Artist Spotlight - Matt C. White
feature written by Beau Croxton
Matt C. White by Kate Cassise
Matt C. White unleashes a hefty dose of psych-rock and doom riffage on his ripping solo LP, A Cosmic Year.
For our next Artist Spotlight - we bring you Matt C. White and focus on his new album– A Cosmic Year.
At a young age, multi-instrumentalist Matt C. White started to learn guitar and spread his roots in the music world with his obsession of swampy blues-licks. He eventually expanded into progressive and alternative rock, and moved to Brooklyn in 2011. Since then, he's been significantly involved in many projects. It’s pretty obvious the dude knows how to rock hard– these days, Matt supplies his guitar expertise to two of Brooklyn’s more notable rock-centric groups – 95 Bulls and Certain Death.
Matt’s album A Cosmic Year just dropped in late August, and it is filled with the heavy riffs, fuzz and excitement he is known for in 95 Bulls/Certain Death. Impressively, White took on all instrumentation by himself for A Cosmic Year. The record leans into heavy psych-rock , doom, classic rock and stoner grooves with a touch of his southern roots.
“Fire Rider” is a ripper that details the fantasy themes on the record, and it has an excellent beat-switch half way through, that indulges in strange rhythms and some fantastic, fuzzy, harmonized guitar leads. “Vicious Cycle” proves White can slow down and spread out his music— and still build just as explosive crescendos as his more uptempo material. “Blood Divine” is an onslaught of 70s wah-wah shredding, Santana-type grooves and distorted bluesy vocals. It all runs head first into Sabbath-y riffs joined by some Alice In Chains-like vocal growls, which all flip the song on its head completely. Wonky tremolo keyboards occasionally pop up and further color the record– it's a great touch.
A Cosmic Year artwork by Matt C. White— out now (and linked below)
White is very calculated with very deep-toned guitar solos and harmonic guitar leads– his attention to detail and tone (as a well-seasoned guitarist) really elevates the album. The arrangements are also super fun– just when you think you’ve got the tune figured out, White throws in a less common time signature just for the thrill of it– it throws you for an exciting loop. “I Gotta Get Out” kicks off with a shrill and ripping octave-up guitar solo that recalls work from Queens of The Stone Age or Jack White– it’s a pure face-melting moment that kicks off one of the album's biggest highlights.
Like most heavy, riff-centric records– White’s new record is a great one to play loud. If you're a fan of heavier rock and satisfying guitar riffs in general– look no further, this record has a whole lot of that. A Cosmic Year could be a hit for fans of Ty Segall, Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, Sabbath, or Nirvana — and those who are hungry for the heavier side of psych-rock should find plenty to dig with A Cosmic Year.
Dig into the full album below.
