"Crushingly heavy dope-rock jams, full of menacing riffage and crazed soloing": Fu Manchu journey to the centre of your mind on The Return Of Tomorrow

Veteran desert rockers Fu Manchu deliver heavy fuzz on 13th album

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Fu Manchu: The Return Of Tomorrow cover art
(Image: © At The Dojo)

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Fu Manchu’s previous album, 2018’s Clone Of The Universe, was a very cinematic trip, lurching violently from a fistful of two-minute stoner-punk ragers into a 20-minute couch-of-woe space oddity. It was a long way from the desert rock band’s salad days of skate-ready jams about vans and weird beards. 

New album The Return Of Tomorrow takes us further into the weeds (pun intended). The first half is all crushingly heavy dope-rock jams in a burly, Monster Magnet-meets-Clutch sorta way, full of menacing riffage and crazed soloing. 

Fu Manchu - Hands Of The Zodiac (Official Visualizer) - YouTube Fu Manchu - Hands Of The Zodiac (Official Visualizer) - YouTube
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It’s the heaviest shit Fu Manchu have ever done, and it’s fantastic. The second half is a slight return to their 90s heyday, with easier tempos and mellow(ish) vibes. 

Like Clone, The Return is meant to be unspooled in order, a journey to the centre of your mind care of stoner rock’s undisputed kings of the road. I recommend you follow their orders. I’ve been levitating for three days now.

Sleazegrinder
Sleazegrinder

Came from the sky like a 747. Classic Rock’s least-reputable byline-grabber since 2003. Several decades deep into the music industry. Got fired from an early incarnation of Anal C**t after one show. 30 years later, got fired from the New York Times after one week. Likes rock and hates everything else. Still believes in Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction, against all better judgment.