Everyone's favorite experimental folk doom guitar duo return with their fourth full-length. Following in the wake of their spectacular and majestic Popol Vuh-like "Shadowland," the duo of Evan Caminiti and Jon Porras sound restless and energized throughout "Lost In The Glare." The addition of more drums and percussion throughout helps ratchet up the tension, making for a beefier sound that colors even the tracks that don't feature smashing cymbals and plodding dirge beats. As a result, there is a consistent heaviness here that makes for a more menacing album than anything these guys have done before, which is saying something. All in all this is Barn Owl's most dynamic record to date. To that end, there is also a healthy injection of middle-eastern and Persian-influenced guitar work that characterizes the record. While drone has always played an important part in Barn Owl's music, those moments of static cosmic bliss are fewer here, instead strings interplay with organs in a dance of desert mysticism that finds transcendence through communal motion rather than solitary meditation. As a result, the record exudes a heat and sensuality that I would have never attributed to Barn Owl before. It's a perfect record for keeping things warm inside, even as winter's winds threaten to batter down your door.
"Turiya"
Barn Owl - Turiya from Thrill Jockey Records on Vimeo.
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