UMUR
"Bow Before the Altar of the Drugs" is the first demeo recording by Danish death/doom/stoner metal act Reefer. The demo was released through Smokedd Productions in February 2013. Reefer was formed in 2010 by drummer Inhalator (real name Eik B. Sørensen) and lead vocalist/guitarist Grim Reefer (real name David Buch Mikkelsen). The latter is quite prolific on the Danish death metal scene and is also known for his work with death metal acts Undergang and Phrenelith (among other projects). Bassist Weed Wizard joined in 2013, completing the trio lineup who recorded "Bow Before the Altar of the Drugs".
As expected from reading the title of demo this is some fuzzed out, crushingly heavy stoner doom metal but with brutal unintelligible growling vocals. It´s like listening to the bastard child of Electric Wizard and Mikkelsen´s Undergang. The latter influence is however only heard in the sleazy, gritty, and morbid sounding atmosphere and the vocals, as the instrumental part of the music is repetitive and slow stoner doom metal, of course with lyrics centered around Marijuana. It´s only a few times during the playing time that Reefer play some noisy fast parts, but they only last for a few seconds when they occur.
Featuring three tracks and a total playing time of 25:40 "Bow Before the Altar of the Drugs" is a relatively long demo and all tracks are 7-9 minutes long, giving the band plenty of time to play their ultra heavy riffs and rhythms over and over again. The sound production is of a good quality considering that this is a demo recording, and upon conclusion "Bow Before the Altar of the Drugs" is a decent quality release. There´s nothing here you haven´t heard before and Reefer won´t win any prices for innovation or for being the most intriguing stoner doom metal act on the scene, but they aren´t the worst either. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.