Well, since I missed that show in Philly on Sunday, and I knew I wouldn’t make it to Brooklyn either (the evening was filled with literary endeavors both involving and not involving alcohol), I thought it might be worth seeing if there’s any clips from the Pelican/Eagle Twin/SunnO))) tour on the YouTubers. Sure enough, some timely bloke uploaded video shot less than 24 hours ago at the Masonic Temple in that most gentrified of boroughs. So, here’s what Eagle Twin were doing last night while I was out at the bar in Newark. Thanks, internet.

Though they hail from Salt Lake City, Utah, which is an area more known for its religious affiliation than its forward-looking art scene, it’s hard to deny the thinky thinky sludge of duo Eagle Twin‘s avant approach to extending the parameters of what doom is and what it means to the listening audience. With improvisational techniques, creative drumming from Tyler Smith and the throat-singing vocals of guitarist Gentry Densley, who caught the underground’s attention by means of his collaboration with SunnO))) and Southern Lord Recordings‘ Greg Anderson, Ascend, in 2008, Eagle Twin‘s debut LP, The Unkindness of Crows relies just as much on its weighty spiritual concept as it does the aural power if its riffs. As a first offering from the band, which has been together for several years now, it is near-terrifying in the accomplishments it portends.

That could well be because neither Densley nor Smith is exactly a rookie when it comes to creative heavy music. As the former enlightens in the interview following, even the years since the dissolution of his initial principle outlet, Iceburn, have been productive, and likewise, Smith has seen kicking around SLC in and out of bands for the better part of a decade and then some. That the two came together for Eagle Twin was, as Densley explains, a fortunate development of circumstance.

The guitarist/vocalist, whose band embarks this month on a two-week US tour with SunnO))), was kind enough to give some of his time for the interview after the jump. Please enjoy.

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With “In the Beginning Was the Scream,” the spastic opening track of Eagle Twin‘s Southern Lord debut, The Unkindness of Crows, it’s almost as though the duo of vocalist/guitarist Gentry Densley and drummer Tyler Smith want to prepare their audience for anything. The track starts with throat singing and quickly moves into distorted free jazz (read: noise), before devolving into five minutes of despondent drone metal that culminates in wild and cautiously melodic riffing, more noise and, finally, silence. Wherever else they could go from there, it would be hard to throw in a surprise.

Or so you might think, until the Goatsnake-style opening riff of “Murder of…” leads into lumbering Melvins doom and Gentry‘s near-growled vocals — he’s been compared to Tom Waits, not sure if I agree across the board, but he’s throaty and I think that’s what everyone means by it — that carries across an agonizing 12 minutes of ornithologically-themed legend. Every song on The Unkindness of Crows has something to do with crows, ravens or birds in general, in lyric if not title, though the only track without a titular reference is the above-noted opener. Throughout the rest of the album, “10,000 Birds of Black Hot Fire,” “Storytelling of Ravens,” “Crow Hymn,” “Carry on, King of Carrion” and closer “And it Came to Pass that Birds Fell to Earth as Black Snakes” keep a running aesthetic of naturalistic musical darkness and semi-decipherable winged narration.

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Dude, Greg Anderson totally has a man crush on Gentry Densley. First they put out the Ascend record together, then Anderson signs Densley‘s band, Eagle Twin, to Southern Lord and puts out their album, The Unkindness of Crows, and now Eagle Twin and SunnO))) are touring together. Get a room already.

Shows are as follows:

9/17/2009 Mr Small’s – Pittsburgh, PA
9/19/2009 AS220 Broad Street Studio – Providence, RI
9/20/2009 First Unitarian Church – Philadelphia, PA
9/22/2009 Brooklyn Masonic Temple – Brooklyn, NY w/ Pelican, Earth
9/23/2009 Sonar – Baltimore, MD
9/24/2009 Bijou Theatre – Knoxville, TN
9/25/2009 The Orange Peel – Asheville, NC w/ Faust
9/26/2009 Legends Banquet & Special Event Center – Atlanta, GA
9/27/2009 Seney-Stovall Chapel – Athens, GA
9/28/2009 Seney-Stovall Chapel – Athens, GA
9/30/2009 Mercy Lounge – Nashville, TN