A Cosmic Year by Matt C. White: Album Review

by admin September 2, 2025

September 2, 2025

A Cosmic Year by Matt C. White: Album Review

Brooklyn-based multi-instrumentalist Matt C. White is taking listeners on a fuzz-drenched cosmic odyssey with his forthcoming solo LP A Cosmic Year, out August 22 via White Locust Records. Known for his work with Certain Death and 95 Bulls, White steps fully into the spotlight to create a concept album that threads psych rock, doom, stoner grooves, and blues-soaked experimentation into a kaleidoscopic exploration of life, loss, and rebirth. Two years in the making, the record is entirely performed by White himself before being mastered by Matt Labozza, and it comes off as heavy as it is cinematic, like a psychedelic saga rooted in storytelling.

Opening with “The Descent,” the tone is set with gentle acoustic riffs that lull you in before giving way to brooding electric melodies. The drums crash through, cymbals flare, and distortion floods the mix, as if charting the beginning of a plunge into the unknown. The guitar slithers through the grind and pulls the listener deeper into White’s cosmic vision. Then comes “Fire Rider I: Collision,” a fiery highlight where raspy, echoing vocals soar above pounding drums and grooving riffs. It’s raw, catchy, and brimming with wild abandon. And it feels equal parts jam session and ritual. The guitar bends and winds with playful grit as it underscores the mythic presence of the Fire Rider character who anchors the album’s narrative arc.

By the time we reach “Fire Rider II: Rebirth,” the stakes are higher. The song rises with ethereal harmonies and grinding guitar textures, while White’s distant, strained vocals drip with tension and urgency. Each word feels like a cry from the void, his voice stretching to its emotional limits as slow, heavy drums drive the piece forward.

With A Cosmic Year, White shows us that this staple from Brooklyn’s underground is a storyteller of cosmic proportions. This is an odyssey that dares you to lose yourself in the fuzz and find something eternal on the other side.