Voice of the Seven Thunders - Self titled

As I've mentioned previously, I don't consider myself an old fuddy duddy who subscribes to the view that things were better in the past. As a music obsessive/snob (choose your own label) there's never been a better time to be alive. The interweb provides an almost instantaneous opportunity to listen to arists you may have read or heard about. There are also some great blogs such as 365 bands in 365 days that present artists that have managed to avoid detection on the Dodger radar. Ever heard of The North Mississippi all-stars? Neither had I until recently, but now their sounds resonate regularly around the halls of Chateaus de Dodger!

The fact that most of the relics posted here date back to last century is more indicative of my unwillingness to provide downloads of recent material for legal reasons, rather than being stuck in the past. So I'm going to start posting some newer artists and providing YouTube links for you to see/hear those artists. If you consider this to be moving in to Adelle's territory, then I plead guilty, officer. But the main points of difference are that this will not be my modus operandi (i.e. I will still post relics), and I'm definitely not going to post a band a day! And hey, as I see it, Adelle has had 188 chances to post some of these bands, but instead elected to post the Spin Doctors! Ha!

So today we have the mighty Voice of the Seven Thunders, whose self titled album is probably my favourite album of the decade. Their sound is a unique psychedelic/folk/blues hybrid. The songs are mainly instrumental, and varies between psychedelic rock freakouts with copious guitar soloing, and more introverted folky playing. The key to their sound is the use of an acoustic guitar played through a distortion pedal. This is a ploy used by other Shoulda been huge faves Grant Lee Buffalo, but VotST take it to a new level. The result is the meanest, fattest guitar sound ever heard this side of the cosmos. Neil Young, eat your heart out! In terms of musical reference points, the VotST sound sits somewhere between Led Zeppelin's "When the Levee Breaks" (a song I demand be played at my own funeral!) and a folkier, more instrumental, less epic Black Mountain.

Opener Open Lighted Doorway is a short introduction featuring distorted vocals over a subtle soundscape. Kommune starts with folky guitar picking over a distorted guitar chords, before a guitar solo emerges to dominate processings for the next few minutes. The song drops back into a folky guitar and subdued vocals, before evolving into the next track, Out of the Smoke, which follows a similar path to it's predecessor, starting with a classic rock riff played on acoustic guitar.

The following five tracks are all instrumental. The Burning Mountain is a psychedelic guitar freakout packed with wild-assed guitar solos. Dry Leaves is based around Led Zeppelin III approved folky guitar picking. Dalalven is a slowly evolving mid-tempo rock instrumental based around a triplet rhythm.

Cylinders is a seven minute epic, starting with synthesiser over ambient guitar noise, before folky acoustic guitar strumming and eastern sounding drumming emerge. Set Fire to the Forest is an 8 minute long up tempo track featuring incessant guitar soloing played against a musical background which eventually evolves into a wall of My Bloody Valentine approved ambient guitar feedback. The song drops back to folky guitar strumming around the 6-min mark, before tempo slowly picks up again as song rushes headlong to it's conclusion.

Closer Disappearances is a simple, vocal dominated pastoral folk. The vocals provide an almost rude awakening after preceding straight five instrumentals!



Voice of the Seven Thunders - 2010 - Self titled

1. Open Lighted Doorway
2. Kommune
3. Out of the Smoke
4. The Burning Mountain
5. Dry Leaves
6. Dalalven
7. Cylinders
8. Set Fire to the Forest
9. Disappearances