Ever imagined what it would sound like if Windhand jammed with Chelsea Wolfe? Vanishing Kids’ “Heavy Dreaming” might just be your answer. Founded by Nikki Drohomyreky and Jason Hartman (Jex Thoth) in 2000, the band from Wisconsin, USA, now contains four members and released four albums of which I have remained ignorant, but I am glad to finally catch up now.

Directly from the first tones of opening track “Creation”, Vanishing Kids make their intentions clear: this is psychedelic doom with dreamy female vocals, finished off by a delicate topping of shoegaze. The love for Deep Purple is never far away: it’s impossible to not think of “Child in Time” when listening to the title track and the bluesy guitar solos clearly take inspiration from Richie Blackmore, adding some exquisite flavor to most of the songs. Just listen to “Reaper” or “Rainbows” and enjoy.

While not every song is as great as the ones mentioned in the previous paragraph, “Heavy Dreaming” has become a wonderful album for the darkest days of the year, taking you away in its own dream world with a relatively original approach to a saturated genre. Check this out if you’re into psychedelic rock, doom metal or just really want to drift back into the ‘70s.

(8/10 Lykle Thijssen)

https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Musician-Band/Vanishing-Kids-328568887984

https://vanishingkids.bandcamp.com