In Case You Missed It: Across Tundras/Lark's Tongue - Split LP

A couple of weeks ago in his Double Dose, Zac reviewed Electric Relics, the latest slab of Americana inspired doom from Nashville's Across Tundras.  And given that I was a huge fan of the band's 2011 effort Sage, I jumped at the opportunity to hear what he so eloquently described as "the soundtrack for the traveling lonely en route to desolation."  So you can imagine my surprise when I opened the band's website in search of said album and discovered yet another new record, itself barely three months old.  Turns out…back in March, Across Tundras teamed up with a heavy psyche band out of Peoria, Illinois called Lark's Tongue and released one hell of a split LP.  Of course, as the theme of this feature suggests…we quite obviously missed it, and now I'm here to remedy that unfortunate oversight.

Featuring two tracks from each band and a run time of over half an hour, this is more than your typical split 7 inch.  Beginning with the Across Tundras contributions, the album opens with a lush expanse of droning guitar that eventually gives way to a twangy lumber and Tanner Olson's whisky soaked warble…"in the ruins of the house of the rising sun."  This is the epic "Low Haunts," which by itself, easily makes up a third of the LP as it rumbles in and out of gorgeous guitar flourishes and never once forsakes the ponderous plod of its rhythm or the resonance of its honky tonk textures.  This you gotta hear.  "Crux to Bear" is the second offering from Across Tundras and it provides a glimpse into the band's heavier side.  While still managing multiple shifts in tempo, the track is a much more straight forward affair that even sneaks a catchy hook into the mix as Olson sings…"if the stars ever align, I'm as good as gone."  

As I mentioned, side two of this split LP is dedicated to Lark's Tongue, with whom I was not familiar prior to hearing these songs.  On "Follow Your Nightmares," the band introduces themselves with jangly guitars that merge with ethereal effects and a resounding rhythm section, creating a depth of sound that continues to expand as far as your mind will allow.  The atmospheric stamp of post-metal is evident, so it should come as no surprise that Lark's Tongue features a couple of the guys from avant-doomsters Minsk.  And if the dichotomy between the beautifully harmonized vocals and the demented doom found on "Aluminum" is any indication, then this is most certainly a band that Heavy Planet will be keeping a very close eye on in the future. 

So how about that?  Zac writes about one killer album…I go in search of it and discover not only another killer album, but a new killer band to boot?  Now that's what I call a double fucking dose.  So on behalf of my colleague, I'd like to say to heavy music fans everywhere…you're welcome.  Enjoy.
  

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Toby's Top 10 of 2011

Let me start by wishing everyone out there a very rock and roll New Year! Based on the sheer variety of albums being mentioned by Seth, Zac and myself, it's evident that 2011 was a fucking monster year for this music that we all know and love. Of course, if you haven't already done so, I recommend that you make a point to check out every album on all of our lists...as well as those on Reg's...which will be unleashed tomorrow.

Why take our word for it? Because between the four of us, we've listened to hundreds of albums by bands from around the globe and we've done our best to cherry pick our personal favorites. It wasn't an easy task and if I tried to put this list together again next week...hell, tomorrow even...it may very well look different. But this is today and this is my list, so here goes nothin'...I give you Toby's Top 10 of 2011.

10.Rwake - Rest

Seth reviewed this one as part of his Sunday Sludge feature and I don't know about you, but if Seth says something is good enough to be his album of the year, then I check that shit out. Rest is an atmospheric head fuck from start to finish that will make you want to crawl into a hole and curl up in the fetal position. In Seth's words, "this is an album you'll feel, one you'll discuss, and one you'll remember." Do not miss it.

09. The Gates of Slumber - The Wretch

With their 2011 release The Wretch, The Gates of Slumber ditched their Conan the Barbarian worship and went straight for the jugular. This one is eight tracks of sorrow, longing and regret set to music. You want to know what a doom record sounds like, then give this one a spin. As I said when I reviewed this one last summer..."pure sonic drudgery." And I mean that in the best possible way.

08. Lo-Pan - Salvador

Dude! As soon as you hit play on Lo-Pan's latest effort and hear the opening feedback spill from your speakers, you will be hooked. From the driving bass line and soaring vocals of "El Dorado" to the unmistakable groove of "Solo", this is an album of pure rock fury...pardon the Clutch reference. In Zac's review for this one, he compared the vocals to part Maynard Keenan and part Chris Cornell...how can you not get down with that?

07. Borracho - Splitting Sky

You had to know that this one was gonna be on my list, seeing as I pimp this band every chance I get. Borracho stormed onto the scene this year and made an immediate impact with their debut LP. Combining stoner rock grooves, doom metal riffs and classic guitar licks, oftentimes all in the span of the same song, this album was definitely one of a kind. Throw in the barking, drill sergeant-esque vocals and you have yourself a fine slab of rock.

06. Elvis Deluxe - Favourite State of Mind

A lot of stoner/doom type stuff is abstract and somewhat conceptual. Not so with Elvis Deluxe. This band wallops you over the head with some of the catchiest rhythms and sing-along choruses you're likely to hear this side of FM radio. Think the zanier, Oliveri sung bits of QOTSA and you're on the right track. I got my hands on this one thanks to Zac's glowing review and months later, it's still in heavy rotation for this guy.

05. U.S. Christmas - The Valley Path

Speaking of abstract and conceptual...what a perfect segue into the latest from USX. When I first heard this gargantuan 38 minute song (yes...the entire album is one song) I didn't quite know what to make of it. But after multiple listens, it grew on me like a mold. The combination of over the top orchestration with the sounds of nature is...as I said in my review...arresting. This one requires patience, but in the end, it is a trip worth taking.

04. Ponamero Sundown - Rodeo Electrica

As soon as I heard the opening drum roll of the first track, "Evil Wand", I knew this album would be one of my favorites. Ponamero Sundown do not let up...ever! Take the laid back fuzz of Kyuss, the catchiness of the Foo Fighters and the heaviness of every grunge band Seattle ever spawned and throw it into a blender. This is desert rock at warp speed.

03. Across Tundras - Sage

Back in January 2011, if you had told me that one of the best albums of the year would mix the heaviness of doom with the twang of country, I would have laughed. But that's exactly what Across Tundras manages to do on Sage. As I said in my original review, this is "an incredibly original slice of Americana set to music." This is the sound of desolation...and it is beautiful.

02. Freedom Hawk - Holding On

Freedom Hawk released this album in October, I didn't hear it until December...and it shot straight to number two on this list. That should tell you all you need to know. But if that isn't enough, then just know that Freedom Hawk have written thirteen songs that are unforgettable and they sound kind of like Ozzy fronting Fu Manchu. This is "fist in the air, wind in your hair rock and roll."

01. Skraeckoedlan - Äppelträdet

I had a feeling this one was gonna top my list when I reviewed it back in September and damn if I wasn't right. Äppelträdet is chock full of ultra heavy riffs, more poly-rhythmic shifts than even Mastodon and soaring vocals sung in both English and the band's native Swedish. Skraeckoedlan manage to combine dissonance, power and volume with harmony, melody and rhythm and that my friends is why this is my favorite album of 2011.

Album Review - Across Tundras: Sage

Amidst the vast expanse of the Great Plains, the heat choked silence of the Chihuahuan Desert and the majestic beauty of the Southernmost Rocky Mountains, a lonesome aura haunts the Southwestern United States. And if that lonesomeness were somehow given a voice, it would be that of Across Tundras’ vocalist/guitarist Tanner Olson. You see, with their latest album Sage, this Nashville based trio, which also includes Matt Shively on bass and Nathan Rose on drums, has managed to put that overwhelming sense of desolate magnificence to music, and the results are…well…staggering.

Take the album opener, “In the Name of River Grand” for example. The song is a perfect introduction to the genre blending style that the band purveys as they mingle twangy, countrified guitars with a steady rhythmic backbone and crash cymbals loud enough to mimic thunder out over the horizon. And yes those are the hairs standing up on the back of your neck when Olson sings “the ghosts in these lands have nowhere to hide” and with one sinister riff, you hear the band cross right on over into doom territory. But then right around the halfway point of this opus, Across Tundras manage to reel the song back into a steady jingle jangle, as Olson sings “slow gallop through west Texas”. And this goes on until the vocalist finishes telling his tale as he croons “under a big sky rolling and tumbling I go…ten dead floating…in the Gulf of Mexico”, at which point the trio erupts into a demonic mariachi style jam session that’ll leave you wondering whether to bang your head or scream “yee-fucking-haw” at the top of your lungs. My bet is that you’ll end up doing both.

The aptly titled “Hijo de Desierto” (Spanish for “son of the desert”) is seemingly an ode to some poor soul stranded in a scorched wasteland…“broke down in the desert sun…rattlesnake dead on the road”. The song has a slow, swooning quality to it, like a man stumbling through the desert. Here, Olson’s lyrics perfectly match that imagery as he sings “with lungs on fire…every night I dream of water…cool, clear water”.

“Buried Arrows” is a straight up shit kickin’ country and western boot stomper that features rhythmic, almost tribal drums, a loosely plucked gee-tar and a truly beautiful vocal accompaniment courtesy of Lilly Hiatt. The song (one of my personal favorites) brings to mind Loretta Lynn if she were doing a duet with the spirit of Jim Morrison…while under the influence of peyote. I promise it’ll have you singing along when Olson and his companion harmonize “buried arrows on broken bows…like in the days of the buffalo”.

"The Book of Truth" is kind of like what it might sound like if Electric Wizard took the stage to spread their blasphemy at the Grand Ole' Opry…country music's most hallowed and sacred ground. The song continues to seamlessly blend the bright sounds of Olson's Fender Stratocaster…a staple of country music…with the ultra heavy riffs most often associated with doom. It's as if the band is wrestling with two personalities…one good and one evil…and they can only contain the latter for so long.

Which brings me to "Tchulu Junction", where Across Tundras seems to want to remind everyone where their evil hearts truly reside. The song trudges along for a couple of minutes and then Olson's vocals get downright wicked as he roars "selling my soul…blood on the crossroads". All the while Shively and Rose barrel aimlessly ahead with their heavy low end and devastating drums respectively. It's unclear whether Olson is singing about the infamous deal that legendary blues guitarist Robert Leroy Johnson supposedly made with the devil or if he's singing about himself when he wails "I made a pledge on faith one day…my soul I give for the skill to play".

And even though "Mean Season Movin' On" and "Shunka Sapa" are the final two songs on Sage, they actually take up the final twenty one minutes of the album. The former is another fine example of the majestic aural landscape created by Across Tundras, interweaving the trebly country guitars with balls out, no nonsense groove and powerful vocals. The latter is an instrumental that serves the album well as its closer, carrying you through one last ridge of musical peaks and valleys…it is a musical celebration of this band's genre defying sound and it will ultimately ride you off into the sunset with teary eyes and ringing ears.

On Sage, Across Tundras have created the soundtrack to a scorpion sting…to the mirage of a desert oasis…to the wind blowing across the tall grass of an empty prairie. This music is a tribute to the overwhelming vastness of the American west…hell, to America in general. This is country…this is rock…and this is metal, all rolled into one cohesive sound. Do not miss this incredibly original slice of Americana set to music…for it is an awe inspiring listen.

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Track Listing:

01 In the Name of River Grand
02 Hijo de Desierto
03 Buried Arrows
04 The Book of Truth
05 Tchulu Junction
06 Mean Season Movin’ On
07 Shunka Sapa

Band Members:
Tanner Olson – Vocals/Guitars
Matt Shively – Bass/Guitars/Backing Vocals
Nathan Rose - Drums (Note: Dan Catron is the current drummer, having replaced Rose after the album's release)

Across Tundras Posts New Music

Across Tundras just posted two new tracks at www.myspace.com/acrosstundras.

These are the first recordings with the "Nashville Sound," aka "The Dixie Earthmovers" providing a killer rhythm section! One of these tunes will end up on a split 7" with fellow sonic rockers US Christmas. The rest of the songs from these sessions will be self released on a CD called Herds of the Fathomless Valleys that should be out in March.


The band`s May Midwestern tour is being booked with good buddies Admiral Browning, dubbed "The Sarsaparilla Roadshow." Stay tuned for venues and dates coming soon!

Across Tundras Releases E-Card

The newly relocated (from Denver, CO to Nashville, TN) and newly faced Across Tundras has completed work on its latest effort, Lonesome Wails From The Weeping Willow. The album was mastered by Mell Dettmer (Boris, Sunn0))), Earth) and will be released by Forgotten Empire Records. Here`s what the band has to say about the album:

"The album is a collection of ten new Across Tundras tunes and traditional songs done up in AT`s unique styling. The tracks recorded continue Across Tundras psychedelic journey into the future by way of the past. Richly textured songs bringing slide guitar, mandolin, and organ into AT`s sound... in addition to the heavy drums, guitar, and bass."


Across Tundras is know to create a range of emotion and musical stylings from Neil Young to Neurosis and unleashing a powerful new statement of rustic, crushing Americana.


The entire album can be listened to at this location.