More colorful and evolved songs like "Sedated" typify the dynamic but still quite heavy sound of Spiritual Beggars' third release, Ad Astra. The band had previously stuck to a contemporary stoner palette somewhere between the thundering Kyuss and chaotic Corrosion of Conformity, but everything from the Doors ("Per Aspera Ad Astra") to Deep Purple ("Wonderful World" and others) gets folded into the retro metal mix on this release. Christian "Spice" Sjöstrand's more aggressive vocal work clears up any confusion about the group's modernity, but relevance really isn't an issue with music this crushing (yet listenable).

For the uninitiated, the Spiritual Beggars are a three-piece psychedelic groove metal trio from Sweden. Their guitarist, Michael Amott, is best known for his role in doom metal units Carcass and Candlemass. With deep riffing and more precision than speed, he is as heavy as any two speed-demon metal guitarists put together. The Spiritual Beggars' primary influence is mid-period Black Sabbath (say, Vol. IV and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath), but they expand their horizons with each record. The band's sound on this third recording differs from its previous efforts in two ways.