintage sound, This Summit Fever's new EP is certainly a strong effort that warrants multiple listens. The riffs and energy throughout are fantastic - they're playing up and down the UK quite regularly at the moment. Give this EP a listen and keep tabs on when they're next in your city.

Follow This Summit Fever: FB | IG | BC

MN

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