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."

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.

New Reviews of "The Clearing"

Gumshoe Grove on "Chalk Point" here

A full review from American Aftermath here

Fan Death are out of pre-orders of the album, but you'll be able to order the LP as of November 1st.

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

"New Dominions" Reviewed by Foxy Digitalis

Link here.

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Here’s a release that is sure to bring a tear of joy to the eye and a fresh well of drool to the lips. It’s an instant classic! Everything about this record is aimed to please. First, there’s the killer contributions of two of avant-metal’s finest, Horseback and Locrian. If you haven’t heard of them yet or have been hiding your head in the sand, you need to check them out before you miss out completely. They are two of the most cutting edge artists in the underground, and to have them together on one split is just awesome! Second, the art and graphic design is spectacular. Immediately, the unusual cover painting grabs your attention. It’s called The Wooden Word done by artist, Denis Forkas Kostromitin, along with the etching that’s printed in beautiful black ink on the full size insert called, Omega Auroch. And this brings me to the third coolest thing about this release: the art on the b-side of the record. It looks much like the etching, Omega Auroch, but is a lacquer engraving by Mark Willis. Absolutely stunning. I knew when this record dropped, that I’d put it on my best-of list for 2011. Now that I’ve experienced it firsthand there’s no question. It surely deserves the title. Killer in so many ways.

Okay, the tracks are grim slowburners that complement one another very well. Starting off with a nice track from Horseback called, The Gift we get more of a combo of Jenks Miller’s earlier work, mixed with some of the progression we heard on the very memorable The Invisible Mountain, and then there’s a complex maturity to the track which I am unable to define but undoubtedly hear as I go along. Unfortunately for me, an avid Horseback fan, Jenks’ track is significantly shorter than the Locrian contribution. However, it is so good. It starts off with a cloud of black haze that has a slight ring to stir the adrenaline and adds some effects in for good measure. Then climbing its way from the tomb of dark atmospheres is a raspy voice that chokes out some indecipherable garbles. Also introduced are some slow-tempoed drums that sound very Locrian-esque. It’s gone before you know it, and Locrian steps in with a very doomful couple of bass timbres that are so freaking soulful. Also prevalent in this track, Our Epitaph, are the chanted vocals that sound distant, like they’re rising up from your basement or something. I say they’re chanted because the words are really stretched out into long syllables that remind me of some of Bauhaus legend Peter Murphy’s lingering voice on In the Flat Field or Hollow Hills. Anyway, a couple looping effects build into what seems like a very long climax in the track. I thought for a moment that this one had locked grooves that would repeat the same moment until you stopped it. It eventually all boiled down and dissolved into some trailing noise that almost zips out of there. What stuck out the most to me were the two repeated bass tones that just weigh heavily in your skull like two anchors thrown over a war-torn ship of undead sailors. Incredibly powerful bass.

Impressive in every way, I give this record a standing ovation. I was even more wowed when I learned that the artists were intentionally trying new things on this record. I could tell, but I didn’t know if that was on purpose. Here’s what the label says:

“New Dominions is an epitaph to an era and a rebirth of another. Inspired by Alan Weisman’s book The World Without Us, it is the profound religious feel of the takeover events that stand out in Weisman’s detailed narration. While quite a bleak read, it successfully conveys an image of unstoppable sermon, a service of Life that would continue no matter if humanity or any other species cares to attend it. This collaborative release brings together two of the most exciting artists operating at the forefront of the underground. The groups’ willingness to explore new sounds, textures, and moods sets them apart from other artists operating in heavy music. New Dominions may be the most intense and brooding releases by either group. . . . New Dominions is an extremely heavy record, but has few of the typical characteristics of a heavy album.”

Both artists work with new dimensions of their projects to accomplish such an inspired release. To work outside of their box and to execute it so well is very deft. Both artists are becoming archmasters of their art. High lauds to them. Only 300 made.

Utech Records
10/10

Brainwashed on Locrian/Horseback: "New Dominions"

Link here.

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As I mentioned in my review of the split 7" a few weeks ago, these are easily two of my favorite artists working in the more experimentally focused metal scene (that currently doesn't have an inane genre tag, which I'm perfectly fine with). Unlike that single, this one sided LP has the two projects working collaboratively, with the results completely living up to expectations.

Utech

Jenks Miller's solo project Horseback has recently received wider exposure due to reissues via Relapse, but Horseback still remains far more complex than most other artists with a metal bent to their sound. Chicago's Locrian is now a trio after vocalist/keyboardist Terence Hannum and guitarist Andre Foisy added the accomplished experimental percussionist Steven Hess to their lineup last year. Coming off 2010's distinctly different LPs Territories and The Crystal World, they have developed into a unique balance of dark atmospheres and avant garde sounds. This release is partially a celebration of the upcoming Utech Music Festival, as these two are both the headlining acts, but it’s anything but a merchandising cash grab.

The shorter "The Gift" opens with heavily reverberated guitar noises and improvised percussion from Hess. Amidst the swirling chaos there’s guitar to be heard: rapid, sparsely effected notes that shine like a pinhole of light in the otherwise oppressive blackness. The vocals sound more like Horseback to me, so I'm guessing it’s Miller's guttural, pained vocals that instantly reminded me of Danny from The Shining. Half way in the drums lock into a more traditional rhythm, and the remainder would almost be a lush ambient piece if it wasn’t so heavy and evil sounding.

The longer "Our Epitaph" slowly lurches along over a sparse distorted bass and drum rhythm, which, when combined with the monastic, chanted vocals (which sound like Hannum, but I’m guessing), feels like a ritualistic chant, austere and focused. In the background a combination of guitar and synthesizer come together violently, slowly becoming the focus and engulfing the liturgical chants.

The thing is, this sounds not like a collaboration in the traditional sense but like a singular project that perfectly balances the influence of the individual parts. Miller's unique combination of black metal and old school minimalism perfectly matches Locrian's film-score like bleakness and juxtaposition of noise and structure. New Dominions sounds like the work of both artists, but neither one in particular. It highlights both of their strengths, blended into a perfectly unified whole that's among the best I have ever heard in this currently unnamed category of experimental metal. I just hope this isn’t the only collaboration these two bands will unleash.

Vinyl Abuse on Locrian "The Crystal World"

Link here. Thanks to the blogger for the support.

Here's what he has to say:

"After having Locrian's latest LP spinning on my turntable for the last few weeks I'm finally getting around to posting about it. It's not easy to describe the sounds on this record as there's quite a mix of genres all melting together to make music that's both dark and beautiful at the same time. The cover art by Justin Bartlett looks exactly like it sounds, which is what album covers should do. Fans of ambient, drone, noise and black metal would be best off getting this into your eardrums as soon as possible. LP available now from Utech Records."

"Drenched Lands" Reviewed at Allmusic.com

Link here.

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Review

by Eduardo Rivadavia

After several years of conducting one-off musical experiments, oftentimes issued in limited numbers and unconventional formats like vinyl, cassette, or CD-R (or not at all), Chicago's Locrian finally felt ready to record their debut album in 2009's Drenched Lands. But that decision hardly spelled the end of the group's restless musical shape-shifting, as evidenced by the brusque textural disconnect between each of the album's songs (and the art of seamless "sequencing" be damned), beginning with its brief, minimal, and melancholy opening gambit, "Obsolete Elegy in Effluvia and Dross," and its protracted, slowly escalating noise-drone follow-up, "Ghost Repeater." Even by post-metal standards, the pair just don't line up -- on paper -- yet they ultimately make sense in the decontextualized "anything goes" mentality displayed throughout Drenched Lands. This proceeds via always unexpected detours into atmospheric black metal ("Barren Temple Obscured by Contaminated Fogs"), church organ reverie-cum-doomy power chord misery ("Epicedium"), and assiduous feedback sculpting over tolling bells and scything guitar staccatos ("Obsolete Elegy in Cast Concrete"). Technically, Drenched Lands concludes here, but a 30-minute-long bonus offering entitled "Greyfield Shrines" (previously released on vinyl, but virtually impossible to find) reveals what Locrian can do to connect their eclectic creative interests when they choose to, and the terrifyingly cinematic results, climaxing in a mechanical primal scream, are truly awesome to behold. And, as it turned out, Locrian's virginal foray into full-length territory opened a virtual floodgate of inspiration that yielded another pair of very impressive (and largely uncategorizable) albums within a year, those being 2010's Territories and The Crystal World.