Jack Harlon & The Dead Crows – Inexorable Opposites

by Mark 'Yeti' Richard · March 16, 2026

Jack Harlon & The Dead Crows is a Melbourne, Australian based heavy psychedelic/ stoner doom band focusing on the exploits of a fictitious drug-addicted outlaw in the west, named Jack Harlon. The band consists of Tim Coutts-Smith on vocals and guitar, Jordan Richardson on guitar, Liam Barry on bass, and Brayden Becher on drums. Founded in 2015, the band has released four full length albums including: 2018’s Hymns, 2021’s The Magnetic Ridge, 2023’s Hail to the Underground, and their latest, 2026’s Inexorable Opposites. They also have a debut Self Titled EP that was released in 2016.Inexorable Opposites was released on February 6th 2026 on Magnetic Eye Records. It contains eight tracks at forty three minutes long.

Jack Harlon & The Dead Crows has a very interesting sound that ventures into different musical territories. The heavy psych and fuzzed-out stoner riffs are joined with blues, western, alternative, and doom, which gives the band an alluring cocktail of sonic variance. “Moss” opens the recording with clean guitars that shifts quickly into some heavy riff rock. The atmospheric guitar sounds color the song into a mind expanding journey. Tim Coutts-Smith’s vocals explore spoken to emotive textures akin to Dave Wyndorf of Monster Magnet, that work nicely with the diverse music. “Moss” is a heavy psychedelic stoner rock song that has some great drumming and excellent guitar leads and tones. The smooth delivery has an echoing transcendence and flow that makes this track sound very unique and powerful. There are a lot of cool things happening musically with this first track that doesn’t stop there.

“Venomous” strikes next and kicks right in with a heavy roar. The esoteric tones are greeted with some massive doom sludging and swirling ambience. The almost spoken vocals has a distinctive post-rock essence fueling its approach. The third track entitled “Mt. Macedon” is a heady soundscape of cosmic psychedelia. The hypnotizing flow of the song has smooth rhythms and vocals that almost leaves the listener in a trance. The introspective audio dynamics and esoteric song crafting prowess leaves me wondering what will happen next. While “Dave Is Done” stays more on the mellow side and extracts clean guitars and some heavy rhythms too. It sounds like a heart felt message with its words and vocals matching the energy and flow of the song. It has a softer touch musically but goes heavy on the lyrics, an ode to hard living and broken memories.

“Junior Fiction” branches into some progressive and heavy psych elements that sound unconventional and enjoyable. The music is a kaleidoscope of creativity and complexity wrapped around grunge and doom. “Seer” begins with the drums and hammers into the heavy rhythm, before cycling back to more subtle musical grounds. The echo-y vocals add a mystique to these songs and the offbeat groove that is present in “Seer” is met with a heavy bombardment of doom. The next track, “On The Overwhelm” is a smooth and sultry trip with a low crooning of desperation in the vocals. The bass and drums are commanding the rhythm allowing the guitars to strum and flourish into psychedelic enhancements. The songs on Inexorable Opposites are perfectly varied as the track listing is cohesive to the vibe of the record. The heavier tracks are countered nicely with softer passages throughout the album, sometimes within the same song.

The final cut on Inexorable Opposites is a soft and melodic number called “To Die”. The vocals are less enhanced with effects, lending a drier and more distinctive tone. The music is ambient and eerie, exploring atmospheric wavering’s of psychedelia. The drums are absent on this closing sonic eulogy. A transcendental and beautifully divine conclusion to a remarkable album. This being my introduction to Jack Harlon & The Dead Crows, I am completely taken aback on how deep and moving these songs present themselves to me. The songwriting is dense with creativity and emotion, delivering a compelling mix of heavy riffs and radiant melodies, all graced with interesting vocals and tones.