Alice M.
Unique, to say the least. My only complaint is the absence of the second part in the digital version, but I guess there's a reason for that. Dunno.
Choco Latte
You can't label 'The Crystal World' properly. Is it ambient? Electronic? Noise? Drone? It's an Alice in Wonderland scenario. You just have to fall in and let it take you away.
Favorite track: Obsidian Facades.
Christøph Trvm
Locrian are a rare breed, utterly disturbing on one hand, in a bizarre way calming at the other. The Crystal World is fascinating, dark and shimmering.
Favorite track: Elevations and Depths.
FLESH MECHANIC
Haunting melodies colliding with mysterious noise. More experimental than the latest Locrian releases.
Favorite track: The Crystal World.
The onset of an era of isolation
Salt deposits, glaciers retreat
Submerged wanderings toward infinite torrents of cataclysms
A harbinger of elevations and depths (never before known)
Infertile migrations
Spoken of only in eons
Perpetual stasis
about
A marked change had come over the forest, as if dusk had begun to fall. Everywhere the glacé sheaths which enveloped the trees and vegetation had become duller and more opaque. The crystal floor underfoot was occluded and gray, turning the needles into spurs of basalt. The brilliant panoply of colored light had gone, and a dim amber glow moved across the trees, shadowing the sequined floor. At the same time it had become considerably colder.
The Crystal World, the third studio album from Locrian, is an epic journey. Titled after JG Ballard’s 1964 novel that tells the story of a physician who specializes in leprosy sent to a remote African outpost to discover a jungle that is slowly crystallizing and encroaching upon everything it touches. Disc one comprises six tracks while disc two consists of one extended piece, Extinction, that picks up on the intensity of disc one and sustains it for close to an hour. On The Crystal World, Terence Hannum, and André Foisy, are joined by Steven Hess (On, Pan American, Ural Umbo) on percussion and electronics. Hess’ contribution pushes Locrian deeper into the abyss of despair rendering a sound that is darker, bleaker, and engulfing than any of the group’s previous releases. Locrian continue the conceptual trajectory of blackened drone that the group initially embarked on during their first studio album Drenched Lands (2009). Masters of layering, The Crystal World finds the group manipulating tones and textures that transport the listener to an apocalyptic wasteland. At times, the layers are serene and somber, at other times they are chaotic.
The Crystal World is Locrian's essential release, finding the band creating a sound all of their own. A sound that evades simplistic analogies to black metal, power-electronics, noise, or other categories. This is the album that will stun fans of the bands previous works with how far the group has come from their early releases.
credits
released November 25, 2010
Locrian (2010)
André Foisy | Terence Hannum | Steven Hess
Copyright MMX Locrian and Utech Records
Recorded by Dave Whitcomb, Chicago IL, USA
Mastered by James Plotkin
Artwork by Vberkvlt
Locrian was formed in late 2005 by André Foisy and Terence Hannum. Allmusic has described the band as an ”eclectic mixture
of black metal, electronics, drone and noise rock”. The band have identified krautrock and '90s death metal as influences as well....more
supported by 34 fans who also own “The Crystal World”
Swirling guitars, furious drums, vocals that at the same time howl from infinite distance and are right up in your head; everything put into dissonant form with the help of unconventional songwriting. This album is my personal key to the icelanding black metal madness that I've ignored for way too long! Lukas Kaufmann
The Belgian band explore heavy psych, tribal rhythms, free-jazz freakouts, meditative drone and the vast, shadowy spaces in between. Bandcamp Album of the Day Jun 22, 2020
Dark electronic music gets warped and clobbered on the latest from Author & Punisher. Brooding, cutting, and claustrophobic. Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 18, 2017
Experimental electric guitar trio Harjo make heavy slabs of blown-out sound that aim to capture the buzz of present-day anxieties. Bandcamp New & Notable Jan 11, 2022
supported by 33 fans who also own “The Crystal World”
All I can really say is THANK YOU Dylan & co. for bringing new,amazing,dense,deep and interesting music into my life.I first heard about Earth through listening to Mark Lanegan 's book "Sing Backwards and Weep",the mention from Mark and also learning of he and Dylan's closely honed friendship and brotherhood of many years peaked my interest and I knew eventually I'd be embarking on this journey of interdimensional sound."Primitive and Deadly" is a masterpiece!!!!! monobri73