Locrian – “Chalk Point” [Song Stream]

The Skinny: This fall, Fan Death Records sees Locrian give birth to their magnum opus. The Clearing breaks free of the must own list for the group itself, and transcends into a must own list for general fans of everything from Loveless to Goo to Black One, Touched, Through Silver and Blood, and beyond. Not quite ambient, certainly not black metal, The Clearing takes a diversity of sounds, combined with a hushed aesthetic, and folds them into a mature record that demands attention from the first second to the last.

This may be the closest the group will ever come to capturing the holy communion of their live performances.The ominous sounds that escape cognitive identity clatter through the intro of “Chalk Point” before falling into the gulf of layers that comprise the majority of The Clearing. Pushing the organic and the electronic in and out, with Augury in an Evaporating Tower and Corpolite, Locrian adds a mastery of everything from hushed acoustic guitar to near power electronics to synths that break through from a world of giallo soundtracks, penning a near symphony while never faltering from a solid path. The beacon atop this secret pyramid is “The Clearing” itself. Here you find a staggering arc of sound that may be the group’s finest hour. At nearly 20 minutes, a slowly building rite pulls the listener into a place and time that they will compulsively visit over and over again to better understand.

For every person any of the above strikes a chord with, Locrian is a must-know band, and The Clearing is a must-own album. Coming up from the basements of experimental black metal, Locrian quickly made a name for themselves, laying the cobblestones for their own unique world. Through three LPs and a small stash of other releases, the group have floated ever towards a mesmerizing sound that defies classification. Dark, brooding, complex, and lush, with each release Locrian have raised the bar for their own grey sky heightened standards.