locrian-infinite-dissolution

Locrian streaming great new LP 'Infinite Dissolution' (listen)

by Andrew Sacher

Locrian

Metal is one of those genres with fans who love to debate whether or not a band is in fact “metal.” One band that often finds themselves a subject of these debates is Chicago’s Locrian. It’s easy to see why someone would say they aren’t — it’s not unusual to find them tagged as ambient, drone or post-rock — but those tags are also sort of misleading. The band’s excellent new album, Infinite Dissolution, which comes out this week via Relapse, has screamed vocals and blastbeats that you’re not exactly going to find on a Stars of the Lid album. Maybe it could at least be called “ambient metal,” but that even does a disservice to how diverse this music is.

Unless you’re one of those people who can’t stand screaming at all, Infinite Dissolution is a record that should impress fans of most forms of non-commercial rock music (metal and non-metal included). The harsh, heavy parts are there, but it’s often a very beautiful record. It never goes so far into drone that it would turn off someone who likes a little more accessibility, but it never succumbs to traditional rock song structure either. The production is great (the drums especially sound fantastic), and the way it brings together synths with distorted guitars is seamless. Infinite Dissolution isn’t the only album this year to combine elements of black metal with less evil sounds, but it doesn’t sound quite like much else coming out at the moment. Hear it for yourself by streaming the whole album below (via Revolver).

Locrian also have a west coast tour with Insect Ark in August, but nothing scheduled for the east coast yet. Let’s hope that changes soon.

Locrian — 2015 Tour Dates
8/13/2015 High Water Mark – Portland, OR*
8/14/2015 The Shakedown – Bellingham, WA*
8/15/2015 Highline – Seattle, WA*
8/16/2015 Crazy Horse – Boise, ID*
8/17/2015 Urban Lounge – Salt Lake City, UT*
8/19/2015 Complex – Los Angeles, CA*
8/20/2015 Elbo Room – San Francisco, CA*
8/21/2015 Starlite Lounge – Sacramento, CA*

* – w/ Insect Ark