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The Road to Suicide / Spökraket

Split

Written by: BV on 15/05/2013 22:10:43

Both The Road to Suicide and Spökraket have been on my ‘must check out list’ for quite a while now, so when I first heard that they would release a split on Levitation Records I was, naturally, quite ecstatic as I could hit two birds with one stone, as the saying goes. The split consists of three tracks from The Road to Suicide on the A-side as well as three tracks from Spökraket on the B-side.

The Road to Suicide opens their side of the album with a densely trippy psych-journey in the form of the track “Sleepers”. “Sleepers” is a long runner and is essentially a track with tons of sounds going on, in an oddly minimalistic soundscape. There aren’t any ridiculously demanding drum fills, neither fuzzed out and crazy guitar solos or stuff like that. Instead there is a constant droning beat with shimmering guitar and synth layers added for coloration. The meditative vocal chanting on the track is amazingly soothing and along with the occasional wailing guitar-parts, they can make the listener enter a somewhat trance like state where nothing but the soothing soundscape envelops you, and enthralls your senses – until the drumming becomes evident and the track evolves into an adamantly psychedelic drone-jam that fades out in a just as chilled out manner it started with.

A complete opposite to the jam found on “Sleepers” can subsequently be found in the very next track on the A-side; “Before Lexington”. Even though “Before Lexington” emanates the same vibe that is becoming quite distinct for The Road to Suicide – namely that of a chilled out, yet driving drone beat, I can’t help but feel that there is way more going on in this track. With the introduction of a far more dominant bass as well as some highly melodic guitar parts, the listener is introduced to a slightly jammed out yet quite catchy track that could easily be classified as a highlight on this particular release.

Spökraket initially comes off as far too chilled and, well, spacy for one to really be able to get into it. Yet, as the first track “Climb So High” develops, the repetitive and hypnotic riff will get under your skin and the quietly muttered vocals will inevitably become the focus point. The slightly melancholic voice, coupled with the jangling and driving guitar parts give off a distinct sound that reminds me quite a lot of The Road to Suicide. It makes sense then, that these two particular bands have made a split-release, as they dabble in the same musical spectrum with few true differences.

On “Repetition Will Save Your Life” the title really implies a lot, but on this track there is a slightly fuzzier, more aggressive, edge than what has previously been evident on this release. It makes sense then, to place the fuzzed out, almost stoner-sounding drone track at the absolute end of the album to ensure that the listener doesn’t dose off into a complete haze wherein time is lost and psych is plentiful.

With this split-release, it is becoming increasingly evident that the ‘Levitation Records’ logo is steadily becoming a mark of quality within the realm of psychedelic music. I’ll be keeping an eye as well as an ear out for both Spökraket and The Road to Suicide as this release is genuinely solid and has shown a lot of promise.

Download: Sleepers, Climb So High, Looking for Water
For The Fans Of: Telstar Sound Drone, Troldmand, Gnod
Listen: Spökraket / The Road to Suicide

Release Date 20.05.2013
Levitation Records