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Less is more for this depressive Portland ensemble. Trees neglect the beauty of the riff, fashioning their debut Lights Bane (Crucial Blast/20 Buck Spin) with precision. 27 minutes restrain two tracks titled “Nothing” and “Black.” These four minimalists compact Lights Bane into black pockets of inactivity and faint feedback. When their despair finally strikes, Trees erupt in quaking drone. Desperate breathing, cymbal strikes, and feedback burst as missiles pummel the Earth. Don’t turn up the volume at quiet parts, as you will shit your pants once the thunder strikes. Imagine Khanate’s long-winded sounds of suffering tied with Corrupted and Burning Witch’s slimy bass undertones. Within that whirlwind blow Trees.
Nothing (excerpt)Black (excerpt)
Lenny Smith’s lungs resemble molten lava, exploding screams between massive chords. Amid a 13-minute stretch in “Nothing,” cymbals crash, feedback hums, and distant screaming echoes, creating well-timed explosions like an orchestrated thunderstorm. The day the General Sherman Tree dies, Lights Bane will serenade its funeral. The album artwork decorates nature in a dour shade. In the illustration, a woman’s flesh decomposes, as her Medusa-like hair resembles blood-caked leaves and vines. This album is a reflection on nature, invigorating themes of death and decay as nature rots away. “Black” unleashes the best of Trees. Come 5:10, Smith contorts his vocal chords into those of a hellish frog. His hoarse vocals gurgle among endless mounds of fat, as if Smith is suffocating from Trees’ sudden outbursts. Though steaming with rage and nearly breathless, he makes it out alive, a challenge worth taking with Lights Bane.
Buy:
Amazon (MP3)
Crucial Blast (CD)
20 Buck Spin (black, white vinyl)
This album fucking crushes.
Can’t believe no one else is into this.
Me neither!