You know, some bands, you expect when you haven’t checked in on them for a while they’ve maybe got some news that they’re touring or thinking about starting to put out a new album, maybe have some ideas for songs, all very nebulous, not yet willing to reveal titles, etc. Baltimore, Maryland’s Against Nature, meanwhile, have released two albums and have a third and fourth on the way. In about six months. And that’s not even counting their super-doomed alter ego, Revelation, who also put out a record in that time. They should call the next album Prolific Bloody Prolific.

In January, Against Nature self-released Drawing Arrows through their own Bland Hand Records, and a mere month later (presumably from the same sessions; though I don’t know that for sure) came Chasing Eagles, the band’s 13^th or 14^th release, which continues their seemingly overflowing run of ‘70s-style prog played at three-quarter speed and as unpretentiously as possible. Guitarist/vocalist John Brenner is as much at home with this material as I am on the couch, and whether it’s the bluesy “A Likely Story” or the more Sabbath-fueled “Snowed Under,” bassist Bert Hall, Jr. and drummer Steve Branagan have no trouble laying a solid foundation for the songs to build on.

Against Nature is basically a self-contained, decades-spanning, home-based operation, so it’s no real surprise that the members would seem to be at ease with the songs. Plus their take on the heavy is so laid back, so anti-posturing, that one imagines if either Brenner, Hall or Branagan weren’t completely comfortable with the way something sounded, they would just change it and that would be that. You can hear that vibe in a song like “Without Within,” or “Living Well.” Chasing Eagles, like a lot of Against Nature’s work, is perfect for someone who wants a classic vibe that they can just chill out to. Brenner’s guitar tone on “Way Back When” is enough to download all of Chasing Eagles for.

And it’s worth mentioning that all of Against Nature’s work is available, free of charge, on their website. They have hand-made, signed and numbered physical copies for those who enjoy holding something, but everything else is available at no cost, which, in case you didn’t know, is a bargain for someone else’s hard work.

Chasing Eagles comes in at under 40 minutes, but not by a lot, and although I can’t possibly imagine how Against Nature come up with all this material that they can put out multiple full-lengths a year without batting an eye, that does absolutely nothing to hinder my enjoyment of the albums when I happen to catch them. Incidentally, it looks like I’m going to have to check in on the band more often if I want to actually keep up, which, assuming they’re going to keep putting out material as thoroughly groovy as Chasing Eagles, I definitely want to do.

Against Nature’s website with free downloads

Against Nature on MySpace

Tags: Against Nature, Baltimore, Bland Hand, Maryland

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 25th, 2010 at 2:17 pm and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.