Album Review: Lotus Thief – Rervm

The San Francisco-based duo, Bezalith and Otrebor, have taken a side-step here from their other band, Botanist, to write an album inspired by the 1st Century BC materialist text De Rerum Natura. It translates as The Nature Of Things and is by the Roman philosophical poet Titus Lucretius Carus. Each track represents one of the six books of the text and guides us through them by pitching progressive black metal at ambient space rock.

“Aeternum” switches between a thick pummeling groove and a psychedelic dropout where a soft, echoed vocal threads its way around warm bass. These are instant shifts in tone from dark minor chords to a music with an effervescent lightness of touch. It’s a far cry from the more visceral black thrash of “Miseras” where a series of vocal passages more akin to Messianic chanting coat everything. And both these tracks are stretched further, the former by the closing sounds of morning and evening birdsong and the latter by the incessant alert of a life monitor flat-lining.

Moving on, “Discere Credas” tears out a feisty riff and follows it up with an overtly simple rhythm. Left there to run its course, the track could have tanked, but Lotus Thief pull at it and toy with its structure to create something far more interesting. It’s a pattern that continues as they throw iconic sound effects in among the gossamer-thin layers. After, the spaced-out majesty of “Lvx”, the bat-shit crazy “Discordia”, with its hissing (for all you Harry Potter fans, it’s not unlike “Parseltongue”) and its twin, the scowling façade of “Mortalis” are perhaps a step too far into chaos, but they certainly aren’t short on impact.

Albums inspired by ancient texts do carry an added air of authority and credibility about them and this vital, emotional music is no different. Fans of experimental black metal will definitely get a kick out of the elegant vocal stylings and cosmic edge here. It’s fitting that written inside the album cover, a sentence in Latin, loosely-translated, announces “If you have a garden in your library, then nothing is missing”. Rervm is your garden.

Also online @ Ave Noctum = http://www.avenoctum.com/2015/01/lotus-thief-rervm-svart-records/

Album Review: Craang – To The Estimated Size Of The Universe

Ah, the joys of coming across the onomatopoeic band-name. To all intents and purposes, Craang sounds like their moniker suggests they should. The sudden resonant “craaannng” of strings reverberating through a mass of distortion. Actual metal on metal action. Oddly enough, as a heavy band capable of dredging up some powerful emotions, Craang are reminiscent of another onomatopoeic band, Kongh. Despite their blacker outlook and doomier “kooooonnngh” those Swedes definitely share a love for a good wall-of-sound and pounding repetition with this impressive Greek trio.


As a debut album, quite frankly TTESOTU is astounding. There have been plenty of releases of late riding the retro gravy train but this four-track concoction of space, stoner and psych is quite unlike anything that has come before. Yes, some of its content may bear a passing resemblance to Hawkwind, Zappa or Pink Floyd but it actually draws strength from far more contemporary sounds than these. Take “Butterfly” for example. It digs out the kind of sick, splattering riff that Fu Manchu or Orange Goblin might have conjured and rides it until it sinks so far into your consciousness that you cease to notice it any more. You can feel your own pulse begin to syncopate, realigning itself with the music to create a new cadence for you to live by. Not only this, but the cyclical lyric “hold your breath” [or "breasts" as it beings to sound after one to many t̶o̶k̶e̶s̶  rotations] will follow you to your grave. All this, and still the music remains utterly uplifting, infectiously introspective and emotionally exacting.

Throughout, you’ll pick up on the slow, steady development taking place in the layers beyond the drone fuzz brushstrokes. Forever shifting, the picture morphs before your eyes, as much as the album’s stunning artwork suggests it might. Perhaps it’s the warm production, maybe it’s the fact that as a three-piece the sound is spartan rather than busy, or perhaps it’s the little effervescent qualities that shine through, but all I know is that “Magnolia” plays like an absolute dream. You really do feel a certain sense of having been removed from space and time as you go drifting off into the cosmos-stretching sonic wonderland that Craang have created here.

One criticism one might throw in their direction is that they have a tendency to wallow towards repetition a little too easily. Consequently, all the songs bear a passing resemblance to one another – “Slo Forward Jam” plays like an instrumental build to the majesty of its neighbour, whilst the lengthy jam, “The Meteorian”, essentially drives off the same rhythmic pattern that “Magnolia” sets up. What this latter track does sport is some effortlessly affecting dreampop lyrics and an immense section of synth that lifts the whole piece into something incredibly cinematic in feel. You might also catch the strains of a flying saucer coming in to land as they wind up the warble effect to Biblical proportions. The truth is out there, apparently.

There is definitely no hiding from the enigmatic joy, passion and crushing presence that this album carries. The whole is weighty yet the tone remains light as a feather. Quite where they go from this mountaintop remains to be seen, but the safest bet on the planet would be an immediate invite to Roadburn, ProgPower or Desertfest.

Also online @ Heavy Blog Is Heavy = http://www.heavyblogisheavy.com/2014/10/16/craang-to-the-estimated-size-of-the-universe/

EP Review: Baroness – Live At Maida Vale

Nearly a year has passed since that fateful day when the Baroness tour bus plunged 30ft off a viaduct in Bath, England. Nine folks were transported to hospital that day, all with severe injuries. Some suffered more than others and during the lengthy recovery period that followed Allen Blickle and Matt Maggioni sadly announced their departure from the band. With Pete Adams and John Baizley carrying on, this latest recording sees a changed line-up performing at the famous BBC Studios in Maida Vale.

With the songs all coming from the double-album they were touring that day, there is a special significance placed on each track. It is almost unavoidable that the lyrics are now burdened with different interpretations. Just the title of “Take My Bones Away” is enough to trigger a lump in the throat. It wouldn’t be right if they didn’t come across differently, being a live EP, so I am pleased to report only improvements to songs that felt a little too much like repetitious pop songs the first time around.

There is no doubt that any kind of muddy, under-produced mix brings out the best in Baroness and this one brings them a bit closer to their powerful early work and their true live sound. Their warm, fuzzed tone has been brought to the fore and this has captured the dark emotion-soaked undercurrent (that melancholy they wear like a comforter) so much better than in the studio mixes. The clean harmonies are still there too, but their levels are now more on a par with the guitars. Consequently, they sound more integral and don’t stick out like sore thumbs (excuse the pun).

The portentous intros are excellent additions (the building cymbals on “Take My Bones Away”, the echoing strums on “March To The Sea”), driving the listener into each track. The biggest winner here though is “Cocainium”. With a subtle warping invoked and the sustain dial notched up, the flow is so much gentler and you’ll find yourself really tripping out. It’s true that the songs can still be viewed as a departure for them; their hands stretching out to the revolving, melodic, space rock that Torche have made their own in recent years. Also, there’s a mere four tracks, none of which haven’t been released already in some form, but it doesn’t really matter. It’s just great to see them back recording and playing their music with new impetus, doing the songs justice and producing a record that die-hard fans will truly cherish.

Also online @ Ave Noctum = http://www.avenoctum.com/2013/07/baroness-live-at-maida-vale-relapse/