Alright, let’s get to it. UK weirdo-psych weirdos Cult of Dom Keller were in the studio earlier this year, and the three-song Extinction EP would seem to be part of the fruits of their collective cosmic labors. Issued this past (Bandcamp) Friday, the offering seems to theme itself in somewhat grim fashion around its title, prefacing an apparent album to come with atmospheric sprawl and an overarching melancholic resonance that’s rare in space-heavy anything. “Extinction Mass” throbs as one might expect for space rock, with blown-out drums and bass fuzz underscoring a broad reach of guitar and shoegazy vocals, noisy skronk and bizarro synth like Dead Meadow piped through a transwarp conduit, while “Extinction Drone” bee-buzzes in its humming outset, building up around cascades of synthesizer with subtle vocal echo drawl for company. It takes on a more foreboding cast as it moves into the second half, benefitting from the relative shove of the song prior while departing structure for a more outwardly experimentalist sensibility.

Its six-minute trance gives over to “Extinction Screams,” which feels post-industrial in the base rhythm established at its start that holds for the duration as dark-energy sprawl is cast around it. The screams in “Extinction Screams” are existential rather than literal in terms of the song itself, and the spirit feels more like an aftermath than, say, the moment when the asteroid, comet or moon-forming Mars-sized planetoid impacts with the surface of the Earth, but continues the fluidity of movement of the first two tracks as it takes on this stately brooding. While its stated reason for being released is to fundraise for an album to come, Extinction brings a narrative procession of its own that’s encompassing on headphones and immersive however one might take it on. These may be pieces leftover that didn’t fit on the LP that’s reportedly to follow, but they’ve been put to their best use as they’re assembled here.

Something new to hear today if you haven’t heard it yet. Stream is at the bottom, info from Bandcamp follows in blue:

“3 track EP of exclusive tracks that will NOT be on the new album to raise funds to help with studio time with the sixth album we are currently finishing recording.”

Released September 6, 2024.

Track 1 “Extinction Mass”:
Written and performed by Ryan DelGaudio, Neil Marsden, Jason Holt and Alistair Burns

Track 2 “Extinction Drone”:
Written and performed by Neil Marsden & Ryan DelGaudio

Track 3 “Extinction Screams”:
Written and performed by Ryan DelGaudio & Neil Marsden

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Cult of Dom Keller, Extinction EP (2024)