The Atlas Moth

‏After the release of their stopgap covers EP One Amongst The Weed Fields, it was high time The Atlas Moth got back down to business in the studio. In the interest of trimming the fat (noise, electronics) from the dense and aggressive sound established on 2009’s A Glorified Piece Of Blue-Sky, the Chicago psyche/sludge/doom troop have crafted their own little masterpiece. As a whole, An Ache For The Distance (Profound Lore) is still a heavy yet tuneful, slow-to-mid-paced affair. But the more structurally sound, truly memorable and almost hymn-like guitar work on nearly every track is where its true beauty lies. Of course, ever present is the near black metal shriek and clean, melodic singing of vocalist/guitarists Stavros Giannopoulos and David Kush. But the vocals are also streamlined to better fit the newly improved band’s deep and often lush field of sound. (Saturday, 1-1:55, Blue Stage) –text: Mike Scales