The shadows sway with the bong-laden haze of this band's gloomy dirges. There is a great deal of maturity possessing the debut from this Oakland based band. One of their most apparent strengths lies in the voice of Lyra Cruz . Eliot Rennie's drumming certainly helps to keep things moving in a fluid manner. Things continue down the autumnal sonic path with "Lost & Found". The vocals sit at the forefront of the mix, so when the distorted chord crashes in they are relegated to a reverbed backdrop. This leads me to believe that heavy is not the primary mood they are seeking to invoke here. The guitar solo has more gain and cuts through into the spotlight of the mix, so they are fully aware guitars can be front and center.
Things take on a more slithering melancholy for "Tension" which makes it more aptly named. Cruz's vocals haunt the song from the more alto side of her range. The bass playing of Joel Lacey holds the song together as the guitarist creates a web of atmosphere. I can hear this sitting on the more progressive outskirts of the doom genre. "Flying Low" moves towards a more metallic throb. The vocal melody is catchier, though she excels at putting her voice in all the right places. This might be the album's heaviest song thus far. Shoe-gaze also seems to be another influence on the way a song like "Lunar" coasts along through the bong-filled deserts conjured in the space the riffs leave behind. Another moment might recall 90s grunge, but those are less frequent and would be the more ethereal moments from bands like Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains. Though "Lunar" is the closest these kids come to mainstream rock.
The close the album with the 11-minute "Soil". It starts like it's floating down a lazy river or speculation and begins to shift five and a half minutes in. It splits the difference between jamming and droning. Crossing over more toward the jam side when the guitar solo is allowed to take things off course. Their drummer keeps this interesting. Even though the vocals have been a texture, they have been a dominant force of their sound, so going off into an extended instrumental passage makes sense. It unfolds into a more depressive introspective. Overall I really love what is going on here, aside from the deliberate choice to sacrifice the metallic heft of guitars, I think they make perfect choices in a flowing organic fashion and I will give this album a 9.5, so it almost classic perfect, but certainly one of the strongest forays into this sort of thing.
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