Crank this to 10 of 11 - Editor's Pick
Released: 2015
Genre: Stoner Rock
Sounds Like: Colour Haze, Grandloom, Ethereal Riffian
Not only is Arenna's new album deserving of an editor's pick amongst the elite bands flying under the radar on our site, but it has also opened us up to one absolutely amazing album artist in Khoa Le. Across the board excellence in sound and vision! Fruits from our extensive hunting and digging. Arenna offers up an intangible often lacking from bands in this genre today. The intangibles of depth, style and substance.
Hailing from Spain the five piece crew took a four year hiatus from their last release entitled Beats of Olarizu (2011) and is back with an inspiring seven song LP spanning just over 47 minutes.
Track Listing:
1. Butes 10:20
2. Visions Of Rex 6:29
3. Drums For Sitting Bull 6:16
4. Chroma 8:59
5. Move Through Figurehead Lights 7:01
6. The Pursuer 6:15
7. Low Tide 1:39
Track Highlights:
1. Butes- Epic opener that features intense guitar rhythm and very exposed and vulnerable vocals. The frailty and quirkiness in the vocals win us over. Great change-ups on this track as well.
2. Visions of Rex- We hear influences of Kyuss' "Catamaran" with the lite bouncing effect and heartfelt guitar work. Terrific building crescendo on this track.
3. Drums For Sitting Bull- Contains some of the most empowering melodies on the album. Really engages the listener. Arrena has a special talent in navigating change but maintaining the original melodic undercurrent.
4. Chroma- Steady as she goes. The subtleties on this track are so soothing. Checkout the terrific ending accompanied by some spoke word in the last 2 minutes.
5. Move Through Figurehead Lights- Jazz-like percussion at the onset layered with acoustic and electric sadness. Absolutely love the variety this track delivers. Heartfelt and impactful.
6. The Pursuer- One of the heaviest tracks on the album, yet still majestic. Just enough echo in the vocals with a ton of electric layers going on. Love the culmination.
7. Low Tide- aaaaah . Soothing acoustic ending helping us reflect on how damn good this album is.
Now we would be remiss to not delve a little further into the vision that is held by artist Khoa Le on this album cover. We have perused her very rich and elaborate collection and it is down right cathartic. The colors and detail match Arrena's achievements on this album so well it is a brilliant pairing. We strongly encourage you to checkout her stuff at http://khoaillustration.com , particularly as we try to court her into being a participant on our Homage To The Artist page on Rotation11.
Given To Emptiness is one hell of an album. The band's four year hiatus was apparently a very productive one as this is quite an uptick from their last release. All seven tracks deliver one unique experience. We encourage you to buy this one in hard copy as sound and vision shine. Put this one in heavy rotation and you will have a wonderful mainstay within your stoner and psychedelic collection.
Standout Tracks: Visions Of Rex, Drums For Sitting Bull, The Pursuer
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