Circadian Meditations was released in November 2013, which in hindsight feels part of a generational wave of bands and albums that set new parameters for what progressivism means in heavy music. For Carrboro, North Carolina, three-piece Black Skies, it was their second album, comprising six songs that run a still-deceptively-tidy 37 minutes in answer to their debut, 2011’s On the Wings of Time (discussed here), and prior short releases, 2008’s Hexagon and 2007’s self-titled EPs.

It wasn’t the last release the band would have, but it was the last full-length they’d do, and by the time it came out, they had already played their last show. I wrote a fair bit about them at the time, between the video for “Celestial Coronation”, an actual album review and various other hypings, because I thought the band had something to offer distinct from the post-Mastodonic hordes of angular riffers. Their sound wasn’t looking to dominate or oppress. While heavy as any of the rest and influenced by the crunch of the time — one can certainly hear a Kylesa influence in the interplay of bassist Michelle Temple and guitarist Kevin Clark‘s vocals on “Celestial Coronation” and amid the willful slog conveyed in nine-minute closer “The Dusk/Invisible Figures,” while Temple‘s patterning on bookending 10-minute opener “Lifeblood” seems to have more in common with Acid King — there was never any pretense from Black Skies.

Temple and Clark (the latter also did the album art and handled synth) were founding members and worked with a couple of drummers along the way. John Crouch plays on Circadian Meditations, and given the thud of “The Dusk/Invisible Figures,” the careening twists of the hooky four-minute “Black C,” let alone the tambourine adding playful movement to the push of the latter and the Kyle Spence (Harvey Milk) production that makes the snare sound no less thick than the bass, the amalgam of elements captured throughout is something special and unique in the lifetime of the band.

That span of eight years, from 2005-2013, is now dwarfed by the 12 years it’s been since Circadian Meditations first came out, and I guess that forces a bit of perspective. The brain’s filter makes it seem like simpler times, and the pastoralia in the two-minute guitar-led instrumental “The Dawn” — expressive like Pelican, but slower and aligned around measure-starts with crashes that feel duly punctuating. I suppose it’s a preface for the closer as well, which was something I don’t think I appreciated at the time. It turns out in revisiting that there’s a lot in these songs that remains vibrant and in their own place among the spheres of heavy rock then and now. I’d put Black Skies in league with onetime West Coast tourmates Caltrop among underrated neo-Southern heavy acts of the day, and that’s not a grouping I make lightly if you know how I feel about those Caltrop records.

The character of Circadian Meditations, as evidenced in the instrumental dynamic throughout as well as the vocal arrangements, the expressiveness of the songs — and yeah, I’d include the penultimate instrumental “Time Lord” in that — and the outward looseness they convey remains its own, and while I’ve dropped a few names above already, it’s worth emphasizing that while Black Skies were undoubtedly inspired by what had come before them, what they made from that inspiration belonged and belongs to them alone.

As a result of the many horrors of this day — today, this week, month, year; ‘right now’ in time and place — I have been looking around me and trying to find reasons to be proud to be American. I feel disgusted when I see the naked corruption all around, from the highest of political offices to the three cops who live near me who all happen to be somehow able to afford Corvettes. This culture of war, rampant capitalist exploitation, rising costs and declining services, bigoted perspectives mainstreamed; if there was ever an optimistic future for this country, it has dissipated. I do not see any positive outcome from the direction the nation of my birth has taken, and I believe this century will be over before the ramifications of what’s happening now have fully panned out. The US will continue to exist in some way, but it is not the nation I’ve lived in my whole life anymore, and knowing that is gone has me likewise sad and fearful to continue to be here. I and my family are less safe in the United States than we’ve ever been, and I worry that we’re already too late to get out.

I don’t know why I’m surprised music is a salve for this, since for my brain it’s a salve for so much else, but I’ll tell you straight up that I hear more said about the nature of American freedom in the riff to “Time Lord” than I’ve ever heard come out of a politicians’ mouth on any side of any argument, whether it’s the eloquent but ultimately empty patter of an Obama or the rambling hateful-idiot bombast of the current head of the executive branch — and that’s not equivocating; one is vacuous, the other destructive; they’re not the same. In the character of that groove, the ease of movement, I can hear the promise of America’s open landscapes and the contribution to the world’s creative conversation that’s as much about shirking rules as declaring oneself in a place. I’ve never been a patriot and I think patriotism is both harmful and dumb — you were born in a place, you might as well be proud of breathing — but give me something, anything to hold onto as being worth preserving about the United States as it exists today. I guess, this week, Circadian Meditations is serving that function in some way. If we’re being honest with each other, and I hope we are, it’s probably not enough. But it’s something.

These are dark times here, increasingly isolated from the world outside with no real voices of dissent — Gavin Newsome memes are cute, his actual positions on issues aren’t — and it’s difficult to keep one’s head up while the worst among us dance on the bodies of the dead they’ve trampled. I wish for an ending but have little hope.

Wherever you are, I hope you and yours are safe. And as always, I hope you enjoy the record, whatever you get out of it.

—

This weekend is Labor Day. A fucking joke. Someone will make a speech. It will be asinine. Half this country would still have slaves if it was legal.

The Patient Mrs. left yesterday morning to go to a wake in Maryland. It’s after 10AM — I know; I had Hungarian class at 8:30 this morning, and I slept until The Pecan got up a bit before 7AM, so it’s been kind of an upside-down day so far, writing-wise; ideally I’d be checked out by now — and she’s not home yet, but is expected sooner or later. The Pecan is watching Justin Bae stream Zelda games on YouTube, which I guess is how she’s going to learn all kinds of inappropriate shit for an almost-eight-year-old to say. I said “fuck” habitually at five. She to my knowledge has tried the word once, after hearing my mother say it. Could be worse.

School starts next week. I wish, I wish, I wish that I felt more positive about it. But the surest way to get her disregulated — which is what they call pissed off and/or out of bodily control now; I have language issues with it, unsurprisingly — is to put a demand on her, and at some point in second grade they’re going to tell her to sit down and do a thing. I don’t know yet if I’ll be going to the school to give her meds, if that’ll be necessary, but the principal emailed this week to ask. I said if we could get away with not I’d prefer, but she doesn’t eat at school, and at least when I was going at the end of last year to feed her medication in a mashed banana, I could know she’d eaten something throughout her six-hour day. I don’t know. I’m nervous. She started last year as pure genius fire and ended recovering from a trainwreck. We also found out yesterday she’ll have a different para, which is another potential failure point for the entire endeavor. The Pecan is nervous too, no doubt feeling the anxiety from her mom and dad. She refuses to talk about it, which is very much in-character.

So I’ll spend the long weekend being anxious about that — sounds super-productive, right? — and hopefully catching up somewhat on all the news I basically ignored this week while forcing myself to write less and spend more family time before everyone’s gone again. The Patient Mrs.’ semester has already started. It’ll be me and the dog soon enough. I was thinking about doing a Quarterly Review next week, because there isn’t anything else planned, but I’d basically just be doing it to hurt myself, and I don’t want to be two weeks behind on tour and album announcements, etc., since if a QR is happening, it’s basically all that’s happening. I’ll find a week. First full week of October. Starting the 6th. There. I just decided.

I have a butt-ton of homework for the weekend, but otherwise I’ll be back on Monday with more complaining about life under dictatorship and riffage. Be well, be as safe as you can.

R.I.P. Danny Kenyon (Thousand Vision Mist, etc.). I just heard. His courage in making his cancer battle as open as it was was inspiring, and I’m glad he’s someone who I got to see play guitar, because it was clear he lived for it.

FRM.

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You know, usually when you think of something landing like a brick, it’s not a positive image. Like the thing — whatever it is — should be flying. Well, Solar Halos land like a brick even as they fly. It’s a duel-persona that’s writ large all over their upcoming second full-length, Coiled Light, which will be released in April digitally and May 10 on vinyl through Cursed Tongue Records. Drenched in melody and atmosphere, the release finds the North Carolinian three-piece digging into vibes out of post-metal and heavy psychedelia, but while their tones are thick and their plod considerable thanks in no small part to John Crouch‘s right-upside-the-head kickdrum, the intertwining vocals of guitarist/cellist Nora Rogers and bassist/keyboardist Eddie Sanchez bring a Kylesa-style sense of progressivism to the songwriting, albeit somewhat more patient than that band managed to be during their time.

In cuts like “Personal Levee” and “River of Grass” and the more intense shove of closer “Nebulas,” there’s a lot to dig into and one expects that’s a significant part of what led to the Cursed Tongue pickup, as that label’s taste is only growing more reliable by the release. You can hear “The Living Tide” at the bottom of this post, and as the leadoff track, it does the work of establishing the tone and setting the atmospheric foundation for both the largesse and the impact that follows. I think it was the label said something about “crushing psychedelia.” That’s as good as anything I could come up with.

Enjoy:

SOLAR HALOS SIGNS TO CURSED TONGUE RECORDS FOR A WORLD WIDE RELEASE OF THEIR NEW ALBUM ‘COILED LIGHT’ ON MAY 10TH, 2019.

Cursed Tongue Records is thrilled to announce the signing of the thunderous and soulful yet equally dark and hypnotic heavy psych rock ensemble Solar Halos, NC. Their sophomore album ‘Coiled Light’ will be released on vinyl May 10th via Cursed Tongue Records, with pre-orders coming early April.

It’s been almost 2 years since the band last released new tunes onto the world and over 5 years since Solar Halos released their self-titled debut album via Devouter Records (UK). The passing of time has failed to dim a great first experience. Still vividly remembering the almost religious awakening that was brought upon Cursed Tongue Records owner back in 2014 when first laying ears to Solar Halos pulsating, ground-shaking and beautifully heavy tunes. Hence, we are not far from a dream come true when being passed the opportunity to work with the band on releasing their follow-up album. The debut never left heavy rotation and the new album ‘Coiled Light’ will sure follow troop.

Behind Solar Halos’ Carrboro, NC practice space there are train tracks and a concrete factory. You feel the rumble of diesel engines and sliding stone as much as you hear it. Like the digestive noises of a nation-sized beast, it jars your teeth. It rattles your marrow. It makes you feel small.

Within Solar Halos practice space, John Crouch (drums and percussion), Nora Rogers (guitar, cello, vocals) and Eddie Sanchez (bass, keys and vocals) take the long view. There is an even larger, more patient, more powerful beast, and it will level the field. “When time awaits / when monuments breathe / when mountains return to the sea,” rings Rogers clear and confident call over nuanced, propulsive sludge. “The calm water hides.”

Human endeavor can rumble and rattle and challenge nature, like the heavy industry all around, or it can tap into forces older and more powerful than anything anthropocene. This is a band that thinks in geological time, and an air of levelheaded patience pervades even the most driving songs. With obliquely poetic lyrics that wax mystical and scientific both, Solar Halos sings to the stones, the grass, the sea, the stars and time itself on their second album ‘Coiled Light’.

Recorded summer 2017 by Kris Hilbert at esteemed Greensboro, NC studio Legitimate Business, ‘Coiled Light’ finds Solar Halos tightening its already impressive structures and expanding its expressive horizons both. On “Nebulas” dual vocalists Rogers and Sanchez adopt a Carl Sagan-esque wonder at humanity’s vulnerability to cosmic forces: “It won’t warn you when it fades to black / it won’t charm you as time yields to mass.”

‘Coiled Light’ is psych-metal for naturalists, for philosophers and for listeners willing to take the long view, to accept our species’ impermanence and to walk paths that fade in the light of day.

It’s our anticipation and hope that many more ears will be opened to this truly unique and magnificent band and the heavy underground scene will learn of this phenomenon of nature. “We are happy to help bestow a second sonic revelation upon the Earth’s inhabitants”, the label owner notes.

So get ready to travel through chilled and dimly lit climes brought through an ever shifting provocative aural landscape. Utilizing a doom like weight, Solar Halos finds a radiant and transfixing resourcefulness through varied textures and sounds making their second album an enthralling and intensive examination of and feast for senses and emotions.

Once more Earth will tremble under the soundscapes that emanates from Solar Halos when ‘Coiled Light’ releases digitally on their Bandcamp page April 12th, 2019. It’s a journey you won’t want to miss!

CTR-021: SOLAR HALOS – ‘COILED LIGHT’, vinyl official release date: May 10th, 2019 (Digital release April 12th)

Written and arranged by Solar Halos
Engineered and mixed by Kris Hilburt at Legitimate Business, NC
Mastered by James Plotkin
Drawings & photos by Nora Rogers
Layout & design by Michael Andresakis

Track listing:

side A
1. The Living Tide
2. Personal Levee
3. Ground the Fire

side B
4. River of Grass
5. Conduit
6. Coiled Light
7. Nebulas

Solar Halos is:
John Crouch – drums, percussion
Nora Rogers – guitar, cello, vocals
Eddie Sanchez – bass, keys, vocals

https://www.facebook.com/SolarHalos/
https://www.instagram.com/solar.halos
https://solarhalos.bandcamp.com/
http://cursedtonguerecords.bigcartel.com/
https://www.facebook.com/CursedTongueRecords
https://www.instagram.com/cursedtonguerecords

Whether or not Black Skies had Richard Strauss in mind when they put together the introduction of “Lifeblood” that opens their second full-length, Circadian Meditations, I don’t know, but there’s a definite resemblance to that composer’s “Also Sprach Zarathustra,” AKA the main theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey. That would be fitting as well with the North Carolina three-piece’s space-themed artwork and the overall more psychedelic approach that comes up throughout the album, but life is rarely that neat. Still, the Circadian Meditations opener arrives with enough circumstance to make the actual start of the song feel like an event, and as the rest of the 37-minute LP plays out, it gets easier to think of it that way. “Lifeblood” is the longest track on the record at 10:08 (immediate points), and together with closer “The Dusk/Invisible Fingers” (9:21), forms an apparent bookend around shorter songs that had me searching the final moments for similar crashes and guitar noise. I didn’t find them, but what was there satisfied anyway, as does entirety of Circadian Meditations, as the Black Skies core duo of bassist/vocalist Michelle Temple and guitarist/vocalist Kevin Clark (also synth and shruti box drones) — joined here by drummer John Crouch, imported from somewhat likeminded North Carolinian outfit Caltrop in apparent place of Tim Herzog, who played on 2011’s On the Wings of Time debut LP — have gracefully expanded their aesthetic reach without sacrificing either the spaciousness of the recording (helmed like the last one by Kyle Spence of Harvey Milk) or losing the impact of the songs to excessive indulgences. Not that the album doesn’t have any, it’s just that as Temple and Clark trade vocal lines back and forth once “Lifeblood” gets underway, they’re quick to engage with warm tones, hypnotic riff repetitions and the aforementioned vocal tradeoffs. The sense of movement is palpable throughout “Lifeblood” — knowing his work in Caltrop, part of that credit has to go to Crouch — and still the band is able to hone in on a contemplative, exploratory feel. In that way, the opener sets the tone perfectly for the rest of the album to follow.

A smooth build brings “Lifeblood” to an apex topped with wah-soaked guitar leads propelled by Crouch‘s punctuating snare and held steady via Temple‘s rumbling bassline. The rush toward the end, the cycles it goes through, sound a bit like space rock, but that’s a designation that would seem to pull away from the earthiness of their tones, which isn’t to be understated. “Celestial Coronation,” which follows the opener, features one of the album’s best choruses, with shades of what always worked best about Kylesa being repurposed into a structure that loses none of its appeal for telegraphing its moves through the first two verses, whereupon it departs to a brooding instrumental stretch that in turn shifts back first to a solo over the chorus riff and then to the hook itself, rounding out in traditional fashion a construction given a more avant feel by the subdued psychedelic wandering of the last minute-plus which devolves as the drums get softer into a kind of measure-by-measure lull, ultimately ringing out to silence. On a lot of records, this would be standard trickery. The band puts you to sleep in order to wake you up again. Black Skies, to their credit, play it differently. “The Dawn,” which would seem to be the end of a vinyl side A, is a two-minute pastoral exploration led by Clark‘s guitar, and even when Temple and Crouch crash in after about 40 seconds, the serene vibe is maintained, a patient sway holding some tension but keeping steady to a sustained final rumble and another few seconds of quiet. There isn’t a physical pressing of Circadian Meditations yet, though one can only imagine it’s bound for the aforementioned vinyl if not both that and CD (I’ll be the last holdout hoping for CD), but it’s worth noting that the experience of “The Dawn” into “Black C” would be completely different were the album to be broken up onto two sides. In the linear, digital version, it’s a sudden kick after a moment of peace. If one had to flip a record between, to be pulled out of that moment by the physical act might play into the effectiveness of “Black C”‘s swaggering launch.

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Look, science has proven over and over that the woods are the best place to shoot a video. North Carolina’s Black Skies know this, and so their new clip for “Celestial Coronation” from the forthcoming Circadian Meditations (more info here) also reflects what studies in well reputed academic journals have shown time and time again: Hanging out in the forest kicks ass.

While we’re working on a boot-to-cheek thematic, it’s worth noting that Circadian Meditations hits next Tuesday, Nov. 19, and the fucking thing smokes. Vibe for days. It’s consuming and psychedelic, but as the track “Celestial Coronation” contained in the video below shows, it’s also got a bit of that post-Kylesa churn to it that 2011’s On the Wings of Time also showcased. Some of the best moments on the new one though aren’t in the driving push — that’s not the discount the work of Caltrop drummer John Crouch, who joined guitarist/vocalist Kevin Clark and bassist/vocalist Michelle Temple for the album — but  reside in the exploration of parts, in those moments right after the release of the tension so ably built is over and band and music alike seem to be taking a satisfied breath. You can hear it at the end of “Celestial Coronation.”

Hopefully in the next couple weeks (or seven months if my current pacing is anything go by) I’ll get a review of the record itself up. I just keep listening to it for the time being, so you’ll hopefully forgive me a period of unfettered enjoyment while I get to know it better. Ahead of next Tuesday’s release, please feel free to dig into the homemade video for “Celestial Coronation” and ponder the correlation between being crowned in heavens and still stomping around on dried leaves among Appalachian hilltops. We live in a wonderful age.

Enjoy:

Black Skies, “Celestial Coronation” official video

Black Skies on Bandcamp

Black Skies on Thee Facebooks

There’s little I enjoy more than some out-of-the-blue awesome news, and word of the new Black Skies album, Circadian Meditations, and the new track “Time Lord” now streaming definitely qualify. Black Skies will release the follow-up to 2011’s On the Wings of Time (discussed here) on Nov. 19 digitally and put proceeds from download sales toward an eventual vinyl issue. Founders Michelle Temple and Kevin Clark joined forces with Caltrop drummer John Crouch for the recording of Circadian Meditations, which was helmed by Kyle Spence of Harvey Milk and, true to the band’s stated intentions below, follows a more meditative, exploratory and psychedelic course. I’m just hearing it for the first time as I type this, but so far I dig it.

Here’s PR wire info and “Time Lord” so you can keep an eye and ear out:

new Black Skies releases

Circadian Meditations, the latest full length by Black Skies, will be released digitally Tuesday, November 19th. The album expands on the psychedelic leanings of the band’s 2011 release On The Wings Of Time. The group returned to Athens, GA in May to again record with Harvey Milk’s Kyle Spence. Joining founding Black Skies members Kevin Clark & Michelle Temple for this session was drummer John Crouch (Caltrop, Solar Halos, Horseback). Showcasing experimentation, while not abandoning the heavy elements of their sound, Circadian Meditations displays a musical & spiritual evolution for the band. With careful consideration to the sequencing of the songs, as well as the use of ambient sounds, short acoustic instrumental movements, and drones from an Indian shruti box to create transitions, Circadian Meditations is meant to be listened to as a full, flowing cohesive piece rather than a scattered collection of songs.

We are also releasing a digital single featuring an unreleased track, “Echoes In The Void” b/w “Dead Batteries” (previously released on a Digguptapes limited edition split cassingle with Caltrop). Both songs were recorded with Nick Petersen at Track & Field Recording Studio and feature Tim Herzog (Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Milemarker, DesArk) on drums. As an added bonus to our fans who purchase the download of Circadian Meditations, we will include a free download of this single. You can listen to these songs here: https://blackskies.bandcamp.com/album/echoes-in-the-void-b-w-dead-batteries

There have already been a number of people inquiring about the vinyl release of Circadian Meditations, so we want to let you all know that we definitely aim to get this out on vinyl ASAP. Every cent we make from selling this album digitally will be going toward making that happen.

Thank you all for your continued support & we hope you enjoy the music!

https://www.facebook.com/blackskiesnc
https://blackskies.bandcamp.com

Black Skies, “Time Lord” from Circadian Meditations (2013)