Album
Type:
Full-Length
Date
Released:
May 07th
2015
Label:
Nasoni
Records
Given
To Emptiness - Track Listing:
1.Butes 10:20
2.Visions Of Rex
06:29
3.Drums For Sitting
Bull 06:16
4.Chroma 08:59
5.Move Through
Figurehead Lights 07:01
6.The Pursuer 06:15
7.Low Tide 01:40
Bio
Arenna was born in
Basque Country in 2005. His style can be included inside the so
called Psychedelic Stoner Rock, though they prefer being defined as
lovers of the heavy riffs.
Review:
Arenna
is a 5 piece band who have recently released their sophomore
album-"Given To Emptiness". The music is otherworldly,
ultimately a blend of new psych with old psych colorings and a hint
of stoner rock. A mellotron is also present here and that means you
are in for a treat. The vocals sound a bit more rhinal in nature
compared to previous releases.
After
two songs ("Butes" & "Visions of Rex", both
of which have plenty of trench leaving groove and moments of
brilliance), I began thinking that this band would further excel in
making an instrumental album because the walls of sound that they
create cascade into your conscious mind, leaving craters that will
later fill with meteor ice, slowly melting and pervading the recesses
of your unconscious brain. Don't get me wrong, after repeated
listenings, the vocals grow like moss on your ears, but I just really
dig the sound passages.
The
third song is entitled, "Drums for Sitting Bull". The
incorporated voice effects make this song stellar. A perfectly
crafted blend of tune arrangement for one stoned Indian. I see smoke
signals in the distance. A clear favorite.
The
next song entitled, "Chroma", is exactly what I'm talking
about...a powerful and well constructed instrumental that picks up
momentum as it progresses through your speakers. This is the
soundtrack to a time lapse film depicting the making of giant alien
ant hills on a desert planet, such terrain later to be recycled as
skate parks for Martian crust punks. This is, hands down, my favorite
track on the album.
"Move
Through Figurehead Lights" is a lighter song, with acoustical
overtones and some spacey effects. The song picks up with some
distortion and groove. This type of song works extremely well with
the vocals.
"The
Pursuer" is another song with plenty of slow, head nodding
groove.
The
closer is called "Low Tide". Another terrific, yet short,
instrumental. Acoustical with spacey sounds. I wish it were longer,
so I could slowly de-res into a desert mainframe.
It
seems that Arenna know the strengths of their music. Two of the seven
songs are fantastic instrumentals and these are clearly my favorites.
The sound passages between the vocal parts and the sounds are
hypnotic and take you to another dimension. The music is commanding,
strong and well built. "Drums for Sitting Bull" and "Move
Through Figurehead Lights" showcase the melting of the vocal
passages with their brand of sounds, offsetting the slight dichotomy
I find between the voice and the music in the other songs on the
album. This not a bad thing, I just find that their music takes me
somewhere else and any vocals remind me that I'm still on earth.
Arenna
have moved forward from their desert rock demo and somewhat similar
first album release. The older albums are ancient alien artefacts
that speculate about the stars and this current album is a polished
telescope with motorized focus that points to the stars. Some people
may prefer the artefacts, others may prefer the telescope.
All
in all, psych/progsters will eat this up, ask for a second helping
and when tomorrow comes and Mom loudly exclaims "supper's
ready!", the children will beg, "I want leftovers".
Words
by Nick Palmisano
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