Fogdriver – Dancing Fire
Album | 18/01/2025 | Dhyana Records
56:58 | 8 tracks | Vinyl/CD/Digital
Psychedelic Post Rock / Stoner Rock
Giengen / Heidenheim, Germany
Through the Fog we drive, like the Fire we dance
The story of Fogdriver began when Jogi (bass, synths, samples) and David (guitar) joined their musical forces in 2014. Both of them had made their experience with several sorts of music, Punk Rock, Experimental, Crossoverm you-name-it. But when they laid the foundation for Fogdriver, it seems as if they have found their own golden ratio. Three years later, visual artist Tanja joined the band, and in 2019, drummer Otis completed the line-up. Since then, the selftitled debut album and a 7“ split records have been published as self-releases in 2021. In 2023, the live recording Live on Earth came out on tape and marked the beginning of the collaboration with Dhyana Records.
Multisensory Nonverbal Narration
Fogdriver’s sophomore longplayer Dancing Fire is a collection of songs that have been worked on, polished, compiled, and rearranged over several years. Yet, the album has been recorded during live sessions, and Fogdriver abstain from any overdubs. Thus, they present eight wordless tales to their audience, each of between four-and-a-half minutes and nine minutes long, each of them stunning and deeply psychedelic. The sonic flames of the Dancing Fire reach from Post Rock over Psychedelic Rock to Stoner Rock and back. Cinematic sessions accelerate into heavy loops, and scratchy riffs shoot for the stars and the void beyond. The soundscapes alone caress several synapses, now imagine Tanja’s visual effects emphasizing these impressions even further.
A Graceful Odyssey
On eight instrumental tracks, Fogdriver take the listeners on fascinating and gorgeous trips. And yet, a little criticism is necessary here. Firstly, as it was hinted above, Dancing Fire is rather a compilation than an album, meaning the longplayer does indeed show a certain arc of suspense but lacks coherence. Therefore, although each of the eight tracks work greatly as isolated sonic tales, a golden thread through the album is hardly visible. And secondly, the very own Fogdriver sound has yet to be found. For instance, Abyss and Dancing Fire resemble the sound of the first three My Sleeping Karma albums very much, while Liquid Wood and The Shard are deeply coined by Post Rock in the veins of Glasgow Coma Scale, and Meet the Landfill or Blizzard an influence by John Garcia’s and Brant Bjork’s Desert Rock can be traced.
Does that decrease the joy that Fogdriver spread on Dancing Fire? Hardly at all! This is therefore a beautiful release by a band with load of potential and the quest for their signature sound. Stunning!
7/10 Mangoes
Promo materials by courtesy of Noisolution
Love Music – Support Sea Rescue
Donate to Sea Punks and Help to Save Lives
We will dance again
Mia Schem
