"Drawing from the chaos of a world of “spiritual sickness” and each of their experiences with addiction, the Virginia duo Among the Rocks and Roots’ debut album Raga is appropriately crushing take on noise rock. Abdul Hakim-Bilal’s towering bass drones and Samuel Goff’s thunderous tom explorations have this feeling of improvised weaponry—as if they’d grabbed whatever heavy object was nearest around them and are flinging it haphazardly into the guts of a broken system, with the goal of seeing how much carnage they might wreak. Over the course of four lengthy pieces—the shortest of which is 21 minutes—they keep edges of their instrumentals blunt, favoring raw power over technical wizardry. But the most chilling moments come in quietly, like the staticy dissolution of “Salvation” or the part five minutes into the title track that’s just Hakim-Bilal’s labored breathing and a long roll on a tom. In between the pained screams, there is the possibility of peace. Or perhaps there is nothing at all."
- "40 Essential Albums You Probably Missed So Far in 2018". Noisey, July 20, 2018. Web.
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"'Raga', the latest release of Among The Rocks And Roots, sounds like a long attack. The album contains four dark mantras in which Samuel Goff and Abdul Hakim Bilal reveal their soul and salvation in a confrontation with their own frustrations, and thus put the knife in the soul of the listener." (translated)
- Gonzo Circus #146, July/August 2018. Print.
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"Making noise from trauma is difficult work, but can also be a profoundly healing process for musicians - and can also provide a nexus through which others who have experienced similar pain can connect. The duo of Abdul Hakim-Bilal and Samuel Goff, Among The Rocks And Roots engages in this complex enterprise with full hearts, full stacks, and an ear for detail. ... 'Raga' is an unsettling album, but it also achieves remarkable catharsis."
- "The Best Albums of Winter 2018". Bandcamp, March 30, 2018. Web.
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"Among The Rocks And Roots are one of those rare contemporary groups which successfully tap into that subliminal, metaphysical source and simultaneously reach somewhere beyond their own ids. 'Raga', the band’s second album and the centerpiece of a planned trilogy about conquering addiction, is a meditative, oft-transcendental sonic vessel. It feeds on personal anger and trauma in an attempt to process, combat, and purge these emotions. Framed in that context, Among The Rocks And Roots’ music becomes something else. Something more. ... Exasperating and exhausting yet stunning, 'Raga' is a trance-inducing and manifestly real album that requires full dedication and the willingness to let oneself go. As Hakim-Bilal and Goff share their never fully healed wounds with us, we’re asked to join their ritual and reveal our own."
- 4/5 on Angry Metal Guy, March 2, 2018. Web.
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"There are no easy answers to be found in these four lengthy, winding tracks, but there is a good deal of beauty. I have written before of the power of making noise from trauma, especially when one takes a less didactic approach, as Among the Rocks and Roots do. Get lost in Raga’s winding, challenging passages, and you may find parts of yourself you’d hidden because they were too much to bear."
- "This Week's Essential Releases". Bandcamp, March 2, 2018. Web.
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"On 'Raga' the hatred of being controlled by the drug is addressed through a series of stretched out, agonised mantras that scream and lash out from a heavy fug of constantly drifting miasmic drone. After an opening bash of almost Lightning Bolt-ish thrash “Requiem” settles into a dirty sounding crusty groove that crawls towards a sonic pit of despond. Vocals are yowled out in single word cries of agony and rage, while the booming of Hakim-Bilal’s blurred bass
makes it sound as though it’s being played in an adjoining room. The sparse application of electronics as the track peters out is the only splash of colour in an otherwise charred slab of broken rock. Much of 'Raga' follows a similar direction and, although on the surface it feels that ATRR are trying to wear their audience down, after several hearings the duo’s haphazard technique and almost primitive direction eventually takes hold."
- The Wire #410, April 2018. Print.
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Abdul Hakim-Bilal and Samuel Goff are Among The Rocks And Roots of Richmond, VA. They play aggressive, long and winding noise rock rooted in ritualistic ideas of trance-induction.

"'Raga' is the second album of a proposed trilogy that started with 'Samdura Garba Pathe' and will end with 'Pariah.' This trilogy details the cumulative journey that we have taken dealing with the issues that led up to a period of addiction for both of us. While the first album details how we got there, 'Raga' is the anger, hatred and frustration of being there. The lyrics deal with issues ranging from abuse (physical, mental and sexual), sleep paralysis, race, police brutality and isolation.

Among The Rocks And Roots. Islands of serenity in a sea of cacophony. Distressed heavy, world music exploring the darkest recesses of the soul. Every show. Some will speak in tongues."