LOCRIAN - The Clearing ...

There is a lot to be said about what passes as "experimentation" these days. Black metal bands are the quickest to call themselves experimental and then when you hear them you get nothing but cheesy noises and bland sound effects that sound like they were made by a 3-year-old in mommies' basement. Then you get the other end of the spectrum, bands that take the "experimentation" angle and actually do something with it that is interesting to the listener. Locrian are one of those bands, they are a band that shows their influences often but use their "experimentation" to take it to a whole other level, creating something that is uniquely theirs. The sound on their latest album 'The Clearing' is ominous and cold and full of suspense and truly frightening moments. The band blend drone, noise, doom, ambient, black metal, and electronica and make soundscapes that build in atmosphere and never lack cohesion.

What is interesting is the band use a lot of common drone techniques that are in the vein of Sunn O))), post-rock a-la Neurosis and take black metal elements from acts like Burzum but yet make it sound positively original. That is a remarkable feat considering how limited a lot of these influences are but Locrain succeed on all levels. The band doesn't seem too interested with genres, they are more about creating moods and 'The Clearing' is about as moody as it gets. The opening track, 'Chalk Point' is what I would call "suspenseful - psychedelia." The entire piece keeps building but you never know where its going or if it will ever get there and in the end it leaves you hanging which in the end makes it even more suspenseful and chilling. The track has everything from cold and dark piano to moments of feedback laden drones and ends up a monster piece of music.

'Augury In An Evaporating Tower' is more like a short Sunn O))) track colliding with noisy, distorted black-metal. That little burst of menacing noise is followed by 'Corprolite' which is drones mixed with acoustics and is melancholic at first before turning very nasty and creepy. The last half of the track has some of the most gripping dark ambience ever recorded in my opinion. The album then ends with the 17 minute title track that starts off gentle enough but soon turns into an unforgiving droning piece that is continually gaining momentum. This one is a little long for my tastes with the ambient sound-scape getting a bit tedious after a while but it is no album killer.

Locrian are without a doubt masters of their craft and are a band that takes sonic experimentation to a new unique level and 'The Clearing' is an album that sucks the listener in and never let's go. Even if the title track drags a little, the result is still a stunning but stark piece of work. Fans of Sunn O))), Khanate, and Neurosis will want to hear this but Locrian need no such comparisons, they stand alone......8.5/10.

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