Black Helium & Codex Serafini

Black Helium are a three-piece psychedelic rock band based in London. Never afraid to stray from the beaten path, Stuart Gray, Beck Harvey and Diogo Gomes fearlessly traverse aural hallucinatory soundscapes; from detuned Neanderthal rock to deep oceans of introspective blissed out psych.

On their first two albums, Primitive Fuck (2018) and The Wholly Other (2020), Black Helium displays a fine knowledge of how to blend krautrock, psychedelic, stoner, rock, and drone in a convincing way. Songs like “Two Masters” and “Death Station of the Goddess” from Wholly Other are perfect examples of the depth that Black Helium has to offer, as are “Drowsy Shores” and “Love the Drugs You Make Me Feel Like I’m On” from the Primitive Fuck album.

For their third studio recording, Black Helium pulled out all the stops, attacking their songwriting with the prowess of a band determined to put out their best music to date. With 5 songs and a 45-minute runtime, Um will take you to a higher plane, the music wrapping itself around you to pull you into the journey that Black Helium has embarked upon.

Codex Serafini are a five- piece band originated in Sussex, England. Does the name come from the Codex Serafinian, the illustrated encyclopaedia of an imaginary world? It seems probable but we can’t say for sure. Either way, this unique group, a Saturnian Ritualistic band, deserves a unique description.

Codex Serafini has one particularly distinctive trait: they’re a band without an ego. They perform completely incognito. You’ve got to respect them for that! The question is this: does stripping away the ego from the music enhance creativity or merely give the members an excuse to avoid individual criticism?

Their latest work God’s Spit is a live album consisting of nine tracks, the first being “Liber”, which is a short (2 min 25 sec), straight-ahead rock-style number with strong vocals that play off the drums. The saxophone inflects a decidedly Eastern influence while the guitar work adds an enjoyable rock element.