3753 - ARBOURETUM - The Gathering (2011)
ARBOURETUM
''THE GATHERING''
FEBRUARY 15 2011
43:49
1/The White Bird
Arbouretum/7:09
2/When Delivery Comes
Arbouretum/4:22
3/Destroying to Save
Arbouretum/5:07
4/The Highwayman
Jimmy Webb/4:13
5/Waxing Crescents
Arbouretum/7:48
6/The Empty Shell
Arbouretum/4:33
7/Song of the Nile
Arbouretum/10:37
Corey Allender /Bass
Danny Bensi /Cello
J.V. Brian Carey /Drums
David Heumann /Guitar, Vocals
Matthew Pierce /Keyboards, Percussion
REVIEW
by Thom Jurek
Baltimore's Arbouretum are singular on the stoner psych-rock scene. Due in large part to the vision of lyricist, frontman, and lead guitarist Dave Heumann, their sound is simultaneously sprawling, devastatingly heavy, sludgy, meandering, and mysterious. The Gathering showcases a lineup change showcasing keyboardist Matthew Pierce. Paradoxically, the band's grimy aesthetic doesn't suffer; they're even heavier. On these seven songs, Heumann's guitar and voice remain the focal points. His slow, dense riffing and atypical approach to elongated soloing are extensions of his singing voice (it's a dead cross between Warren Zevon, John Cale, and Richard Thompson). Heumann's writing is drenched in mytho-poetic imagery distilled from Carl Jung's archetypal psychology (in particular, those that inspired his writing of The Red Book) and less obvious Celtic and Anglo folk traditions. While strange open-space visions of wasted, bleached-out visions of Americana have always haunted his work, the lyrics here transcended those concerns. They are woven into slippery melodies that are juxtaposed against the acid bath of harsh distortion in ever-riffing guitars bogged-out thudding kick drums, open, droning, minimally constructed basslines, and subtle, chameleon-ike keyboard textures. The opening track, "The White Bird," draws its labyrinthine message directly from Jung: "There's somewhere that I have been meaning to revisit/In and among all, even as its true nature is hid/Here, in the gloaming and black night/Here, in the dawn and the golding bright..." The listener is invited inside a journey that has hallmarks in iconic symbolism, disaster, war, transendence, and, finally, redemption. In "Destroying to Save," a string section washes the backdrop of Heumann's sung lines and distorted solo fills that stagger -- albeit majestically -- against the crashing of cymbals and blasted reverb as he sings of "the ashen rider on a shadow mare." The reading of Jimmy Webb's "The Highwayman" could easily be mistaken for one of Heumann's own songs, so well does it fit inside this album's nightmarish visions. The closer, the monolithic, "Song of the Nile," is ten-plus minutes of crushing weight, and blown-out, two-note bass drones. It gives way to a hypnotic riff and a stratospheric guitar solo that concludes with the band achieving an almighty throb via an utterly unholy white-out sonic architecture. The Gathering is Arbouretum's "bridge too far"; there is no return because this set is a destination, not a development.
BIOGRAPHY
by Margaret Reges
Dave Heumann, a musician with something of a rustic, poetic bent who backed up musicians like Bonnie "Prince" Billy and Cass McCombs, started Arbouretum in the early 2000s. The band was comprised of Heumann's friend Walker David Teret on guitar, ex-Lungfish member Mitchell Feldstein on drums, and Corey Allender on bass. Arbouretum's debut, Long Live the Well-Doer, was released in 2004, and their second album, Rites of Uncovering, came out three years later. The latter was recorded in part by Paul Oldham and, according to Heumann, influenced by the works of writer Paul Bowles. Solidifying themselves with Corey Allender on bass, Daniel Franz on drums, and Steve Strohmeier on guitar, Heumann reentered the studio with Rob Girardi again in 2008 and finished Song of the Pearl in only two months. Thrill Jockey released the record in February of 2009. The band toured the United States in support and immediately reentered the studio with producer Matt Boynton, who had recorded much of 2007's Rites of Uncovering. Arbouretum underwent a lineup change in 2010: Guitarist Steve Strohmeier was replaced by keyboardist Matthew Pierce. Following the inspiration of archetypal psychologist Carl Jung's The Red Book (at least the images that led to his writing it), Arbouretum released the expansive, mythology-drenched effort The Gathering in 2011. Around this time, Heumann formed a friendship with Hush Arbors' Keith Wood. The two bands planned a joint European tour, and in 2012 released split LP Aureola to showcase their likeminded sounds.
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