Sonorous by The Howling Eye stoner metal album

I listened to Sonorous when it came out, and with so many great albums on Bandcamp, it stayed on my wishlist for a while and I said to myself, "Yea I need to get back to this one." So I was glad today when my fuzzy phone buzzed as I was relaxing out on the dock throwing scraps to the gators.  It was a message from The Howling Eye to give their latest album the Cracklins treatment. Read on for the Fuzzy Cracklin's music review and listen to the stoner doom album Sonorous by The Howling Eye .....


Sonorous starts off groovy and funky. This is going to be a fun album! This is downright on the verge of jazz, and then the fuzz kicks in.

I asked the guys about their writing process, and for most of the tracks they spend time jamming and improvising. It is that energy that comes through in their music.

The vocals kick in on the second track, Stranded. They are fuzzed out like the guitar, and together they make a great match.

In the middle of the album is Reflections, and it is indeed reflective (and moody), and much quieter and slower than the previous tracks. This is the sort of song that gives a completeness to an album. An album is a story, right? Like the soundtrack to a movie that hasn't been filmed yet. So you need a plot with some action, some introspective, and then you can move along to the end. Don't worry, it doesn't stay quiet too long; about half the way through it gets very heavy and riffy. Maybe this is my favorite track on the album. And it's twelve minutes, too. Nice!

The Potion and Weedblazer wrap up the album. The Potion gives us some more of the jazzy riffing we heard in the first track, and Weedblazer is almost an EP by itself -- sixteen minutes of instrumental fuzz and noise that has some softer interludes. What a great way to end the album. It is a toss-up between Weedblazer and Reflections as to which is my favorite track.

The Howling Eye from Poland (left to right): Miłosz Wojciechowski (bass), ‘Cebula’ Lewandowski (drums, vocals), and Jan Chojnowski (guitar)

I really like the album cover artwork. It's by Weronika Krajewska and Kuba Wojciechowski based on a NASA / JPL photo.

Sonorous clocks in at close to hour. What a way to spend the time, too. Head over to Bandcamp and follow them to stay tuned. They are working on a live album and are making plans to tour next year. Sounds good!


Check out The Howling Eye live and stay to the end for a Lynyrd Skynyrd cover, too.