Opening with a contagious fuzzed-out guitar riff, The Clarion has that cool stoner feel to it and is an instrumental. At just under 3 minutes, it leaves me looking forward to the next track. The mix is at the more unrefined end of town which is typical of the genre, but you can hear everything and it’s clear.
Lotus is not in a rush to develop and you get to hear the vocals for the first time. The vocals are raw and remind me a little of Budd but it works. This song is where you get a real feel for what these guys do well, which are tasteful, organic jams that I’m already nodding my head along to. The bass is surprisingly clear in the mix, and nearly punchy. The title track has thick riffing, to begin with, and is clocking in over 9 minutes. Binary Codex is a loop set over some short guitar parts.
Perhaps this was meant as an interlude to what would have been the B side in the vinyl version. I don’t think it does much for the album, which means it probably shouldn’t have been there.
Red Static brings you back into the feel of the album, and the vocals are typically sparse, with long, relaxed lead guitar parts as the bass pedals underneath.
The Follower has a hypnotic bass riff that you know is leading you somewhere, and the guitar builds underneath it. This song probably has the best vocal part in it and is my favorite for this album.
Ghost Creek Bridge is the final song and is a tense instrumental that just doesn’t seem to go anywhere. This song is probably not what I would have picked to be my final song on a 7 track album.
However, I like these guys, and they certainly have potentially given the strength of some of their songs. It’s not a bad album, but the riffs and sounds (which this music relies heavily upon) probably need to be more memorable for this to be a great album.
Lint: Facebook
Release Year: 2013
Label: self-released
Category: Album
Country: Australia
Reviewed by Matt
