It’s not necessarily surprising to learn that Italian psychedelic outfit Ex is comprised of just one man. When you listen to Abuse, the fourth album from Ex, even though there are multiple instruments, there’s a kind of loneliness at the core of the material that comes through despite any and all psychedelic flourishes. Sure enough, although there were guests present adding bass and drums throughout, it was Ex mainman Eugenio Di Giacomantonio (also of Turbomatt) handling the writing and recording for the entire album.

And though the music is psychedelic, Di Giacomantonio keeps his guitar (that being the central focus of the entirely-instrumental songs, despite several movie samples sprinkled throughout) relatively grounded. He’s not washed in effects, and so when the nine-minute “God’s Spirit” begins to develop, it has a solid base to work from and isn’t just layering spacey reverb on top of spacey reverb. Abuse is creative, intimate and soothing as a result, but able as well to open up into more riff-rocking ground, as “Good Woman” and “Capitol Desert” show.

What it comes down to is I’ve been digging these tracks the last couple days and asked if I could post them for anyone else who might want to check them out. 80 Fold Cripple Press was kind enough to say yes, so here’s Abuse, by Ex, followed by some PR wire info. Hope you enjoy:

[mp3player width=460 height=300 config=fmp_jw_widget_config.xml playlist=ex-abuse.xml]

Abuse, the fourth full-length effort by Italian instrumental heavy psych hypno band Ex, marks a great leap forward in the evolution of their sound. What initially was characterized as “simply” psychedelic or acid rock has now developed to some kind of cinematic desert hypno sound where the band no longer is afraid to use gloomy and intense harmonies.

Eugenio Di Giacomantonio is the man behind the band. Ex went into the studio during 2010-2011 with the intention to do a recording of nine songs he had written since the release of his last, self-titled album. It later turned out that a whole year would pass before he returned to the world outside with what people have heard Ex himself describes as his “Ennio Morricone scores meet Yawning Man.” Ex played all guitars, basses, organ, violin and samples; drums and some bass lines were played by friends and special guests. As hard record as it is do describe, as easy it is to love. Enjoy the sonic monstruo!

Tags: Ex, Italy, Unsigned bands

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 2nd, 2011 at 11:31 am and is filed under audiObelisk. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.