WITCHTRAP (UK)

WITCHTRAP

product information

Condition: New, UPC: 0202862337014, Publication Date: 03/12/2021, Type: COMPACT DISC, Style: POP/ROCK,

	$16.99
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description

tracks

Cocaine Kangaroo
Genghis Khan
Nero's Surgery
A Ram Named Drama
Avulsion 2020
Exoplanets
Fresh Red Blood
6:02

notes

First pressing on 140gm VENUSIAN SEA BLUE vinyl, standard edition. With 4/0 insert & MP3 download card.

2020 marks ten years of existential exploration for Nanaimo BC space rock sextet MOTHS & LOCUSTS, a decade that saw the band release a trio of acclaimed LPs (2013’s Mission Collapse, 2016’s Helios Rising and 2017’s Intro/Outro) alongside numerous assorted EPs and 7” singles. In addition to the aforementioned albums under their own name, they also released a double live album with legendary Can frontman Damo Suzuki in 2014, plus 2019’s Think Pink IV: Return to Deep Space collaboration album with Pink Fairies/Pretty Things man Twink.

Live, the group has shared the stage with such bands as Acid Mother’s Temple, Mudhoney, Sinoia Caves, Dead Meadow, Rangda, Wolf Parade, Weeed, Blackwater Holylight, Sons Of Otis, Shooting Guns, Hawkeyes, The Band Whose Name Is A Symbol, Kinski, Grails, Public Animal, The Pack AD & more.

Showing only signs of acceleration with time, their 4th LP EXOPLANETS distills several studio recording sessions from across Canada into seven elemental songs that reflect a band at the height of their power.

The album’s centerpiece is the six part, near-16-minute long title track. Exoplanets is a visceral tour through a sonic spectrum of intense emotions and otherworldly landscapes, from the haunting primary melody, through layered vocal harmonies to the cathartic, crushing climax. Recorded with engineer James Paul in a former abattoir in downtown Toronto, each band member features prominently on the track, displaying the musical versatility the band is becoming known for: guitarist Angus Barter & drummer Dave Bean’s harmony vocals on the verses bring to mind pre-Dark Side era Pink Floyd; Samantha Letourneau’s layers of flute in the opening has an element of prog rock; lead guitarist Mike Breen’s serpent-like shredding (and electric sitar) is strategically placed to drill straight through listeners' skulls. The track ends with vocalist Valentina Cardinalli’s soulful wailing and bassist Dave Read’s massive effects-laden doom choir pushing the speakers to the max.

From a session with engineer Chad Mason at Sinewave Studios, located literally in the middle of Saskatchewan canola fields and reachable only via longitude & latitude coordinates, come crushing versions of live favourites Cocaine Kangaroo and Genghis Khan, the latter remixed by Ian Blurton (Change Of Heart/C’mon/Public Animal). The Saskatchewan session also yielded the album’s closing track Fresh Red Blood, evoking some of Mogwai’s recent soundtrack work.

From closer to the band’s home base of Vancouver Island BC comes triple bass psych freakout A Ram Named Drama, recorded by Scott Henderson at his Lap Of Luxury studio in Sooke; and from the band’s own Republic Of Doom studio in Nanaimo come the tracks Nero’s Surgery and Avulsion 2020. All seven tracks together form a cohesive album, one that perfectly ends one decade and begins another for a band that’s built to last.

credits

Bass, Synthesizer – - Dave Read (tracks: 1-7)Drums, Vocals, Synthesizer – - Dave Bean (tracks: 1-7)Guitar – - Mike Breen (4) (tracks: 1-7)Guitar, Vocals, Synthesizer – - Angus Barter (tracks: 1-7)Mastered By – - Dietrich Schoenemann (tracks: 1-7)Mixed By – - Ian Blurton (tracks: 2)Synthesizer – - Brendan Holm (tracks: 2)Vocals – - Valentina Cardinalli (tracks: 1-7)Vocals, Flute, Organ – - Samantha Letourneau (tracks: 1-7)