This new release from Small Stone is a tough one. By that I mean, it's not going to be easy to get into it but once you're past the 3-4 listen mark, you're on your way to buying a backup copy because you're going to play this to death. The first two tracks on Iota's debut album Tales, namely New Mantis and We are the Yithians are regular lengthed and even include traditional metal riffs, at times sounding influenced by High on Fire and even Neurosis. These two make for an in-your-face introduction to what the band can do as far as heavy goes. Songwriting is crisp and the choruses are catchy. Solos are interestingly done and it's during these bits at this stage that they exhibit their psych tendencies. It's like two guitarists jamming with each other, one guy louder than the other, while the drummer and the bassist are grooving. It's a unique take on guitar harmonies and this is just another thing that separates these guys from the rest of the bunch.

The Sleeping Heathen begins with their fastest and the heaviest riff so far, but the band decides to lay back and groove close to the one minute mark giving way to another tasty lead guitar break. Shouty vocals are reminiscent of what you hear on Dozer and by this time the band has taken the slow riff into a drawn out blues metal jam. This song would serve as a sonic transitional piece to the twenty three minute epic Dimensional Orbiter (and if you ask me, could be the perfect introductory song to this band and the album). It's got the lethal combination of heavy fucking metal and leads on to their insanely good trippy spacey jams.

I don't know if I said this before, but this band possesses some brilliant songwriting abilities, and it's mighty evident yet again once you're through to Dimensional Orbiter's beginning with the guitars sounding like alien spacecrafts flying around.  Not a single riff change on this album so far has sounded forced and everything that goes on has its purpose. The main riff and melody of this particular song sounds like High on Fire jamming with the Argentinean psych stalwarts  Los Natas. Joey Toscano's guitar work shines yet again and he had to have had some great ideas for a monumental jam of this kind. Sure, the groove is great but it's the ideas he brings in as a guitarist and a songwriter that makes this the cynosure of this album. After the chaotic ending, Opiate Blues is a sombre blues track that's even more closer to the kind of thing Los Natas and their ilk are doing. A totally great moment is during the jam after the verse when the guitarist lays some mean fuzzy licks and the blues harp does its thing till about the time when the song ends. Great album closer, and the transformation for Iota from its metal beginnings to its chilled out psych-jam ending is complete. One of this year's highlights and an essential listen. Oh, the cover art is fucking awesome too.

Label: Small Stone
Year of Release: 2008