Black Walls – Communion

Liam Doyle — Wed, 26 Feb 2014 15:19:00 +0000

We were big fans of Black Walls’s debut album, Acedia, here at Wake The Deaf, featuring it way back in May 2012. So we were pretty excited to hear that Black Walls (aka Kenneth Reaume) was back with a brand new album, Communion. Unfortunately, the album was recorded in tragic circumstances, in the aftermath of the death of Reaume’s father. The recording process appears to have become a kind of meditative experience, a form of personal exploration in response to the grief that Reaume doubtlessly experienced. He says, “Recording these songs, I found myself exploring the metaphysical nature of life, my deeply religious upbringing, solitude, dependency and detachment from others, confusion/anxiety and subconsciously craving to disconnect and yearn for a more pastoral existence.”

Communion consists of just five (albiet mostly rather lengthy) tracks, each of which could be described using terms such as ambient, drone and post-rock, although such terms do little to convey the emotional heft that the album carries. The album has a tangible substance, a weight, something that Reaume describes as “a glacial, mountainous, almost monolithic quality that reflected my mood and state of mind.“ For an album recorded in his bedroom, this is no mean feat. Lo-fi bedroom pop this is not. This may be due in part to the help Reaume received from James Plotkin, who mastered the album (having previously worked with bands such as Sunn O))), Isis, Earth and Oneohtrix Point Never).

There are very few conventional lyrics on Communion. The closest thing we get are the vocals on Field Two, but even here the lyrics are abstract and opaque (’I much prefer the truth, ‘cos you know they say we’ll die by the sword’). Some of my favourite vocals on the album come on PTSD, where they have an almost hymnal quality, like some kind of monastic chant, bringing some semblance of peace to an otherwise powerful and lonely record.

For all the grief and pain on display, this is still a very beautiful album. There are occasions where the sonic landscapes feel bleak and desolate, but there are also glimpses of something else. Communion is a very human album, borne out of fear and confusion, but ultimately a testament to inner strength. It takes courage to sit down and record something like this, and it is this spirit which ultimately shines through.

You can buy the album right now as a digital download on the Black Walls Bandcamp page, or on vinyl via Pleasence Records.

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Akron/Family – Sub Verses

Jon Doyle — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 13:25:00 +0000

Akron/Family are readying their seventh album, Sub Verses. The album art (which you can see above) was designed by Stephen O’Malley of Sunn O))). The band have released a couple of tracks in preview of the album, and both have me excited for the full release. ‘No Room’, the album’s opener, is seven brooding minutes of heavy psych-rock, punctuated with shamanistic chants and vocal harmonies. It really is the soundtrack to mind-bending desert rituals, to hallucinations around the bonfire. The second single, Until The Morning’ has a completely different vibe, recalling 2011’s S/T II: The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT. It still has countless layers of instrumentation and the group vocals, but is less pounding guitar riffs, more Animal Collective-style indie pop. The bad have also released a video for the track, which you can view below:

Sub Verses is scheduled for release on the 30th of April on Dead Oceans. You can pre-order it now on CD, LP, or in a beautiful deluxe bundle.

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Black Walls – Communion

Akron/Family – Sub Verses