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LUNAR CHAMBER “Shambhallic Vibrations”
LUNAR CHAMBER “Shambhallic Vibrations”
By Lord Randall
Scattered from the Quebec metal stronghold of Montreal, to the eldritch darkness of Rhode Island, to the somewhat unlikely sun-scorched humidity of an Atlanta suburb cometh forth LUNAR CHAMBER and “Shambhallic Vibrations”. Add to this concoction the members’ chosen monikers of They, Who May Not Be Perceived, Timeworn Nexus and Æther Lotus, and it’s a recipe for either a mind-altering experience or a complete and total wankfest. There really can’t be a middle ground here, you know?
The intro/title track sets the scene, already eliciting an Eastern (pardon the pun, or don’t) vibe, and there’s something about a fretless bass that hangs in mid-air in a way a fretted one doesn’t, so when the mellow entrancement moves to CYNIC-al territory, even that transition is smooth, fluid…flawless. “Spirit Body And The Seeing Self” instantly puts me in mind of GORGUTS’ landmark “Obscura”, riffs and rhythms convoluted, inverted, twisting in and around themselves, but with a sense of flow, of an almost liquid intensity, with the final lyric “Enter, a visage of woven spiritual fabric / Spirit body, seeing self, rain inward” assuring us that this is a quest, not a short trip over the hilltop. Peaks and valleys, yes, true dynamics, as there must be in a song with no less than five solo segments.
A calming interlude, abbreviated, but key as a fulcrum for the album follows, then “The Bodhi Tree” surges forth, heaving, multifaceted and enthralling, seemingly as many shifting patterns as the breeze that blows through Bodh Gaya in the morning, in the evening, in the midnight hour.
The final piece, “III. Crystalline Blessed Light Flows…From Violet Mountains Into Lunar Chambers”, I leave for you to describe for yourself. Sure, it may take up nearly half of Shambhallic Vibrations, but if the aforementioned bands and their like set your candle to light, you won’t come away wanting.
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