Bentrees – Silver Veins

by Mark 'Yeti' Richard · November 13, 2025

Bentrees is a stoner rock duo from Iglesias, Italy. The band members consist of Riccardo Podda on guitar and vocals, and Mauro Cocco on drums. Formed in 2012, the band has been functioning as a two-piece since 2014. They have released three albums to date, including 2017’s Psychollage, 2021’s Two Of Swords, and their latest, 2025’s Silver Veins. The sound can be described as a mix of fuzzy power blues with stoner rock influences. Silver Veins was released on Argonauta Records on October 17th 2025 and contains six tracks at forty two minutes long.

Sometimes when I discover bands, I will dive right into a recording without knowing anything about them. This was the case with Bentrees and Silver Veins. “The Sky Never Dies” kicks in with a stoner rock groove that sinks right in. The flow and heaviness of the tune is catchy and inviting. I was initially drawn into their sound with the well balanced fuzz-induced guitar playing and pounding percussion. The song seamlessly drifts off into a psychedelic jam section that incorporates bluesy leads and hypnotic rhythms. I was expecting a full band producing these heavy and infectious tones but to my surprise, Bentrees are a two-piece! I was completely taking a back with what I was hearing because the sound they create is fully dense and sonically illuminating. Each track has a distinct and subtle build up that sets up a striking riff to annihilate. “The Sea” has a clean guitar texture of hypnotic rhythms and clean singing. The tune cranks in the distortion and really escalates into a very classic sounding desert rock song. I can hear elements of Rotor in the jamming sections along with a deep Kyuss blood-line. I really enjoy the way Bentrees can harvest a song into a colossal head trip with only two musicians. It still blows my mind.

The third track “Away” begins mellow and then plows into a heavy bombing of devastating riffing. The leads accentuate the song, injecting blues and heavy psych. The drumming is equally incredible and tribal sounding at times. Mauro Cocco really provides the foundation for which the guitars of Riccardo Podda can experiment with anything. His hammering beats and intricate fills are tightly packed and precise. The drum start to “Alienated” locks in with a simple groove that erupts into a mammoth of fuzzy tones. Bentrees are a band that can really take the listener on a cosmic expedition with their brilliant musical style and dynamics.

“Beyond The Mind” expands on the psychedelic freak-outs, capitalizing on strumming clean guitars, jazz-esc drumming, matched with powerful vocals. The song has a wavering ensemble of stoner rock spewing from the amplifiers that really settles in nicely with me. Bentrees are a band that requires full immersion into each song. There’s a lot going on within, that it’s impossible to absorb everything with limited listens. The final score is the title track, “Silver Veins”. It has a very cool spawning of sounds that completely articulate thrilling soundscapes throughout. The Colour Haze gliding of riffs are so natural that Bentrees are on another level. The question still stands, how do two musicians create such a huge and intriguing sound? I suppose, you can easily layer and overdub tracks in the studio but these songs don’t have a processed sound to them at all. In fact, the duo are so in tune with each other’s playing style that they know when to back off and create space, for one another. They are so connected to what the song needs and requires sonically, to make it the most interesting and satisfying. Silver Veins is an absolute masterful release that should appeal to anyone into heavy, riff-driven desert rock with psychedelic elements.