Subarachnoid Space
The Red Veil
Strange Attractors
With a heady mixture of metal, psychedelica and prog, Subarachnoid Space is exactly what neophytes like Mouth of the Architect aspire to be: completely solid and still amorphous. To be fair, this is the Space’s ninth album, so they’ve had a number of years to perfect their sound. However, the delicate balance the band strikes between these three genres is something that time alone won’t yield. While the album starts off huge and relentless, with the kind of gaping maw of space rock that chews stars and grinds planets, there are definite points of restraint and melody to build the tension before unfurling like some Lovecraftian elder god.
The band has the exceptionally strong rhythm section required to support the free form exploratory squall from the dueling guitarists. There is very little reliance on traditional metal riffs from the axe-wielders, but this only means that the music never bogs down in turbid, sludgy territory. When riffs do crop up, they’re imbued with an almost punk fervor that lends the tracks an uncharacteristic energy. The result is an album that successfully avoids the pitfalls of the genres from which it’s berthed: metal without the ponderousness, psychedelica without the wanderlust and prog without the pretension. If heavy instrumental music is your thing, The Red Veil should slake your thirst for a month or two.
Strange Attractors: http://www.strange-attractors.com
