Beyond the Wall of Sleep - June 29th, 2011

The word that springs to mind after listening to this album twice in a row is soulful. This album to my ears at least contains it in abundance. The opener Earth - is full of some of the sweetest lead guitar I have heard in a while. Victor Griffin springs to mind - and we know how many chops he has. Second track Air has some very nice almost psych breakdowns which combined with the riffage moves along very nicely indeed. For my taste I feel the guitar needs a little more bite in the mix - just my ears again. Something like the guitar sound on Iggy pop's Corruption, oh yes. No criticism, just a suggestion to turn your angry pedal up a notch.

The interlude - a almost raga instrumental sits quite well between Air and the next track Fire. An effective bridge.

Fire, probably the heaviest song here shifts gear halfway through into a section which I will simply describe as crunchy before returning to sender via a massive dose of phasing. Truly something on a good pair of headphones with a decent amp. Music like this deserves it. Finally onto Water, opening with a shimmering clean section goes through the gears before arriving back at the main riff featured in the opener, Earth. We have come full circle and that is almost certainly why I have just listened to it twice in a row.

Sneaky.......Seriously a neat concept well executed. I would like to thank the band for sending me the preview - its a first for our group, appreciate the faith.

So yes, soulful and heavy. Always a good pairing - recommended.

Ed Gane