Black Sky Giant : "the Red Chariot"

Instrumental Music is not normally my thing, but this album felt worth working my way through once I was two songs into it. There is a hazy stoner vibe underlying the drifting landscape this band from Argentina paints for your ears. There are great guitar tones captured here, that are played in a manner that is very melodic owing more to a David Gilmour style of playing rather than being a shred wank-o-thon. The fact they can keep my attention with what they do speaks highly of them. There is a post-punk vibe at times, as the tense guitar line has the 80s reverb sound made popular by bands like the Cure. This is the focal point of " A Timeless Oracle". The guitar melody draws your ears to the place where the vocals would normally sit. 

The guitars continue to craft impressive melodies on "Illuminated By Reflection".  The fact they are keeping my attention as an instrumental act is impressive and a testament to how good they are at what they do. Things build a little toward the end of this song, but I would not say this is heavy. There is more gas in the drumming to "Submerged Towers". They flirt with the idea of returning to the more Cure-like sound they played with earlier in the album, but do not commit to it. "Electrical Civilization" is the first song that leans in a more stoner metal direction. There is a slight Sabbath-like menace to the riff that drives the song. 

"Augury" has a little more of a Kyuss-like feel. It wanders off into guitar heroics, as the song is jammed out into its rambling strum. It has more of a 90s grunge feel in places. The last song has more of a 70s feel to it, though is more indulgent in how it displays the guitar solo which is more of a centerpiece that the rest of the song just bubbles under. I will give this album a 9, it's one of the better instrumental albums I have listened to in some time, though I do not listen to many over the course of the year.

pst14