Detritivore - Pakt

. . .

[audio: DETRITIVORE_POSTLUDIUM.mp3]
[audio: DETRITIVORE_PAKT.mp3]

On only their debut, Norwegian duo Detritivore have discovered what took Sunn O))) years to learn – that drones taste better with seasoning.

The power of early Earth/early Sunn O))) is undeniable. There’s something so pure about tuning down, plugging into a wall of amps, and playing big-ass chords that call for one’s largest air guitar. Not the one you use for shredding, but the meter-and-a-half-long one you use for the heaviest of metal. (Mine goes well with my air beard.)

But that purity only translates on a large scale – directly in front of those amps, or through mortgage payment-sized speakers. On MP3’s in earbuds, that power disappears. Later Sunn O))) records work in sub-optimal audio settings because they have midrange and high-end information: vocals, melodies, other instrumentation.

Detritivore apply this knowledge to Pakt (Lyderhorn, 2010). In some ways, it works like a conventional metal record. Riffs are discernible. Tracks are distinct. There’s the Earth/Sunn O)))-esque big rumbler, the Pink Floydian motorik groove, the ambient number that screws with sampled choral vocals. Clean and distorted guitars speak in simple conversations. Vocal textures occasionally interject.

But though this record could have gone the full band route, it doesn’t. That’s why it’s interesting. The lack of drums opens up frequency space for the guitars to be enormous. It also alters one’s expectations of time. Instead of finite verses, choruses, and bridges, the feeling is suspended. Drums could crash in, but they don’t. We’re in that second before they do, but that second has dilated to 34 minutes and 24 seconds. It’s a delicious sensation.

A final note: this is one of the best-packaged CD’s I’ve ever seen. The design is simple: a cardboard gatefold with Justin Bartlett‘s artwork. No plastic anything, except for the disc itself. It’s simple and elegant.

I’m giving away one copy of this CD. Just suggest in the comments box a drone act that, like early Earth/Sunn O))), utilizes distorted guitars and no percussion. Please limit your picks to three, and include relevant MySpace/Bandcamp/etc. links. My favorite one that’s new to me wins the CD. Foreign entrants are welcome. This contest will close at midnight EST this Thursday, May 20.

. . .

Lyderhorn (CD, LP)
Crucial Blast (CD, LP)
All That Is Heavy (CD, LP)
Nuclear War Now! (CD, LP)
Relapse (CD, LP, both w/free poster)

. . .