Locrian: "Chalk Point"

The modern Locrian mode of musical scales is unique in its ability to create a particularly haunting sense of dissonance, and was known to cause a bit of an uproar in more religious times. It undeniably captures the reverent terror of apocalyptic choral singing; there’s a certain dungeonmaster flare in those notes to be sure. The term itself also reaches further than the medieval, into some of the earliest recorded systems of musical notation, originating in ancient Greece before being reorganized into modern western music theory. Those images of archaic transformation and ideological evolution, bolstered by the inherently dissonant nature of the subject matter, also lend me an easy in (natch) when relating my sustained fascination with the continuing innovations-in-distortion of the Chicago duo Locrian, who have, on examination, made a wise choice in conjuring the spirit of their namesake.

The first track from Locrian’s most recent noise meditation, The Clearing, begins with the sound of a lonely piano sighing an ominous repetition, metallic washes surrounding it with howling wind and harsh organic sounds, all growing in the midst of a darkened wood. The living meat of “Chalk Point” rises from the reverby innards of that piano-as-coffin and lurches through a sludgy dirge soaked in harmonious feedback, all perforated by a Gregorian death chant ripe to soundtrack your most pagan holiday sacrileges. It’s not nearly as drowned in hiss or fuzz as the rest of the record, but particularly as an introductory track, it sets the tone for some of 2011’s most satisfyingly blissful destruction, and rallies a pretty grand funeral march for a revivified year in heavy music innovation.

Like all of The Clearing, “Chalk Point” has a strong inclination toward the same sort of romantic, organic spirituality that has found success among the recent works of contemporaries like Wolves in the Throne Room and Sunn O))). Along with lots of other notable bands either confidently emerging or honing themselves in captivating fashion this year, Locrian are staying true to their title and keeping things dissonant not only in literality, but also by crafting accomplished examples of some of metal’s most interesting new permutations and by strongly exemplifying 2011’s ringing challenge to the standards of the genre. The euphoric ruination Locrian puts on display here is all but guaranteed to ensure a continued evolution full of engaging metamorphosis.