Metal Underground.com

The great thing about Three Eyes Left's "Non Method As Method, No Limits As Limit" EP is its ability to sustain a buzzed out, psychedelic stoner metal vibe well enough through its more than half hour length. On the flipside, other than a couple of the "mellow-out" style and time shifts that the genre is known for, it gets a little hard to tell one song from the next toward the end of the disc.

Things get off to an excellent start with "La Fee Verthe (The Green Fairy)," a doomy stomper that gives singer/guitarist Maic a chance to cut loose with vocals that are reminiscent of the early, unhinged Ozzy Osbourne style. A more melodic mid-section gives Maic a chance to get funky with some wah-wah guitar, complemented well by the Geezer Butler style playing of the band's bassist, Andrea. Production-wise, the disc is OK, with a vintage 1970s sound that gives the bass plenty of room.

"Jet Kunee Do" starts promisingly, with a karate-chop yowl and some more aggressive vocals, before descending into fuzz bass-laden noodling and a quiet outro that almost feels like the band was nodding off (which, I guess, is appropriate to the genre). "Hand Of Stone" feels a little disjointed, but keeps up the vibe well.

It's "Hymn Of The Riffian" where things really drag to a halt, with an almost sleepy feeling. Even when the song speeds up, it's ever-so-slightly, though the solo does add a little life. The nearly 15 minute long "Luciferian As The Sun" starts promisingly, with the band's drummer, Ste, adding a bit of extra movement, but by the two-minute mark, we're back to sleepy time, speed-wise. When the sound fades out for about four minutes, it almost feels like a chance to let the listener pass out for a bit — until things fade back in a mid-tempo rock bit that gives the band a chance to show off a little more sleepy psychedelia.

Stoner metal fans will no doubt be buzzing over Three Eyes Left's "Non Method As Method, No Limits As Limit," but casual listeners, or those looking for something more high energy, are likely to find themselves nodding off around the halfway mark. Why is it that I think that might be what the band intended?