Riffs the weight of reinforced concrete and a lyrical nod to Roky Erickson in the first few seconds of 'The Unexplored Map' leave you in no doubt that Wand are back with a vengeance on their second album. It's not all heads down, pile-driving though as the sweetly clean vocal elements in recent single 'Self Hypnosis In 3 Days' and the pure psychedelia of 'Melted Rope' show off the group's wider abilities.

Their good line in found sounds remains as well with plenty of rustlings, gurglings and scrapings between and around the songs. Ultimately though it is those riffs that occupy the foreground of your attention here. Time and again the quartet pound away to great effect over the course of the bulk of the album's nine tracks.

Space rock is therefore I suppose the tag you can most readily apply to what the lads have produced here (from start to finish a job of only 12 days) although there's very evidently a strong punk element bouncing around just beneath the surface, something less obviously in the mix on debut album Ganglion Reef. 

Given how accomplished that aforementioned debut was the strength of the songs on Golem comes as no surprise. Having now seen how young the band appear the possibility of them adding many more releases of this quality to their tally is a distinctly pleasing one as they look like they've amassed barely 60 years on the planet between them to date. Talent of this level deserves all the outlets that can be afforded it.

Golem is available from amazon & iTunes.

It's taken the Welsh sextet four years to follow up their self-titled debut album so has the wait been worth it?

Given the quality of many releases in the same vein that have come out in just the last few months, let alone elsewhere in that four year period, on first starting Like A Pyramid Of Fire off you'd have to say no. Opener 'Heavy Echo' is not in the least heavy & lacks any significant echo. In fact it's unfortunately pretty straight. By the time third track 'All You Need' started I had to dig out WNS just to see if I'd a false memory of them being an exciting and vital new arrival back when that came out.

Sure enough the JAMC-like power & sneer of that album's 'Sunset' immediately grabs ahold & refuses to let go. Overall that album has a lot of balls, even on the slower, trippier tracks. Maybe then it's just the production that's letting things down this time around ...

As 'All You Need' progresses hints of the earlier work are noticeable as the sound swirls around from the middle onwards but it's just nowhere near as convincing as that raw debut. Rather than seeing themselves as a garage psych group as they previously seem to have, the intention on Like A Pyramid Of Fire appears to have been to become the offspring of The Orb and Talk Talk. That's a bad marriage of convenience and the child is stillborn.

Whilst 'Red Light' allows the troops to rally and attempt a counter attack for all the overdrive and extended guitar work it's still a bit of a plodder, a fact better production would still probably be unable to hide. Rather than a pyramid of fire what the band need is a pillar of smoke in which to wander off into the desert and seriously consider their next move.

Like A Pyramid Of Fire is available from amazon & iTunes.