Blackened Slugs on "The Clearing"

"If you're into noise, drone, ambient, or even avant-garde black metal, you NEED this release. "The Clearing" is not as disturbing as "The Crystal World", but I love the progression with this LP." More here.

Montreal Mirror on "The Clearing"

Link here.

LOCRIAN
The Clearing
(Fan Death)
Last year’s epic The Crystal World was a true piece of majestic beauty, but instead of trying to rise beyond the watermark, this Chicago trio veers in different directions on this four-song offering. Shades of Ummagumma-era Floyd emerge as opener “Chalk Point” lays down the melancholy and takes its sweet time to unfold. And when Locrian have the legroom to stretch out, on the 20­minute drone/psych-fest of the title track, real magic happens. 9/10 Trial Track: “The Clearing” (Johnson Cummins)

New Reviews for "The Clearing"

For all the Frenchies out there, you can read a review at Shootmeagain.com here

There's also an interesting review at Avantegarde-metal.com:

"I was walking back to the parking lot where I usually leave my car. A free parking lot, away from the city center. Once there, I clearly heard a phone ringing. A high-pitched, vibrant ringing, like those of old fashioned phones.
I looked around. I could perceive I was alone, even if my eyes didn’t reach every angle of the parking area. At first, I wasn’t able to visualize the source of that ringing.
It came from a public telephone, without any booth, fixed on a wall.
I’d never noticed it before.
I knew a blind alley used to lie behind that wall, always deserted and abandoned. Now to use as a dump for the surrounding factories.
I drew near the phone, and took the receiver. "You know what time is it?” – a familiar voice answered, but I couldn’t recognize it.
"I’ve got no watch with me.”
"Sounds bad.”
"Who’s speaking?” I kept perceiving those words as if I heard them before, semantically and physically.
"You know me better than anyone else.”

I started thinking it was a joke. Maybe some worker, hidden in a factory nearby, having fun in front of his colleagues.
I hung up. Few seconds, then the phone rang again. I took the receiver again.
"It’s seven o’ clock.” He told me.
"So?”
"Time flows, G.” He knew my name, and the thing roused my suspicions.
I looked around, and all I could see was parked cars, the covered sky and the darkened windows of the factories.
"Come back tomorrow, it’ll be the same time again. Come back the next day, and it will still be the same time. It’s that what you’re thinking, isn’t it?”
Quite annoyed by the trick, I looked around again.
"I’m behind this wall” – he said – "and it’s up to you, to decide when I can get out of here.”
I hung up. And I went to my car, regardless that persistent ringing."

Doommantia on "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. More here.

Metal Sucks on "The Clearing"

"Is The Clearing a metal album? Absolutely not. Even the two minutes of blastbeats and howling in the middle of “Augury in an Evaporating Tower” are just another part of the song’s stew. But there’s a reason why Locrian collaborate regularly with members of Nachtmystium, Yakuza and Velnias. They access the alienated moods and harsh outlook of metal’s blackest wings in distinct but complementary ways. Their sound accesses terror without rubbing our faces in it. Accessible? Not unless you listen to Merzbow on your way to work. Riveting? Completely." More here.

Skeletons & Candy on "The Clearing"

"Locrain are at the top of the dark experimental music heap these days. Although their songs lack traditional form and structure, there a visceral quality to their music that recalls some of the most potent and powerful metal and post-rock. Last year's stunning genre-smashing "The Crystal World" made Locrian the band to pay attention to, while raising the bar for everyone else. Since then, they have produced a collaborative LP and single with the like-minded Horseback and the "Dort Ist Der Weg b/w Frozen in Ash" 7", which, for my money, is one of the best releases in any format this year. So to say that "The Clearing" was one of this year's most anticipated releases for me is a bit of an understatement. Even without hearing the whole thing, this was already a must have album among discerning music fans. Naturally, "The Clearing" not only lives up to expectations, but exceeds them to an extreme."

More here.

Philadelphia Weekly on Locrian "The Clearing"

"The Clearing is a lonely affair; it’s a desolate world of permanent night, permanent rain, perfect void. The nearly 18-minute-long self-titled closing track’s a commitment, evolving from minimal John Carpenter synth bounces to reverb ecstasy to the pits of screeching, agonizing, alienating nothingness. With Christmas coming, this album’s the perfect gift for an overly sunny loved one."

More here.

Locrian "The Clearing" Vinyl

It sounds like Fan Death Records now has the vinyl for "The Clearing." We should be getting our copies of the album very soon. I'm sure that anyone who ordered the album from Fan Death so far will be getting their copies very soon.

Pitchfork on "The Clearing"

"Plenty of bands play music that sounds dark, but few can make every note bleed black and breathe smoke. Count Locrian as part of that select circle. Something about the Chicago trio's sound is inherently ominous-- it's hard to imagine them playing "Chopsticks" without turning it into an earth-threatening thunderstorm. That effect is obvious in their noisier, more chaotic moments, where metallic noise and intense howls coalesce into scary crescendos. But it's just as strong in their quieter, more ambient stretches, when they build tension not from heightened climax but from sustained nuance."

-Marc Masters


More here.

The Inarguable on "The Clearing"

"Like Fennesz covering black metal beneath a mountain of ash, or a warped krautrock LP played at 78 RPMs with the volume only halfway up, The Clearing shows Locrian at their most disparate and unusual, eliciting sensations of dread and unease. What a perfect time of year for such wretchedness. Pre-orders are still available from Fan Death Records." More here.

Tiny Mix Tapes Debuts "Chalk Point" from "The Clearing"

link here.

"Opener “Chalk Point” is the perfect track to don a black cloak and stand in fog to...."

Anti-Gravity Bunny on "The Clearing"

Link here.

Pre-order here.

Tiny Mix Tapes "Locrian to release new LP on November 1, Halloween likely to suck until then"

Link here.

Pre-order here.

The Making of "The Clearing": Bowed Cymbals

Black Online (Germany) On Locrian "The Clearing"

Link here.

SSG Music on "The Clearing"

Link here.

Very few of the limited flexi disc w/ pre-orders still available. Get one soon!

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“The brevity [of “The Clearing”] is a sign that Locrian has stronger command of its energized music’s abstract nature, focusing more on the compositional aspect to deliver its best album to date.”
-Nayt Keane

MSN Entertainment Streams "Chalk Point"

Link here.

"I’ve been spinning the album repeatedly, and am fascinated by just how rich its sound is compared to their previous efforts...Hypnotic and ominous, it’s the perfect soundtrack for the chilly winds, bruised skies, and bare trees of autumn."
- Adrien Begrand

Locrian "The Clearing" LP w/ Download; Nov. 1, 2011 Release Date: PREORDER NOW!

Pre-order from Fan Death Records Here.

Label: FDR-028 - Fan Death Records
Artist: Locrian
Album: The Clearing
Format: LP w/ download
Street date: November 1, 2011

Coming up from the basements of experimental black metal, Locrian quickly made a name for themselves, laying the cobblestones for their own unique world. Through three LPs and a small stash of other releases, the group have floated ever towards a mesmerizing sound that defies classification. Dark, brooding, complex, and lush, with each release Locrian have raised the bar for their own grey sky heightened standards.

This fall, Fan Death Records sees Locrian give birth to their magnum opus. The Clearing breaks free of the “must own” list for the group itself, and transcends into a “must own” list for general fans of everything from Loveless to Goo to Black One, Touched, Through Silver and Blood, and beyond. Not quite ambient, certainly not black metal, The Clearing takes a diversity of sounds, combined with a hushed aesthetic, and folds them into a mature record that demands attention from the first second to the last. This may be the closest the group will ever come to capturing the holy communion of their live performances.

The ominous sounds that escape cognitive identity clatter through the intro of “Chalk Point” before falling into the gulf of layers that comprise the majority of The Clearing. Pushing the organic and the electronic in and out, with Augury in an Evaporating Tower and Corpolite, Locrian adds a mastery of everything from hushed acoustic guitar to near power electronics to synths that break through from a world of giallo soundtracks, penning a near symphony while never faltering from a solid path. The beacon atop this secret pyramid is “The Clearing” itself. Here you find a staggering arc of sound that may be the group’s finest hour. At nearly 20 minutes, a slowly building rite pulls the listener into a place and time that they will compulsively visit over and over again to better understand. For every person any of the above strikes a chord with, Locrian is a must-know band, and The Clearing is a must-own album.


Recommended if you like:
Yes - Relayer LP, Throbbing Gristle, La Monte Young, Hive Mind, Burzum - Aske LP

Track Listing

Side A:
1. Chalk Point (8:14)
2. Augury in an Evaporating Tower (6:39)
3. Coprolite (6:39)

Side B:
1. The Clearing (17:26)


• The follow-up to their critically acclaimed The Crystal World LP.
•The Clearing was recorded by Jeremy Lemos, who has worked with notables such as Stereolab, John Fahey, Jim O’Rourke, and Wilco, amongst others.