The Myrrors - "Solar Collector" ...

This is music existing out of time. The Myrrors' four-song collection from the Cardinal Fuzz label is outstanding guitar-driven instrumentals that resist easy labeling as stoner rock, a throwback invocation of more psychedelic times, or an impressionistic alt-rock piece. The production matches the music well and accentuates its strengths. There is a sleepy, free-floating melancholy wafting through each of the release's four tracks. Tempos never rise above shuffle speed and no track clocks in at less than seven minutes. The Myrrors are clearly a band far more interested in getting inside your head instead of belting out verse, chorus, bridge, and chorus. The collection opens with the title track. Reverb hangs over the mix and the effect creates a sonic distance of sorts without sacrificing immediacy. The guitar sounds as if it is rising perpetually, like something immense dawning over the horizon, and its minor-key feel gives it a sense of grandeur. The track also strikes me as a duet between two lead instruments - the guitar and drums. The percussion is freewheeling without ever leaving the timekeeping slack and brimming over with intelligent fills that carry the song higher.

The same design aesthetic applies to "Escape Attempt". It is another expansive soundscape dominated by reverb-drenched guitar, but darker shades abound. The wah-wah slashes and growls through the mix like a distressed voice. The Myrrors never throttle the listener with a wallop of detuned metal guitars, but they achieve effects every bit as "heavy". This is intense, claustrophobic music churning with emotion. A shimmering swell of keyboards lingers throughout "Ascension" and gives it an ethereal quality. The music's slow, steady stride made me think of a column of souls slowly rising into the air. Long tracks, once considered de rigueur for a "serious" band, are often difficult to justify artistically, but the band avoids self-indulgence by never allowing the songs to meander.

"Whirling Mountain Blues" concludes the album with, arguably, the band's grandest statement yet. The song runs a little under fifteen minutes long and begins dramatically with ferocious, intermittent bursts of percussion and guitar. The band seems unsteady and impatient to find its feet. When they do, the band comes together at once and locks down on an enormous groove. There are countless mini crescendos littered through the song keeping it interesting throughout. It ends powerfully with the music falling apart, the band apparently exhausted, and nothing but fading static in its wake.

Solar Collector is a blistering invocation of the cerebral and physical. Between the extended structures and frequently jaw-dropping guitar work, few releases will engage the listener in such a complete way. Highly recommended.

Words: J. Hillenburg

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