ninehertz

This serves as my introduction to Lunar Grave, a band from Portland who have releases dating back to 2010. Echodelick Records often provide this pristine function of opening our eyes and ears to bands that we should have known well before now. Having really got into Prismatic Earthship, I’ve got a lot of catching up to do.

This is chilled psychedelia splashed with explorative krautrock within a dream state. Guitars exist in the ether as the backline sets into repeating rhythms in the clouds. Pyramid Initiation sets the tone right away, building gradually in volume and momentum whilst maintaining that floaty, warped mindset at all times.

Rune Spells has a mystical, Eastern flavour, while Astral Cloak introduces a bit of grit into its wiry psychedelia. The gorgeous start to the title track reminds me of Brant Bjork’s Jalamanta in its tripped out fried stoner jam style.

It ends with Altar of Smoke, something of a psych drone built upon basic repetition, nicely allowing the cosmic noises to flail around fluidly. The album succeeds in intentionally playing upon simple lines, expanding from a core repeating base to cast psychedelic spells of wonder around them. It makes for a lovely record that you can melt away with during the experience.