Formed in the mid-’90s in the sleepy town of Borlänge, Swedish foursome DOZER led the first wave of European-style stoner/desert rock, an impactful fusion of proto-metal, riff-rock and punk that blasted forth in response to the tectonic heft and sun-baked fuzz of American bands Kyuss and Fu Manchu. Now, more than a decade since their last outing, Dozer return with an impassioned, amp-splitting rumble of a record that will righteously invigorate a scene and style that’s more vital than ever, and which they themselves were instrumental in helping launch.
On their preternaturally confident earliest releases, which included albums In the Tail of the Comet (2000) and Madre De Dios (2001) on the legendary Man’s Ruin label and a split LP with John Garcia’s bright-burning though post-Kyuss outfit Unida, DOZER's fuzz-rock hypnosis was at cosmic levels, thanks to guitarist Tommi Holappa’s rolling riffs and fried psychedelics and singer/guitarist Fredrik Nordin’s blistering vocal power.
The third album Call it Conspiracy was a milestone in perfectly crafted high-energy anthems, as the lockdown grooves of rhythm section Johan Rockner (bass) and Erik Bäckwall (drums) along with heaping helpings of ‘70s hard rock heroics saw the band established as a live force, leveling audiences across the UK and Europe with their white-hot eruptions. Even as DOZER achieved greater recognition on European, US and Australian tours supporting the likes of Clutch, Spiritual Beggars and Mastodon, Holappa also started side project Greenleaf as an outlet for jammier, less-structured digressions.
An inflection point came with Dozer’s fourth album Through the Eyes of Heathens, which saw them drive the intensity into the red and push the tempos to match. Their fuzz-groove attack now infused with heightened aggression and crush, the shift was consecrated by the appearance of Mastodon’s Troy Saunders lending vocals to the song “Until Man Exists No More”. DOZER pushed ahead in this vein with 2008’s Beyond Colossal, which All Music called, “arguably their heaviest and darkest song cycle yet,” and which included a career watermark in the form of mini-epic “Empire’s End” with guest vocals from Neil Fallon of Clutch.
But, although the album was a triumph in channeling the various tributaries of the members’ decade-plus growth and influences, it would also be their last proper album for quite some time. Nordin returned to school for his Master’s degree, Holappa turned Greenleaf into a full-time band, and Dozer went on indefinite hiatus. If the band seemed to sleep while Greenleaf roamed, DOZER have now reactivated fully by signing a worldwide deal with US label Blues Funeral Recordings, for the anticipated release of their first studio album in fifteen years.