Sometimes the best move involves smoking the devil’s lettuce and sinking into some long form doom, or ambient, I suppose. Hell, why not both?
Ungraven, the duo of Conan mainstay Jon Davis and former Conan bassist/synthesist/vocalist Dave Perry, has so far given us a raw black metal demo followed by slabs of sludge including a split with Slomatics. Yet, change is as inevitable as a guy with a synth wanting to make ambient music. In this case, however, the ambient approach is matched with droning guitars for that ultra-giga-doom effect. On their upcoming album, Hollows Made Homes In Their Sunken Cheeks, Ungraven explores the slow psychedelia of drone metal in a way that is as comforting as it is unsettling. Check it out on Friday, April 18th, or get a head start by streaming it RIGHT NOW! Stop what you’re doing, toke a bowl, and dive into the full album stream below, your boss won’t care.
Two tracks spanning over 43 minutes, Hollows Made Homes In Their Sunken Cheeks lets each amplifier exhale their soundwaves with a full breath, every new chord a meditation. Meanwhile, Perry’s synths build and flutter in the peaks and valleys of that frequency. The first track, “Nothing Is Less Than Zero” feels fit to soundtrack a slow burn horror film, the kind of stylized endeavor Neon or A24 would release. The distorted vocal samples peppered throughout the track add to this fearful sensation, while the final synth chords resolve in a gleam of hope. The title track sees Ungraven takes a more progressive approach, slowly melting itself into different textures that continuously capture the listener’s attention. It too would fit into a horror film at times, but the biggest thrill of this album is letting the slow builds envelop you in a haunting trance.
Inspired by Davis and Perry’s earlier collaborations on Conan tracks “Older Than Earth” and “Grief Sequence,” as well as Davis’s wish to move the project away from traditional rock music, Hollows Made Homes In Their Sunken Cheeks was collaborated on remotely via England and Denmark. Perry’s synth, organ, and piano add gorgeous layers of texture and subtlety to Davis’s glacially paced riffs, like Sunn O))), Brian Eno, and Tangerine Dream morphed into an unholy chimera. The absence of drums creates an unmatched atmosphere that draws away your consciousness, leaving you in meditative awe. Best enjoyed loud and while stoned, this album is a hypnotic tour-de-force that is an exciting reinvention of Ungraven‘s sound.
Follow Ungraven on Facebook, Instagram, and Bandcamp. Pre-order Hollows Made Homes In Their Sunken Cheeks at Heavy Psych Sounds.
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