If it’s Uncle Acid‘s particular brand of threat and inescapable hooks you’re looking for, you’re probably not going to find it anywhere on their upcoming fourth album, The Night Creeper — out Sept. 4 on Rise Above Records — so much as on “Melody Lane.” Arriving after the instrumental “Yellow Moon,” it’s a fitting opener to side B of The Night Creeper, and among the record’s catchiest single choruses. I won’t take anything away from “Waiting for Blood” or “Murder Nights,” but it’s a highlight of the record.

The video covers familiar-enough feeling visual ground to go with the audio. Certainly for anyone who has caught the band’s clips for last year’s “Runaway Girls” single or the prior “Mind Crawler” from 2013’s Mind Control (review here) will recognize the form. The band themselves make fuzzy cameo appearances, standing in line for what I think turned out to be their latest round of promo pics — we don’t actually see photographer Ester Segarra in the video, but the window they’re in front of at one point looks familiar — and there is some grainy interspersion of The Night Creeper‘s cover art as well, so if there are any promotional bases to cover for the video, they’re covered.

As for the rest? Well, sort of a standard runthrough of the ’60s and ’70s hotties spliced with bouts of sexualized violence, knives as implements of penetration, and so on. But there’s also a few clips out of old film noir features, and if you had the chance to read the interview posted here last week with Uncle Acid guitarist/vocalist Kevin Starrs, that’s the thematic basis for more or less the whole album, so it’s not just a mishmash of hijacked footage set to the song. There’s a purpose looming behind all that psychosis, which I suppose is also what’s made Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats so effective over their entire run so far.

Their upcoming US tour dates follow under the video — I feel like I haven’t gone more than two days in the last three weeks without plugging that tour one way or another — along with more on the album itself courtesy of the PR wire. Enjoy:

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, “Melody Lane” official video

Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats Share Music Video for New Track “Melody Lane”

The Night Creeper Out September 4 via Rise Above Records, Pre-Order Now

Touring the US This Fall + in NYC 9/12

The United Kingdom’s greatest cult band Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats are to return with their fourth full-length studio album The Night Creeper on September 4 via Rise Above Records.

Their newest single from the album is “Melody Lane” which has now been paired with a music video comprised of clips from classic B and exploitation films. It is an unprecedented peek into the brain of Uncle Acid himself and the inspirations that led to The Night Creeper. The album is available for pre-order now with an instant download of “Waiting for Blood” and “Melody Lane” on iTunes and Amazon.

Recorded at Toe Rag Studios in early 2015 with engineer Liam Watson (White Stripes, Tame Impala, Electric Wizard), The Night Creeper oozes louche evil. Hear flesh-melting riffs that creep like hot magma bubbling up through the earth’s crust combine with an ear for melody born out of the bands love for girl groups like The Ronettes and The Shangri-La’s. This is Sabbath-meets-Spector and it’s a heady combination. In support of the release they will also be embarking on their largest and longest tour to date, with a variety of US shows which can be viewed below.

Uncle Acid Tour Dates with Ruby the Hatchet and Ecstatic Vision
9/9 at Center Stage in Atlanta, GA
9/11 at Baltimore Sound Stage in Baltimore, MD
9/12 at Webster Hall in New York, NY
9/13 at Union Transfer in Philadelphia, PA
9/14 at Royale in Boston, MA
9/16 at Corona Theater in Montreal, QC
9/17 at Phoenix Theater in Toronto, ON
9/18 at Mr. Smalls in Pittsburgh, PA
9/19 at Metro in Chicago, IL
9/20 at Mill city Nights in Minneapolis, MN
9/22 at Summit Theater in Denver, CO
9/23 at Urban Lounge in Salt Lake City, UT
9/25 at Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver, BC
9/26 at El Corazon in Seattle, WA
9/27 at Wonder Ballroom in Portland, OR
9/29 at Slims in San Francisco, CA
9/30 at Slims in San Francisco, CA
10/1 at The Fonda Theater in Los Angeles, CA
10/2 at The Observatory in Santa Ana, CA

Uncle Acid on Thee Facebooks

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats website

Rise Above Records

Before German classic heavy rockers Kadavar kick off their Mexican, US and Canadian dates in support of their third album, Berlin (review here), which is out now on Nuclear Blast, the three-piece will be hitting South America for a run of shows in Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Chile presented by Abraxas Events. This will be Kadavar‘s first time on the continent, and they’ll arrive as headliners for Abraxas Fest on Sept. 20, which also features locals Muñoz Duo and Monster Coyote.

Dates and ticket links follow, along with some info sent over by Abraxas about what they’ve got going at the fest and Kadavar‘s recently-announced North American dates, which start directly after the South American run ends:

KADAVAR – South America

On September it is also our second anniversary as Abraxas and we do a (yet) small festival in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo to celebrate it, with a foreign band headlining and some local bands we book//manage on the bill as well. Last year we had Radio Moscow and now we’ll have Kadavar.

We have announced two bands so far (Monster Coyote and Muñoz) in addition to Kadavar and a 4th one will be announced next week. The 4 bands will play in Sao Paulo in the 19th, then I’ll get everyone inside a bus and drive to Rio de Janeiro to play the 20th.

18/9 – Goiania, Brazil @ Martim Cererê
Tickets: https://www.sympla.com.br/drops-vaca-amarela-l-kadavar-ale-i-1809-cc-martim-cerere__37634

19/9 – São Paulo, Brazil @ Inferno Club
Tickets: https://www.sympla.com.br/abraxas-fest-2015—sao-paulo—1909–inferno-club__37841

20/9 – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil @ Teatro Odisseia
Tickets: https://www.sympla.com.br/abraxas-fest-2015—rio-de-janeiro—2009–teatro-odisseia__37844

23/9 – Florianópolis, Brazil @ Célula Showcase
Tickets: https://www.sympla.com.br/kadavar–munoz–florianopolis-sc–230915__37319

24/9 – Buenos Aires, Argentina @ The Roxy Live
Tickets: http://www.ticketek.com.ar/kadavar/roxy-live

25/9 – Montevideo, Uruguay @ Bluzz Live
Tickets: http://tickantel.com.uy/svefrontend/espectaculo/Kadavar-en-Bluzz-Live-32958707.html

26/9 – Santiago, Chile @ Centro El Cerro
Tickets: http://www.puntoticket.com/Evento.aspx?EventoID=CGB002

KADAVAR tour dates:
September 28 Mexico, City, Mexico El Plaza Condesa
September 30 Brooklyn, NY Saint Vitus Bar
October 2 Philadelphia, PA Ortlieb’s Lounge
October 3 Pittsburgh, PA The Smiling Moose
October 4 Chicago, IL Double Door
October 7 Memphis, TN Hi-Tone Cafe

KADAVAR w/ The Sword:
October 9 Dallas, TX Gas Monkey Live
October 10 Austin, TX The Mohawk
October 11 Houston, TX Fitzgerald’s
October 13 Lawrence, KS Granada Theatre
October 14 Madison, WI Majestic Theatre
October 15 Iowa City, IA Gabe’s
October 16 Minneapolis, MN Mill City Nights
October 17 Omaha, NE The Waiting Room
October 18 Tulsa, OK Cain’s Ballroom
October 20 Mesa, AZ Club Red
October 21 Las Vegas, NV Vinyl
October 22 Solana Beach, CA Belly Up Tavern
October 23 San Francisco, CA Slim’s
October 27 Seattle, WA Neumos
October 28 Vancouver, BC The Rickshaw Theatre
October 29 Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom

https://www.facebook.com/abraxasevents
https://www.facebook.com/KadavarOfficial/
https://twitter.com/kadavarofficial
https://instagram.com/kadavargram/
http://media.nuclearblast.de/shoplanding/2015/Kadavar/berlin.html

Kadavar, “Last Living Dinosaur” official video

It was announced earlier this year that Finnish death-doom malevolents Hooded Menace were recording their next album at Skyhammer Studio, and it seems that the rotten fruit of that effort will be released on Oct. 30. Out as close as possible to Halloween on Relapse Records, the offering is called Darkness Drips Forth, and it’s available to preorder now with a video trailer revealed. I doubt they’ll be long into the thing before it lives up to its name, but of course we’ll have to wait until we get there to find out for sure.

The PR wire gets drippy:

HOODED MENACE: Finnish Masters of Deathly Horror Announce Imminent Release of ‘Darkness Drips Forth’ via Relapse Records

Finland’s HOODED MENACE have returned with Darkness Drips Forth, their fourth full-length and most gruesome work to date. Recorded and mixed by Chris Fielding (Electric Wizard, Primordial) and the band´s usual sound engineer Mikko Saastamoinen, and graced by decrepit artwork from Justin Bartlett, the band employ a new approach on their latest effort, expanding their writing across four cataclysmically dense tracks, nearly all of which exceed ten minutes apiece. Cavernous vocals preside over mastermind Lasse Pyykko’s rumbling riffs, while the rest of the band’s unshakable rhythmic core provides a grim backbone for the record.

The hint of melody HOODED MENACE sought back in their earliest days has fully blossomed into an essential element of the band’s music; Darkness Drips Forth is as melodic as it is devastating and as emotionally disquieting as it is thematically stirring. Funereal, deliberate, and methodical, Darkness Drips Forth is sure to be an essential acquisition for fans of Winter’s crushing doom, the old-school death metal of Bolt Thrower and Asphyx, and the cruel, apocalyptic atmospheres of Dead Congregation and Coffins alike. Just in time for Halloween, Hooded Menace delivers a gruesome treat to chill your bones and crack open your coffin.

The record is slated for an October 30, 2015 release via Relapse Records, and will be available on digital, CD, and vinyl formats. Preorder the album on CD or special edition vinyl here, or preorder the digital version from Bandcamp here.

Tracklisting:
1. Blood For The Burning Oath / Dungeons of The Disembodied
2. Elysium of Dripping Death
3. Ashen With Solemn Decay
4. Beyond Deserted Flesh

https://www.facebook.com/HoodedMenace
http://hoodedmenace.bandcamp.com/
https://twitter.com/hooded_menace
http://www.relapse.com/hooded-menace/

Hooded Menace, Darkness Drips Forth album teaser

The odds have been overcome, the story has been told, and really all that’s left for Pentagram at this point is to keep the momentum going. Their return to Peaceville Records comes with Curious Volume, their second full-length after 2011’s Last Rites (review here) reunited one of the most pivotal pairings in American doom: vocalist Bobby Liebling and guitarist Victor Griffin, and one could easily argue that it finds Pentagram — Liebling, Griffin, bassist Greg Turley and drummer “Minnesota” Pete Campbell as the latest addition in place of Sean Saley, now in The Skull — with the highest public profile they’ve ever had. 40 tumultuous (to put it mildly) years later, Bobby Liebling is legitimately a rock star, headlining at festivals like Psycho California and touring to packed houses on both coasts and in between.

It’s worth noting that part of that notoriety is owed to the 2012 documentary, Last Days Here (review here), but the band having a back catalog of largely-underrated doom classics has helped them influence an entirely new generation of listeners and artists. It boasts few surprises, but the 43-minute/11-track Curious Volume works well within Pentagram‘s strengths and proves a solid outing that will keep them on the road as they continue to expand their fanbase. One wouldn’t go into it expecting or even wanting much by way of experimentalism, and accordingly, Pentagram deliver on the promise of blending classic doom and Liebling‘s charismatic persona — see “Misunderstood” — and do justice to the band’s decades-spanning underground legacy. Recorded by Mattias Nilsson with additional vocal tracking by Travis Wyrick, it draws together with professional clarity and poise the best of Pentagram as they are today.

In doing so, it bears a significant stamp of Victor Griffin‘s songwriting. Guessing when Pentagram material was written is a trap — they had more than a decade of material before their first album came out — but songs like, “Lay Down and Die,” “The Tempter Push,” “Dead Bury Dead,” “Curious Volume,” “Close the Casket,” “The Devil’s Playground” and the closing “Because I Made It” carry a distinct feel that one can trace back through Griffin‘s work in In~Graved and Place of Skulls to Death Row, so whether the parts are new or old, they’re his. Near as I can tell, the only cut on Curious Volume that previously appeared on a Pentagram release is “Earth Flight,” which showed up on 2003’s A Keg Full of Dynamite live outing (good luck finding it), recorded in 1978, but that’s hardly the only inclusion on Curious Volume with a classic feel.

Following the opening rush of “Lay Down and Die” — which seems to directly acknowledge the notion of a live audience in its lyrics — second cut “The Tempter Push” nods directly at Deep Purple‘s “Strange Kind of Woman.” Its tense intro marked by Campbell‘s steady kick, “Earth Flight” has a classic-style shuffle, and the doomly “Sufferin'” and speedy good-timer “Misunderstood” follow suit. They could be brand new and “Dead Bury Dead” could’ve been written by Liebling or original drummer Geof O’Keefe for Stone Bunny circa 1970, but in terms of feel there’s a fair amount of variety between tracks in their approach — on “Walk Alone,” more rocking, on the title-cut, more morose, and so on — but Griffin‘s best-in-class tone and Liebling‘s vocals both tie the songs together, so that the entirety of Curious Volume remains cohesive across its span, speaking the crowd on “Lay Down and Die,” “Curious Volume” and “Because I Made It” — the opener, centerpiece and closer — but keeping listeners engaged throughout with its quality of craftsmanship and performance.

More perhaps than any other song on Curious Volume, the closer sums up the band’s position. “Because I Made It” finds Liebling and Griffin both on the other side of addiction struggles, each party very much in need of the other, and while I won’t downplay the role Turley‘s low-end plays in setting the heavy vibe of “The Devi’s Playground” or “Dead Bury Dead,” or the job Campbell does in stepping into the drummer role right before entering the studio, no question the focuses for most listening are the vocals and guitar. As much as anyone can in doom, they have made it. With Last Rites, the question going into it was whether or not Pentagram would be able to carry a full-length record across after seven years and a yet-again revamped lineup.

On that level, Curious Volume is an even more difficult record to make, because unlike its predecessor, the simple fact that it’s coming out doesn’t automatically stand it up as a triumph. It’s fortunate, then, that Pentagram have been able to sustain the momentum from their live shows and bring that energy and presence to the recording. The reflecting point of view of “Because I Made It” — in some ways, it and a couple of the other songs here seem to be retelling “Amazing Grace” — feels justified, especially given the context of Last Days Here, and the band make their victory through the classic doom that Pentagram helped to shape. No question that spectacle is a factor post-documentary, but there’s nothing one could reasonably expect of a Pentagram record 30 years after Relentless first surfaced that Curious Volume doesn’t deliver.

Pentagram, “Walk Alone”

Pentagram on Thee Facebooks

Pentagram’s website

Curious Volume at Peaceville Records

If you know the record at all, it’s likely you already have the CD, but even if not, Bee and Flower‘s What’s Mine is Yours was released in 2003 on Neurot. It’s remained something of a curio since then in the Neurot discography, but in terms of the actual listen, it’s a deceptively rich experience, brightly experimental and melodic, but cohesive throughout and organic sounding in what was a moment right on the cusp of when that kind of thing actually started to matter. 12 years later, the material retains its individual identity. What’s Mine is Yours has just been reissued by Inherent Records as a 2LP, and to my knowledge it’s the first time it’s been out on vinyl.

The PR wire has it like this:

BEE AND FLOWER “WHAT’S MINE IS YOURS” 2X VINYL REISSUE

Bee and Flower and Inherent Records are pleased to announce for first time available on vinyl, the reissue of the band’s debut release, What’s Mine Is Yours,which originally was released on CD in 2003 on Neurot Recordings. Spanning the band’s discography of three albums, several singles, EP’s, films scores and compilation tracks, What’s Mine Is Yours has remained a personal favorite of the band and its fans for years. Here’s a vintage music clip directed by Josh Graham (Soundgarden, Sleep, Florence & the Machine, Neurosis, etc).

The vinyl comes as a 2XLP at 45 rpm w/ digital download. Included on the reissue is “Dust and Sparks,” a bombastic and terrifying track recorded at the original sessions at Martin Bisi’s BC Studios, but not included on the CD release. Newly mastered, the song is included as the final track on side D. Vinyl mastering was done by Doug Henderson (micro-moose studios Berlin) whose clients include Blonde Redhead, Swans, Antony and the Johnsons, and more.

Pressed at a limited quantity of 250 units, a very limited number of copies will have shards of the original silk lantern whose image graced the album’s cover. The lantern lived in singer/bassist/songwriter Dana Schechter’s apartment in Brooklyn and until its near disintegration, has illuminated, over the years, the same walls where the original cover photo was taken. The “Limited Edition” packages are provided at a first come, first served basis. There will be no additional reserves available and they can not be duplicated, ever.

BEE AND FLOWER was founded in New York City in 2000 by singer-songwriter, bassist, composer and producer Dana Schechter — who recently released the full length debut from her current project “Insect Ark — with Original members Roderick Miller, Lynn Wright, Jon Petrow, and Ani Cordero while a recording / touring member of Micheal Gira’s (Swans) band Angels of Light.

The band released three full-length studio albums, a split 10″, a 7″, two feature film scores, various compilation tracks, and two fully animated music videos. Collaborators in studio & stage have included members of Angels of Light, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Swans, Calexico, and more. The core band moved from NYC to Berlin, from 2004-2008.

Orders are available from Inherent Records http://www.inherentrecords.com/

Side A
1) I Know Your Name
2) Twin Stars
3) Wounded Walking
Side B
4) Riding on Empty
5) Let it Shine
6) On the Mouth
Side C
7) Something Good
8) Carpenter’s Fern
9) Dupe
Side D
10) This Time
11) Dust & Sparks *
(*unreleased track)

http://beeandflower.com/
https://www.facebook.com/BeeAndFlowerMusic
https://beeandflower.bandcamp.com/
http://www.inherentrecords.com/
https://www.facebook.com/inherentrecords/

Bee and Flower, “I Know Your Name” official video

I’m going to do my absolute very best to keep this brief, because there’s much more to say about Kind and their upcoming Ripple Music debut, Rocket Science, but there’s also a lot of time in which to say it. It’s out on December, and in addition to being the first track premiere from the new band, the first studio-recorded, non-demo audio to be made public, it’s also the first announcement of the album itself. So there’s time, is what I’m saying, and as much as I’d like to dive into the record headfirst, preorders aren’t even up yet.

Still, if one might have be reminded to cool one’s jets, it’s well justified. I recall hearing late in 2013 that guitarist Darryl Shepard (Milligram, Black Pyramid, etc.) was jamming with Elder drummer Matt Couto, and that wound up as the root of Kind. Tom Corino from Rozamov plays bass, and Craig Riggs of Roadsaw rounds out on vocals, and many of the songs on Rocket Science — dig that Alexander von Wieding cover art — are born out of those same jams. They’ve come a long way, having been developed over a series of local shows fit between the four-piece’s otherwise busy schedules (review here, here and here), but listening to “German for Lucy,” that raw vitality holds up.

If you know the members’ other groups, that still doesn’t really prepare you for what Kind bring to the table. “German for Lucy” opens the record, and immediately the listener is immersed in a heavy psychedelic vibe. Riggs‘ vocals are as much a part of the atmosphere as Shepard‘s effects-drenched guitar, pushed deep in the mix and set for maximum spaciousness. This really is just the beginning of what there is to say about this one, but if you want to get stoked, the stream works even better than my nerding out.

More to come. For now, stream and announcement follow. Enjoy:

KIND; A new doom project from Black Pyramid, Elder, Roadsaw and Rozamov

Formed in 2013 by Matt Couto (Elder), Darryl Shepard (Black Pyramid, The Scimitar) and Tom Corino (Rozamov) – after the trio spent time jamming together in-between day-to-day commitments – the doom supergroup KIND quickly cemented their formation with the addition of Roadsaw vocalist Craig Riggs.

Out of the mind-bending riffs and extended jam sessions, whole songs began to take shape through winter 2014 rehearsals down in Couto’s freezing cold basement, where the newly formed quartet began laying down ideas for their soon to be released debut, Rocket Science, which officially lands this December on Ripple Music.

Shows were soon booked to share the tunes with the curious. Further riffs materialized, new songs banged into shape, and yet more shows booked, so keen were the band to test their mettle and mixture of heavy metal, psych, Krautrock and straight-up classic rock and roll. With four songs recorded at Mad Oak Studios serving as the band’s demo, in the spring of 2015, KIND entered New Alliance Studios with engineer Alec Rodriguez to record their first full-length, Rocket Science.

Kind on Thee Facebooks

Ripple Music

It was already a pretty significant run, but Philly’s Ecstatic Vision have added even more shows around their upcoming tour with Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats and Ruby the Hatchet. Of course, Ecstatic Vision are out supporting their Relapse Records debut, Sonic Praise (review here), the lysergic nature of which was unveiled last month. These guys have already shown a willingness to hit the road, as they did earlier in 2015 alongside Enslaved and YOB, and I’d be very surprised if they didn’t wind up doing even more in 2016. Maybe a trip to Europe? Maybe in springtime?

And in case that dogwhistle wasn’t loud enough, I was speculating that they’d be the latest Relapse act to make an appearance at Roadburn in April. [UPDATE: I’ve just read that Ecstatic Vision have signed with Swamp Booking and will indeed be touring Europe in April, making that appearance even more likely.] I guess we’ll see if I’m right on that one, but they’re plenty busy in the meantime.

From the PR wire:

Ecstatic Vision Add More North American Live Dates

Touring with Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats and Ruby The Hatchet

Ecstatic Vision hit the road in a couple of weeks with Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats and Ruby The Hatchet for a full North American trek. Their stunning live show and debut, Sonic Praise earned them a signing with Relapse Records just a little after a year of coming together as a band. Don’t miss them in a city near you – all shows listed below.

In case you missed it: Ecstatic Vision weave the guitar heroics of the 70’s heavy classics of UFO and Hawkwind with the rhythmic intensity of Sun Ra and Fela Kuti. Massive riffs vibe seamlessly with deep rhythms to create one of the most original and best heavy psych debuts in years.

Ecstatic Vision Live Dates:
9/8: The Garage- Winston Salem, NC
9/9: Center Stage – Atlanta, GA #
9/10: The Golden Pony – Harrisonburg, VA
9/11: Baltimore Sound Stage – Baltimore, MD #
9/12: Webster Hall – New York, NY #
9/13: Union Transfer – Philadelphia, PA #
9/14: Royale – Boston, MA #
9/16: Corona Theater – Montreal, QC #
9/17: Phoenix Theater – Toronto, ON #
9/18: Mr. Smalls – Pittsburgh, PA #
9/19: Metro – Chicago, IL #
9/20: Mill City Nights – Minneapolis, MN #
9/22: Summit Theater – Denver, CO #
9/23: Urban Lounge – Salt Lake City, UT #
9/25: Commodore Ballroom – Vancouver, BC #
9/26: El Corazon – Seattle, WA #
9/27: Wonder Ballroom – Portland, OR #
9/29: Slims – San Francisco, CA #
9/30: Slims – San Francisco, CA #
10/1: The Fonda Theater – Los Angeles, CA #
10/2: The Observatory – Santa Ana, CA #
10/3: Time Out Lounge – Tempe, AZ
10/6: Sons of Hermann Hall – Dallas, TX *
10/7: Hotel Vegas – Austin, TX
10/8: Vino’s – Little Rock, AR
10/9: TBA – Nashville, TN
10/10: Zanzabar – Louisville, KY
10/11: Blind Bobs – Dayton, OH

# – w/ Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats and Ruby The Hatchet
* – w/ King Dude

http://ecstaticvision.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/ecstaticvision
https://twitter.com/ecstaticvision_
https://instagram.com/ecstaticvision/
http://www.relapse.com/search_result.php?search_by=artist&q=Ecstatic%20Vision

Ecstatic Vision, Sonic Praise (2015)

They can’t all be genius, right? The truth is most aren’t. No album is perfect, and most bands — UK four-piece Baron included — have things that work and things that don’t within their sound, style, whatever it might be. It’s so easy to get burnt out on stuff though, because a lot, a lot, a lot of it is quite good, so when something different and interesting comes along, it’s almost too easy to pass it up. I’m really glad I took a couple minutes out of my day to listen to Baron‘s new track, “Deeper Align.” It doesn’t represent the entirety of the UK outfit’s forthcoming album, Torpor, which is out Oct. 23 on Svart — who as far as I’m concerned have pretty much hit the I’ll-go-in-blind level when it comes to trusting their taste — but it’s the kind of journey that you don’t realize is underway until it’s over and you look back at how far you’ve come, and in that, and in its melancholy psychedelia, it represents the record well.

The problem with burnout is you run the risk of missing something special. Again, I’m very glad I stopped and listened to this one. You might be as well:

BARON set release date for new SVART album, reveal first track

“As soon as you think you know, you’re done for. You don’t listen and you can’t hear. If you’re certain of anything, you shut the door on the possibility of revelation, of discovery.” – Alan Garner

Today, Svart Records sets October 23rd as the release date for Baron’s highly anticipated Torpor. Torpor, the new album from the British rock four-piece, is the latest in a long line of imaginative works hailing from the British Isles that seek to link place and mythology – the wind-beaten rural landscape and the stories of magic handed down through generations of tellers. In this way, it takes many of its cues from previous generations of musicians and artists: Alan Garner and Mervyn Peake, Derek Jarman and Kate Bush – all explorers at one time or another of the potent mix of history, folklore, and landscape that lie at the heart of these Isles. It is a testament, then, to the sheer quality of Torpor that in this daunting company Baron should not feel ashamed.

Baron’s previous album, Columns, proved that they were a band filled with talent and vision, but Torpor takes the project to a very different level. This is nothing less than a fully realised masterpiece, rich in the same early-dawn melancholy that so marked its predecessor, but stronger and more resilient, marked with tangled thickets of electric guitar and organ and presided over by Alex Crispin’s unmistakable baritone.

While Baron’s choice of instrumentation could be seen as being “traditional” (guitar, organ, drums, even a recorder at points), Torpor is far from being some kind of revivalist “psych” album. What hits you at first listen is not the instrumentation being used, but Baron’s skill in evoking mood and nuance. The touchstones are similar to the ones evoked on Columns – Talk Talk’s sense of enchantment and The Blue Nile’s bleary eyed melancholy;,the airy crescendos reminiscent of Traffic’s late-period masterpiece When The Eagle Flies – but these influences are invigorated by Baron’s confidence and firm grip on dynamics, their ability to leap from a tear-stained hush to a raging crescendo without the join ever being noticeable (witness “Stry,” one of two tracks featuring Wolf People’s Joe Hollick on guitar, for a demonstration of their sure-footed approach). Torpor works precisely because it knows when and where to abandon its restraint. That it can do so without ever compromising its overall mood is a testament to the maturity of the musicians involved and their total knowledge of the story they are trying to tell.

That parts of the album were surreptitiously (and not entirely legally) recorded at Purton Green, one of the last surviving medieval halls in the UK, makes a lot of sense in this context. It is precisely this mix of daring and tradition, of the lure of the landscape and the ability to reconfigure it in one’s own image, that marks Torpor out as an outstanding album, and which pinpoints Baron’s position as the latest addition to an imaginative lineage that stretches back as far as the language itself. Hear for yourself Baron’s unique brand of magick HERE with the Torpor track “Deeper Align.” Cover and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Baron’s Torpor
1. Dragonfly
2. Mark Maker
3. Wild Cry
4. Dark Down
5. Stry
6. Sleepless
7. Deeper Align
8. Albedo Dei

https://www.facebook.com/Baronland
http://www.svartrecords.com/
https://www.facebook.com/svartrecords

Baron, “Deeper Align”