Following on from that superb New Bums record, Ben Chasny is back with Six Organs of Admittance, his main project. This new album, The Veiled Sea, finds Ben engaing in abrasive stuff, with lovely passages peeking through. The Three Lobed Recordings release is sure to please a lot of people on this Record Store Day.
While opener "Local Clocks" is barely there, "Somewhere in the Hexagon of Saturn" is a real fiery epic. Amid Chasny's scorhing runs on the guitar, and throbbing bass, the composition stakes out space-y territory that's best described as acid rock meets Sun Ra. "All That They Left You", on the other hand, is odd but catchy. Over crunchy, nearly synth rock riffs, Ben sings like a dime-store Reznor. It's an uncharacteristic number for Six Organs of Admittance, but a stellar one nonetheless. It's offset by the elegant spaciousness of "Old Dawn", one of this album's gentlest and calmest numbers.
The stylistic shifts on The Veiled Sea might seem schizophrenic to some, but they reveal to me an artist stlll confident enough to take these leaps without looking at the ground beneath. Things are performed with a mix of confidence and recklessness and the overall effect is a fine one, with nothing here really disappointing, even if the styles clashes and contrast against each other.
The Veiled Sea is out now via Three Lobed Recordings.
More details on Six Organs of Admittance via the official website.
[Photo: Drag City]