Gandalf the Green - A Billion Faces

When A Billion Faces erupted on 28 March 2019, Gandalf the Green proved they were no longer just young hopefuls — this sprawling thirteen-minute odyssey was a declaration: fuzz, psychedelia, doom and ambition all rolled up tight into one massive slab of sound. The trio from Huddersfield came in tuned down to Drop F, armed with new effects, and hungry to build something that didn’t just crush — it enveloped, transported, and held space.

The track begins gently, unfolding into slow, murmuring ambience before everything kicks in: crushing riffs, thick distortions, dual vocals, and rhythms that feel like they're dragging you into some darker corner of your consciousness. There are moments of wah-laden soloing, feedback and noise stretches, psychedelic washes and shifting dynamics — all of it designed to make the journey from serenity to oblivion feel both natural and overwhelming.

Lyrically, A Billion Faces digs into parallel selves, alternate paths, what might have been had different choices been made. It’s introspective, cosmic, wondering where “you” would be in an infinite tree of possibilities. It’s the kind of concept that matches the sonic weight: massive ideas carried by massive riffs.

Recorded in Phipps Hall at the University of Huddersfield in December 2018, using both their new effects and borrowed Matamp gear, the track was mixed and mastered by the band themselves. The production leans raw in texture but rich in atmosphere — every heavy drop and every ambient swell has space to breathe, even while it hits you hard.

A Billion Faces is Gandalf the Green at their most expansive. It is not just a song — it’s a journey. It’s proof that the band are reaching toward something bigger, combining stoner doom’s heaviness with psychic psychedelia, and leaving listeners rattled, contemplative, and eager for what comes next.

Recorded live at Phipps Hall at University of Huddersfield, December 2018.

Alex Tune - audio recording and venue

Jake Bonnett - recording assistance