Given Clouds Taste Satanic's high standing in this thing we call the "underground community" there doesn't seem much point in giving a rundown of all their previous releases other than to say that with each release they have managed to raise the bar for instrumental music that bit higher. The bands latest release "79 A.E."(Majestic Mountain Records) is no different, it may only consist of two tracks but oh man those two tracks take you to places some bands struggle to take you to with ten!
A mistake many instrumental outfits make is to limit themselves within the confines of a specific genre but CTS although rooted in doom avoid that trap, on both "Collision" and its follow up "Reclamation", by never allowing themselves to fall into a formula, there are always surprises to be found and left turns to negotiate on the two jams that make up this album, instances that keep the listener on his/her toes whereby a drum beat, a bass note or a guitar fill can just as easily be the signal for a dive into brutal crunchiness as it can be a sign for the band to slide into moments of lysergic ambience. The musicianship on both these jams is on another level, the guitars of Steven Scavuzzo and Brian Bauhs coil and wrap around each other in a scorching mixture of duals, trade offs and synchronized riffage while the rhythm section of Robert Halstead (bass) and Greg Acampora (drums) are the heavy equivalent of legendary jazzers Elvin Jones and Jimmy Garrison (John Coltrane Quartet) able to anchor the groove when needed but also possessing the chops to hold their own when the groove gets a little wild and free which is an added bonus on the more prog-leaning "Reclamation" but comes in just as handy on the more doom orientated "Collision".
Originally penned as a soundtrack to a movie that never quite got over the line it will come as no surprise that "79 A.E." possesses a sprawling cinematic quality, but then Clouds Taste Satanic have been making music that paints pictures in the mind eye since day one, that's why we love them.
Check it out .....
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