Customer Reviews

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From what I could tell this was SubArachnoid's sixth album. Possibly one of the Seattle band's better works. Better cuts are the *ss-kicking ten-minute opener "Harsh Test Of Life", the untitled track no. 3, the somewhat trippy "Angel Food", the sharp sounding "Tucson", and the eleven-minute jamming "Tigris". Also like the rather low-key "Down Not Out". Noticed a definite krautrock influence here. Fans of space rock, psychedelia, drone and kraut {of course} should get a lot from this disc. Loyal follows of such bands like Acid Mothers Temple, Bardo Pond, ST 37, Kinski and Oxbow will likely hang onto this CD for life, like I plan to do. A real keeper.

I liked this much more than the other album by the band that I have found, "The Red Veil." Why? I think the group works better when alternating hot and cool, as they do to eloquent effect here. Sampling (as with another album I paired with this one perfectly, Surface of Eceon's "Dragynn"--also reviewed by me) in small bits does not convey the scope of these long-simmering, more than quickly boiling, songs that open into panoramas of volcanic or placid landscapes.

The variety in this well-sequenced and emotionally gripping collection of meditative and assertive songs provides tension and release in an assured fashion. This enigmatic Bay Area group seems not to have a high profile or wide distribution of their albums, but they are worth seeking out as another dimension that goes further into the past early 70s German influences and arguably in another direction from better-known bands from Chicago, Scotland, and Montreal, for instance. This album should please discriminating listeners who seek carefully arranged, meticulously plotted, aurally rich, sonic substance in their quieter moments as well as their more rousing ones!