Psychedelium

Psychedelium is the debut album from American sludge doom metal band Euphoria Down, released on June 15th 1995 through Acidic Records. The album was a suprise sucess in the underground community, and the band were praised for their original hybrid of old school doom with sludge rock. The album was re-released in 2006 with bonus content, including a different album cover displaying the band's logo.

Recording and background
Producer Robb Atkins first heard Euphoria Down in its original line-up (Peter Eriksen, John Monten, Levi Donetelle, and Jeff Contela) at a local venue in early 1994, and became interested in the band. He offered them six thousand dollars to record an album through Acidic Records. The band accepted, and relocated nearby to Atkin's studio to record. Throughout late 1994 to early 1995 the band and Atkins worked tirelessly to produce a decent album, until recording came to an end in January 1995. As of 2009, the album has sold 250,000 copies in Europe alone, and 80,000 in North America.

Release
"Psychedelium" was released on June 15th 1995 through Acidic Records, a minor New York label specialised in alternative music. The album was a suprise sucess among the underground scene, and garnered the band a small fanbase. After agreeing to tour in Scandanavia for three months, the band gathered a massive following in Norway and Sweden, contributing to their slowly growing fanbase.

Reception and legacy
"Psychedelium" was a suprise sucess, and well recieved in the underground metal scene. Critics did however criticise the opening song, "Addicted in the Attic", calling it "stupid and unneccesary". The rest of the album was praised for going up and up, and growing better as it went. The album has gone to become a sludge classic, only 15 years after its release.

Lyrical themes
The first song on the album, "Addicted In The Attic", is about the obvious, drugs. But according to critics, the album starts out dully with this song, which was cut from the band's later setlists, and rises uphill with more serious songs. "Enterprise" and "Castellan" are among the most sucessful and well known of the songs off the album. "Enterprise" is about a failing empire, and "Castellan" is about a demon knight who pillages towns until he is defeated by a crusader. "Born of Honour, Destroyed By Greed" is a continuation of "Castellan", telling how the crusader from "Castellan" becomes corrupt and no better than the thing he had slain. "Ethereal Nightmares" and "Haunted Thee" are about the paranormal, and a man's struggle against fear and terror against a horde of spectres.