Staff Reviews

Barn Owl - Shadowland

Review by John Calvert

With Barn Owl, nothing is worth rushing.»

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formed in 2006 by jon porras and evan caminiti, barn owl use their guitars to paint broad musical strokes on a canvas stretched between the framework of ambient, drone, americana, and black metal. in 2010, this unique blend of stylistic references coalesced into their debut thrill jockey release, 'ancestral star', an album that marked the evolution of the barn owl sound into something wholly their own, transcending the sum of its influences. the arrival of 'ancestral star' fostered comparisons ranging from sunn o))) to ennio morricone, often within the same critique.
the new material on 'shadowland' takes inspiration from the devotional sounds of popol vuh and alice coltrane and also possesses the pitch black weightlessness of fushitsusha and early tangerine dream. with waves of guitar soaring over liquid synthesizers tones, barn owl combine lush, melancholic serenity with cacophonous, deconstructed guitar to exhibit a visceral meeting of light and dark. cyclical themes were explored heavily: mantric guitar processions, swelling bass waves, and fluttering tremolo hypnotism.
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