ORB: Naturality
OK, time for some of that heavy twitchy shit that you can feel in your eyeballs. Here are four new ones to rock your eyes right out of your sockets. And what are your eyes but a couple of glassy orbs, so why not start out with ORB? Out of Australia, these guys have put together a killer debut, Naturality. They grab you with some serious riff-rage from the get-go and then just get you all blinkered from there. Out in the U.S. on Castle Face (of Oh Sees fame), this is some can’t-miss psych-metal. When I hear something that’s so good I don’t know what to do, I just laugh out loud. Let’s just say I pretty much was tearing up from laughter when I first listened to this.
Ex Eye: Ex Eye
Alright, now that you see what I’m getting at here, let’s get even heavier. This next one is Ex Eye a sort of supergroup of see-no-evil nastiness. Saxophonist Colin Stetson has assembled a band with Greg Fox, Shahzad Ismaily and Toby Summerfield and if you know any of those guys individually, you know they can each pack a serious punch on their own. Together on this self-titled debut, out this summer on Relapse, they are like an optical illusion for the ear, playing tricks with relentless intensity. In the dense overlapping regions of metal, psych and jazz is where you’ll find Ex Eye blowing shit up. You just might need your safety glasses.
Electric Eye: From the Poisonous Tree
How you doing after that? Feeling OK? How many fingers am I holding up? Cool. Let’s continue. On to Norway and the third-eye Eurojammers Electric Eye. These guys have been featured here before and their brand new album From The Poisonous Tree is a vision of deep, droning psych-rock. This is their third studio album, with a terrific live album out last year, and each finds the band getting better, more confident and more experimental. Mixed in with their x-ray-vision stoner excursions are some seriously groovy elements and eye-popping rhythms. I think you’ll dig this one.
In Zaire: Visions Of The Age To Come
By now you must be having some visions, so I’ll appropriately finish up with an album called Visions Of The Age To Come. The band is In Zaire, but they’re actually from Berlin, Germany and they are a sight for sore eyes, no doubt. The record mixes up tribal rhythms, psych and prog, electric and electronic — at times subtle and at others totally raging. It’s amazing how so many bands can take the same basic elements and influences and each come up with something unique. On paper In Zaire should be like so many other bands out there, but in fact, they’ve got their own vision and are making it happen. I hope you found something eye-opening in this week’s picks. Enjoy!
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