I had an opportunity to sit down with the latest release from Chicago drone duo, Locrian, but hadn’t packed my bag for the transcendental journey on which this slab of sound sent me. Drenched Lands is 6 tracks clocking in at just over an hour and thick with layers of droning synth and strings. Despite the traditional association of the locrian mode with metal, Locrian is surprisingly easy on the ears, bringing in a slow tide which eventually crescendos into a powerful swell. There’s a raw fury lurking underneath the glassy smooth sea giving you one hell of a ride without ever smashing you onto the rocks.
The opening track features a repetitive Slint-like riff backed by subterranean synth which leads seamlessly into the pulsating “Ghost Repeater.” Closing my eyes I saw Kurt Russell on the barren ice in John Carpenter’s The Thing. This is the modern-day counterpart to Morricone’s masterful score of one of the creepiest films of the last half century. Drenched Lands indeed conjures up desolate post-industrial landscapes teeming with hidden peril.
“Obsolete Elegy in Cast Concrete” punctuates the mood pieces with stabbing guitar attacks and distant howls building frantically to a reprise of the album’s melodic opening. The alternating dissonance and consonance pushes you right to the edge of discomfort before lulling you back into the fold. The 30 minute epic final track, “Greyfield Shrines”, brings the storm to shore with an unyielding torrent of feedback and noise which eventually relents so you can breathe again.
I’m not a fan of unbridled noise which feels a bit too much like each musician is off on his own personal journey. But Locrian imposes an order on the chaos and the result is a surprisingly mature effort which feels a lot more dangerous than it is. Drenched Lands is a harrowing thrill ride down a dark, remote highway but there’s no risk here of running off the road.
MP3 :::
Locrian – Epicedium
Locrian – Obsolete Elegy in Cast Concrete
