Last night's radio session on Philip von Zweck's "Something Else" show (WLUW 88.7 FM) went really well and I was very pleased to have been a part of the session. Locrian consisted of their "more metal" three-piece incarnation, with Andrew from Velnias sitting in on drums. Spread out between 11:00 PM and 1:30 AM we played four songs together, two of which had a more propulsive metal direction and two of which followed a more noise/heavy drone path. I contributed feedback and vocals to two of the songs and synth (Roland MC-202) to the other two pieces. I am looking forward to hearing the results, as my only impression was from inside an approximately 100 square foot cinder-block room, two feet away from the bass drum, two feet away from Terence's pushed-to-the-limit amp, and one foot away from Andre's howling amp. Safe to say, this was more than just a warm-up for next weekend's Locrian recording sessions, where I will also be collaborating with the band.
Over multiple (I only slept three hours) espressos, I just spent some time with two new Locrian releases:
- Locrian/Katchmare split 7-inch on Pilgrim Talk
- Locrian "Land of Contamination" loop cassette/booklet
The marble vinyl single, a split with Bloomington's Katchmare, is presented in an extremely handsome, letterpressed sleeve, and it is limited to a mere 100 copies. The two artists compliment each other quite well. Those who have the recent Locrian CD, "Rhetoric of Surfaces," will recognize "Drosscape," which unwinds quite nicely from the dark vinyl grooves.
The loop tape - which, if you are not careful, you may find playing over and over and over, similar to some of my listening experiences with the lock groove on their "Plague Journal" single - comes with a small booklet that expands upon the abandoned shopping mall imagery from "Rhetoric of Surfaces" and some of the band's recent flyers, and it comes with an embroidered patch, a pin, and a sticker. It is ultra-limited, so do not hesitate if it sounds like it might be up your alley.
--- Finally, Locrian plays a free show tonight at the Empty Bottle with Bloodiest and Indian, both of whom I last saw on Halloween. This trio of bands is an excellent match-up of differing metal styles, from deconstructed to expansive to pummelling. Check out what the Reader had to say about Locrian, here
