Comets On Fire
Blue Cathedral

LA RECENSIONE

Comets On Fire is a quintet from Sacramento, one of the last strongholds of the hippie movement and a cradle of the first psychedelic wave made in the USA. Their sound is unique, ranging from hard rock to psychedelia, mixed with acid distortions, "space" effects, and free-jazz accelerations. A true path of rock deconstruction that, already in the first self-titled album and the subsequent and beautiful "Field Recordings From The Sun," contributed to the creation of a one-of-a-kind, inimitable style.

In 2004, the band moved to Subpop, resulting in this "Blue Cathedral." The group seems to deliberately set aside past noisy experiments to make room for Zappa-like atmospheres, progressive touches of Pink Floyd and King Crimson, and folk diversions, without, however, losing their original spirit. In the 8 tracks of the album, we find both complex and frenetic moments, like the opening "The Bee And The Cracking Egg" and "Whiskey River," but also more tranquil moments, such as "Organs" and the concluding "Blue Tomb," perhaps the true masterpiece of the album: 10 minutes of pure "psychedelic noise-rock," accompanied by the noise of guitars and the echoes and reverbs of Ethan Miller's "lysergic" voice, truly stunning.

With this album, in short, the Californian band does not disappoint the expectations of previous works, but instead, by presenting more varied and well-blended sounds, seems to take a step forward towards total sonic deconstruction, towards the definitive maturation of their style which, with this "Blue Cathedral," can be considered definitively completed. A must-have.