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Ecstatic Vision, Sonic Praise: High Times on the Astral Plane

ecstatic vision sonic praise

Philadelphia heavy psych trio Ecstatic Vision were signed to Relapse Records last winter on the strength of their first demo and an apparent readiness to hit the road hard. They did so this spring alongside Enslaved and YOB and will do so again this fall with Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats and fellow Philly residents Ruby the Hatchet. Their first album, Sonic Praise, could easily have been an afterthought to their touring intentions. It is not. The trio of guitarist/vocalist/noisemaker Douglas Sabolik, drummer/percussionist Jordan Crouse — both formerly of metalcore-ish agents A Life Once Lost — and bassist Michael Connor effectively conjure heavy psychedelic vibing and space rock thrust throughout Sonic Praise‘s five tracks and vinyl-minded 38 minutes, positioning the longest cut, “Astral Plane” (12:38), effectively as the second piece behind the already-jammy opener “Journey” for maximum out-there exploration.

Some of the elements feel interchangeable on a thematic level — that is to say, “Astral Plane” could just as easily be called “Sonic Praise” and “Sonic Praise,” which appears as track four, could just as easily be called “Journey,” and so on — but there’s no denying that Ecstatic Vision hit their marks, and given how hard they make it to remember this is their first album and that essentially they’re a band of players exploring a new style of expression as they jam their way through, it’s correspondingly easy to get on board with some familiar weedian worship. Sabolik‘s guitar work is at the fore, but a great strength Ecstatic Vision show from the beginning of “Journey” lies in immersion, and they leave little room for either being completely hypnotized or nothing at all. The former is the more enjoyable position.

“Journey” starts off quick a wash of effects and synth swirl before a Sleep-y riff takes hold, but already there’s more at work than simple Pike/Cisneros worship. That’s good news, and likewise the psychedelic push that emerges from Crouse‘s drumming and the grounding effect of Connor‘s bass — which remains reliably earthbound while Sabolik‘s gruff vocals invite the listener along the trip to come from deep in the mix — layered keys and guitar following in the last minute to transition into “Astral Plane” and seemingly demonstrate a meeting of the expanded minds. Sonic Praise as a whole seems to run on a loose drop-out-get-high narrative, the 12 minutes of “Astral Plane” directly questioning what we work for and what the point of doing anything other than getting stoned might be. Fair question, frankly, but what makes the second track the album’s standout is the jam itself.

ecstatic vision

With added percussion, Ecstatic Vision tie into some loose Afrobeat elements, more Goat than Fela Kuti, but more Hawkwind than either of them, saxophone swirl and all, the guest horn contributed by Kevin Nickles, who also adds flute. If Sonic Praise is going to grab the listener, it’s in “Astral Plane,” and while it’s not necessarily as bold a move as it might have been to lead off with it, putting what on many records would be the closer second is commendable. By the time they get around to the centerpiece of the CD/side B opener of the vinyl, “Don’t Kill the Vibe,” there seems to be minimal danger of that actually happening. Much like Crouse‘s drumming, the narrative is pushing straight ahead, toward stoned enlightenment amid swirling synth ghosts and righteous lysergics, all the while retaining a self-aware presence that never truly seems lost no matter how much Ecstatic Vision seem to be advocating a wandering consciousness.

Does that undercut — or further, kill — the vibe? Not really. As the second half of Sonic Praise gets underway, they’re in deep enough that even if they’ve managed to keep their heads about them while building this massive swirl, that doesn’t necessarily mean that one listening to it needs to do the same. “Don’t Kill the Vibe” and the title-track, which follows,” continue the thread that “Journey” and “Astral Plane” set out of trance-inducing psychedelia, the title-track in particular dipping into percussive and melodic nuance in a way that broadens the context of the album overall, winding up with echoing drums and shouts and trailing leads feeding directly into “Cross the Divide,” which at 9:43 is enough to provide a fitting counterpoint to “Astral Plane” and account for the resulting moment of the narrative — the “good time” aspired to in “Don’t Kill the Vibe” is attained — but once again, it’s the power trio instrumental chemistry that Ecstatic Vision boast and the richness of sound they’re able to bring amid their subtly moving repetitions that give the album its satisfying finish.

They shift through a deceptive hook in the last two verses of “Cross the Divide,” but it’s less about structure and, true to form for the entire album preceding, much more about vibe. Vibe is the key. Vibe is the intent — and it’s an intent they state, further emphasizing the consciousness lurking beneath all that psychedelic chaos — and vibe is what they emit. It oozes from the speakers in colorful, headphone-worthy emanations, and while Sonic Praise sounds longer then its 38 minutes, that’s not at all because it’s boring, but because one eventually snaps back to consciousness after the long fadeout of “Cross the Divide” and inevitably wonders what the hell just happened. Make no mistake, Sonic Praise is a beginning point. It’s a band’s first album, and it sounds like it. But it’s also among the most promising debut releases I’ve heard from and American band this year, and with the obvious work they’re willing to put into supporting it, one doubts it’ll be all that long before Ecstatic Vision find themselves mastering this cosmos of their own making.

Ecsatic Vision, Sonic Praise (2015)

Ecstatic Vision on Thee Facebooks

Ecstatic Vision on Bandcamp

Ecstatic Vision at Relapse

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