Review written by Glenn Van Bockstaele.

“Anthropy” is the debut EP from the Belgian progressive stoner rock band Bufferstate. It’s an independent release sent to us by our friends from Hardlife Promotion. The release begins with “Facehugger,” an atmospheric stoner track with both soothingly clean and slightly rasher vocals, moody riffs, groovy beats and even a touch of psychedelic rock. The next song is “Bulk Being,” a longer and more varied track starting with a dreary, almost doom metal like melody before Bufferstate goes back to some heavy riffing as well as a couple of lengthy instrumental parts of pure stoner rock. Then comes “Archean,” my favorite tune on the album because of its musical variety. Frantic heavy metal beats and equally hectic vocals tag along with slow stoner rock, melodic chants and some dark ambient sound effects and it’s all topped off with a beautiful, long guitar solo. And then enters the EP’s final track, “Quiet Man.” Another powerful and highly atmospheric stoner rock tune featuring the heaviest melodies in the entire EP as it eventually closes its doors with a huge bang, leaving me begging for more!

Overall, Bufferstate’s first EP is a nice little stoner gem sharing many similarities to Opeth’s recent material. The calm yet also slightly threatening vocals from Peter combined with the band’s flexible sound of stoner, progressive and ambient rock creates a realm of dreams that can either be a relaxing trip or a hellish nightmare. Bufferstate shows a lot of potential in their subgenre and I can warmly recommend you to give their material a try. And try to get your hands on a physical copy of the album so you can enjoy the beautiful artwork. Every song has its own visual representation and every image leaves a lot of room for personal interpretation. Here’s Bufferstate playing “Facehugger,” the opening track of their EP live in Kuurne.

75/100