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The Clearing & The Final Epoch

by LOCRIAN

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1.
Chalk Point 08:13
A haven of canyons Beneath the surface Total immersion Compliant Towers Across the expanse Total submersion Platforms above A threatening mire Total erasure The final echoes Ancients departing Total immersion
2.
Fumes and dust Phases of clearings Marred by dimension stones Cycles of removal Shales for ablution Legion
3.
Coprolite 06:39
4.
The Clearing 17:26
Boundary upon boundary Oblivion blackens the horizon Leaving tailings and traces Total mass relinquished Cast open Longwails Absolute removal Cessations
5.
6.
7.
Omega Vapors 09:36
8.
9.

about

For the better part of a decade Chicago’s Locrian have been creating sprawling, blackened drone masterpieces. With ‘The Clearing’ (previously release in late 2011 on vinyl only) Locrian’s signature sound of ominous crescendos mixed with powerful atmospherics and pulverizing tension reached its highest point to date, earning the record glowing reviews across the board from Decibel Magazine to Pitchfork. Locrian achieve what many bands set out for, but few accomplish: making truly terrifying music without sounding campy, contrived or corny. Now renamed ‘The Clearing/The Final Epoch’ the record is finally available in CD form complete with a full second CD consisting of almost an hour of rare and unreleased material. Limited edition first pressing comes housed in a gorgeous mini “tip-on” gatefold LP package.

"Plenty of bands play music that sounds dark, but few can make every note bleed black and breathe smoke. Count Locrian as part of that select circle. Something about the Chicago trio's sound is inherently ominous-- it's hard to imagine them playing "Chopsticks" without turning it into an earth-threatening thunderstorm. That effect is obvious in their noisier, more chaotic moments, where metallic noise and intense howls coalesce into scary crescendos. But it's just as strong in their quieter, more ambient stretches, when they build tension not from heightened climax but from sustained nuance.

The Clearing could be Locrian's most nuanced record so far. Throughout, they use slow, far-off sounds rather in-your-face noise to thicken the atmosphere. A frozen piano line, distant drum roll, or shadowy bass loop is often all the group needs to forge a palpable mood. More than half of the side-long, album-closing title track is made of such minimal material. Yet somehow the band mines it for 17 minutes of sonic pressure. When the song eventually swells into a gnarled thatch of static and low end, Locrian sound less like a group gaining momentum than a mountain rising up through the ocean after years of rumbling below the surface.

There are more covert moments of tension on The Clearing, and they're pretty powerful, too. Most pulverizing is "Augury in an Evaporating Tower", whose mix of tones showcases the band's agility. At points, the cascading drums and elongated screams conjure Prurient screamer Dominick Fernow's black metal band Ash Pool. But the band deftly shifts to oscillating drone and sky-seeking guitar that sound like Earth's Dylan Carlson battling a synth monster. "Chalk Point", on the other hand, takes a more traditional path to its climax, building piano chords into a kind of post-rock metal dirge.

Still, what impresses most about The Clearing is not specific turns or isolated moments, but the overwhelming mood it creates. That's what makes the album title apt-- Locrian's dark atmospheres aren't empty spaces, but stark traces of something that was there not long before. In other words, they're as good at creating negative spaces as they are at filling them in. Even when they get so subdued that they approach silence, you can hear ghosts echoing in their void."
--Marc Masters, Pitchfork, November 2, 2011

released 14 August 2012
Relapse Records
www.relapse.com
relapserecords.bandcamp.com

credits

released August 14, 2012

André Foisy - guitars, Arp Avatar
Terence Hannum - vocals, organ, synthesizers, piano
Steven Hess - drums, tapes

Recorded by Jeremy Lemos at Semaphore Studio, Chicago, IL, USA
MMX

Mastered by Jason Ward at Chicago Mastering Service

Art by Brian Ulrich
Design by Terence Hannum

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about

LOCRIAN Chicago, Illinois

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

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