On their 2019 LP, Oreyeon delivered a set of songs driven by absolutely crushing riffs. Blending the stoner/fuzz of classic Kyuss into a doomier musical landscape, the record’s best songs were unrelentingly heavy, and yet a world of vocal filters and other tricks sometimes gave their sound a deep psych edge which kept things interesting. Over the next few years, Oreyeon would become an important fixture within the Italian doom and sludge scenes. By the time they recorded ‘Equations For The Useless’ in 2022, a much bigger recording budget gave them a slightly clearer sound, but without making their material especially more accessible. If anything, it cemented the band’s reputation as one of Europe’s finest underground metal bands.

Their current single, ‘Echoes of Old Nightmares’, sounds slightly different again. The opening riffs work effects pedals into oblivion, setting up something that tips the hat to Fu Manchu’s Bob Balch. The arrival of a heavier riff leans a little further towards extreme stoner fare than Oreyeon’s older, doom laden riffs, but still maintains a pleasingly sludgy edge that makes the finer points of the rhythm section’s work feel half buried. As with some of their stronger past works, the vocal shows off a slight echo, but there’s nothing else here that seems remotely interested in venturing into deep psych. The instrumental moments accentuate the recording’s intense sludgy edge, and this sounds brilliant once the band set a genuine groove in place towards the end, but there’s also a touch more melody present here too, thanks to a fuzzy, blues drenched lead guitar break, shifting the influence back to the early 70s.

Interestingly, this track aims to be all things to all stoner/doom metal fans, and unusually, it succeeds. The riff has a groove; the vocal adds an otherworldly edge; the bass brings some intensive sludginess that adds an edge to the heaviness, but above all, there’s a brilliantly dark melody running through the centre of these four minutes, showing how this band are genuinely capable of delivering a great sound. As a preview for a forthcoming album, fans couldn’t ask for anything better.

Take a listen below.