Hashtronaut – No Return

by Mark 'Yeti' Richard · December 25, 2024

Hashtronaut are a three piece stoner metal doom band from Denver, Colorado. The lineup is Daniel Smith on bass and vocals, Kellen McInerney on guitars, and Eric Garcia on drums. They released an EP, Tidal Waves Of Ashen Sky in 2022, and other various singles. No Return is Hashtronaut’s debut full length which came out on March 22nd 2024. The album contains nine tracks and was released on Blues Funeral Recordings.

“Rip Wizard” starts the album with some drug samples and then drives into a heavy swampy riff of doom metal. The hard hitting Sabbath-esc rhythms are augmented with Smith’s clean yet raspy vocals enhanced with some effects. It’s a nice head nodding track that sets the tone for the rest of the recording. “Cough It Up” begins with left and right panning guitars that reverberate into a devastating tidal wave of doom. The guitars are fuzzy and the leads are scorching. The song splices more drug referenced samples into it and the vocals begin more aggressive sounding. It’s another hard barreling track of doomy decadence. The third track “Carcinogen” begins with fuzzy and distorted bass that propels into a brutal prodding riff. Smith’s vocals are more clean and psychedelic sounding on this one. The eight minute song delivers a molasses rhythm throughout with some eerie guitar leads mixed in later on. Hashtronaut incorporates some backing vocals towards the end of the song also which is a nice touch. “Dead Cloud” is next and starts with clean guitar. The music then bulldozes into a heavy rhythm enhanced with the heavy bass and drum dynamics. The guitars have a nice warm and sludgy sound to them too which is very satisfying to hear. “Hex” kicks in next with a heavy psychedelic flair and rocking groove to it. It’s has a mid tempo pace throughout it and is one of the shortest tracks on the album, just under two minutes in length.

“Lung Ruiner” is another aggressive slow burning track that features some low guttural death metal sounding vocals along with the clean vocals. It adds another dimension to the Hashtronaut sound and keeps the songs sounding fresh and engaging. The next song “Dweller” starts with bass and drums. The guitars and vocals enter right after and the song has a thick and brutal sound to it. Smith utilizes the clean vocals mostly but delivers some shouty moments on certain parts also. The last two tracks are both instrumental. “Marsquake” has a more swampy and sludge style riffing broken up with softer psychedelic elements. The last song “Blast Off” is just a thirty second thrasher that closes out No Return with a rocket fueled explosion.

Overall, Hashtronaut has created a fine debut album with No Return. They add in a good variety of sounds that blend in well with their style of hemp enhanced doom. The psychedelic components, variety of vocals, and mix of tempos and song lengths are all great examples for keeping No Return an interesting and enjoyable listen.