ninehertz

The label WV Sorcerer Productions, operating out of France and China, find some of the strangest goings on in the underground, but rarely as delightfully eclectic as Heptaméron, a new album from Taiwan’s Acid Brain.

My doom-biased mind assumed such a musical direction based on the band name, while seeing a shortened track with "noise" in the title prepared me for a brief harsh intro. But both predictions were shattered, a pattern repeated album long. Instead, what greets you is essentially dungeon synth and delicate, lush flutes. There is an overcast doom riff on the intriguing titled Seven Steps Beneath Dungeon, but this is tempered by a peaceful fluttering guitar. There is a crazed interplay between these elements lending an experimental edge and almost psychedelic air.

What else you ask? The warped, spooky carnival vibes within Japanese-styled deep psych of Mansion and the ghostly and doomy sinisterness of Abyss I represent the darker corners of their many-sided home. In other areas, Abyss II gets you moving your feet in a Goat-ish world-music funk groove while Into Mansion has a piano infused jazz spirit within a psych and hardcore melange of noises.

As it ends with the suitably chaotic Requiem, which moves between a cosmic heaviness, cinematic melodies and saxophone addition, you’re left to reflect on what is a truly eclectic album, psychedelic in its innate nature as much as sound. And most importantly, it is tied together so not to feel obtuse or a strange mis-collection – this is a wild ride album that is as musically appealing as it is head-scratchingly odd.