An uprising force on the stoner doom scene, Italy's DEMONIO is a power-trio in the grand tradition of classic Electric Wizard. Fittingly, their sound is just as scuzzy and desperate as that band's pioneering works in the '90s. But by virtue of geography, DEMONIO have more than a touch of the Giallo as set forth by domestic icons Goblin, Death SS, and Black Hole before them. DEMONIO may be strictly within the stoner doom idiom (or at least offer a more garage-rockin' iteration of such), but that doesn't mean they don't exude their own aura - and loudly/darkly. DEMONIO proved as much with their 2021 debut album, Electric Voodoo, and the Black Dawn EP a year later - both packaged together by HELTER SKELTER as Electric Voodoo of the Black Dawn in late 2022 - and they'll prove it even louder with Reaching for the Light. As presaged by its title, Reaching for the Light shines a blacklight on slightly brighter textures still imbued with an underlying darkness. It's not to say that DEMONIO are somehow now "happy"-sounding or whatever; rather, there's an overt abundance of blissful sine-waves coursing through their rowdy, rumbling sound. And, not to mention, the wah-wah pedal - TONS of it - as well as hip-shaking groove, altogether making Reaching for the Light a trippier excursion to sun-drenched shores and infinite psychedelic possibilities. Whoever said stoner doom had to be all negative all the time? Cool, calm, and collected, DEMONIO encourage you to start Reaching for the Light!
