[photo by Jimmy Hubbard]As Relapse Records prepares for LOCRIAN‘s dominating new Infinite Dissolution LP to see release this Friday, July 24th, Revolver Magazine has unleashed a stream of the entire album.
This week, Pitchfork reviewed Infinite Dissolution, offering it an 8.2/10 review, issuing in part, “Despite LOCRIAN‘s doomsday obsessions, Infinite Dissolution–much like the last five years of LOCRIAN at large–depends upon a wide-eyed sense of musical wonder. LOCRIAN‘s evolution has hinged less on a refinement of their style and more on an expansion of it, so that new influences and impulses operate inside of their general roar. This spirit is obvious from the start of Infinite Dissolution, which exposes facets and folds of LOCRIAN that never before seemed to exist.” Vice Magazine’s music portal, Noisey, states of the album, “With Infinite Dissolution, it seems that LOCRIAN has turned the ‘shit,’ or rather their frustrations and anxieties about the world, into gold. The record’s moods and textures are unequivocally varied, its nine songs carefully paced and arranged for maximum effect. One minute’s unrelenting harshness is the sonic equivalent of having your face scraped across concrete. In the next, the wounds are melted away in atmospheric bliss. Through it all, layers upon layers of sound and field recordings make for even more heightened dimension.” In a glorious 9.5/10 review, Heathen Harvest praises the record: “Like its predecessor, Infinite Dissolution is a further development of LOCRIAN‘s sound and represents a sense of them coming into their own as a band that writes songs rather than just making sounds. It finds them consistently transitioning from their more abstract drone days into a more song-oriented framework, without losing their experimental inclinations. The way that they beautifully weave memorable melodies into passages of dissonant and experimental soundscapes makes for an album that has the complex, captivating depth of an avant-garde record, but with brilliant guitar and drum passages to ground it squarely in the realm of conventional music. One of the greatest albums of 2015, no question.” Steel For Brains states, “…the experimental sound alchemy of LOCRIAN is at times some of the band’s most confrontational work to date. Despite this, the album’s volatility is derived from the same sort of disquiet the band has threaded throughout their ten-year existence. Themes of dissolution, decay, and entropy set against a background equally measured in the duality of abrasive machinery and ethereal atmospherics.” Cvlt Nation also reviewed the album with glowing accolades, including, “Post rock, shoegazey drones and dark ambient soundscapes return from their previous works, but the guitar performances across this album are somehow at the same time more rhythmic and accessible than on previous releases, yet more experimental. Warm moog synth creates a far more organic noise than many of their contemporaries, and droning feedback produces a base that surprisingly accessible guitar riffs dance over, further punctuated by a more prominent, focused vocal performance than ever before…”
Delve into LOCRIAN’s expansive Infinite Dissolution LP in its entirety for yourself courtesy of Revolver Magazine now at THIS LOCATION.
Having just performed several shows throughout the Midwest with the likes of Liturgy, Trever de Brauw and more, LOCRIAN will embark on their first tour in support of Infinite Dissolution in mid-August. From August 13th through the 21st, the band will trek through Portland, Bellingham, Seattle, Boise, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sacramento with support from Insect Ark. Additional tenth anniversary performances will follow in the coming months, and in early 2016 the band plans on taking the hymns from Infinite Dissolution to European audiences.
LOCRIAN Tour Dates:
8/13/2015 High Water Mark – Portland, OR w/ Insect Ark
8/14/2015 The Shakedown – Bellingham, WA w/ Insect Ark [info]
8/15/2015 Highline – Seattle, WA w/ Insect Ark [info]
8/16/2015 Crazy Horse – Boise, ID w/ Insect Ark
8/17/2015 Urban Lounge – Salt Lake City, UT w/ Insect Ark [info]
8/19/2015 Complex – Los Angeles, CA w/ Insect Ark [info]
8/20/2015 Elbo Room – San Francisco, CA w/ Insect Ark [info]
8/21/2015 Starlite Lounge – Sacramento, CA w/ Insect Ark [info]
Celebrating their tenth anniversary in 2015, LOCRIAN delivers their most conceptually complex and textured material to date on Infinite Dissolution, the album issuing the band’s environmentalist views on mankind’s ongoing demise through our own destruction of the planet. Produced by Greg Norman (Pelican, Russian Circles) at Steve Albini-owned/operated Electrical Audio in Chicago, mastered by Brad Boatright (Yob, Author & Punisher, Sleep) at Audiosiege in Portland, and bearing artwork based on an immense physical sculpture installation by David Altmejd, the band’s second album for Relapse Records surges with nearly fifty minutes of tortured yet stunning experimental blackened/noise-soaked industrial originality. Fans of Liturgy, Ulver, Sunn O))), Deafheaven, The Haxan Cloak, Wolves In The Throne Room, Godspeed! You Black Emperor, Horseback, Zombi and similar genre-bending acts should keep the band’s harrowing blend of dark ambiance, drone, black metal, post-rock, and power electronics on Infinite Dissolution at the top of their list.
Preorders for the CD and vinyl versions of Infinite Dissolution including merch bundles are available HERE, and digital preorders via BandCamp HERE and iTunes HERE.
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