UMMON

The Artist

SLIFT are a French power trio from Toulouse, made up of brothers Jean and Rémi Fossat on bass and guitar alongside drummer Canek Flores. They emerged from the fertile European psych-rock underground in the late 2010s, quickly earning a reputation for punishing live shows that blend krautrock repetition, stoner heaviness, and cosmic space-rock ambition. Their sound is defined by galloping motorik rhythms, wah-drenched fuzz guitar, and long-form compositions that spiral outward into interstellar territory. Ummon, their second full-length, is the record that broke them internationally and remains the benchmark against which their subsequent work is measured. It cemented their place among the most exciting bands in modern psych, sitting alongside acts like King Gizzard and Kikagaku Moyo in the global heavy-psych conversation.

The Album

Released in early 2020 on Vicious Circle, Ummon is a sprawling double album that runs well over an hour and treats side-long jams as its natural form. The band tracked it largely live in the studio, chasing the raw kinetic energy of their concerts rather than layering endless overdubs, and the result feels captured rather than constructed. The production leans on space and reverb, giving the guitars room to swirl while keeping the rhythm section locked and hypnotic. Thematically, the record is a science-fiction odyssey, its song titles gesturing toward citadels, satellites, caverns, and cold interstellar voids, and the sequencing plays like chapters in a journey rather than a collection of singles. It arrived just as the world went into lockdown, which gave it an unexpected second life as escapist listening.

Listen For

The motorik engine. Listen to how Canek Flores locks into repetitive, propulsive drum patterns and rides them for minutes at a time. That relentless pulse is the foundation everything else is built on.

Guitar as spacecraft. Rémi's guitar work moves between fuzzed-out riffing and shimmering, effects-drenched drift, especially across the long stretches of "Thousand Helmets of Gold" and "Hyperion."

Dynamics and patience. Notice how tracks like "Citadel on a Satellite" build slowly, holding a groove before erupting. The album rewards listeners who let the long-form structures breathe.

Vocals as texture. When voices appear, they're often buried, chanted, or drenched in reverb rather than pushed forward. Pay attention to how "Ummon" and "Sonar" use them as another instrument in the swirl.

Cosmic storytelling. The song titles map a loose narrative arc, from the opening invocation of "Ummon" and "Its Coming..." through the void of "Dark Was Space, Cold Were the Stars" to the strange landing of "Lions, Tigers and Bears."