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LUNAR CHAMBER
Shambhallic Vibrations EP

20 Buck Spin (2023)
Rating: 8.5/10

The cover artwork alone may hint that this is one of those unorthodox, psychedelic and rather meditative death metal releases. The strange Lunar Chamber is a band from Atlanta, Georgia and to say they dabble in a rather spiritual brand of extremity is an understatement. Track titles such as ‘Spirit Body And The Seeing Self’ and ‘III. Crystalline Blessed Light Flows… From Violet Mountains To Lunar Chambers’ are prime examples of the pastoral ethos these guys harbour, while marrying it to a dazzling set of brutal arrangements that nod towards Demilich.

Funnelled through one monolithic cosmic filter, Lunar Chamber’s debut EP casts vast shadows of peculiar shapes, bewildered with its seemingly wayward navigation and stains with a befuddling beauty. As an audience we can only appreciate the end result rather than fully understand the complex mindsets behind such a creation. Surreal and serene horizons are fused to progressive gnashing shifts whereby fretless bass dribbles through valleys of twisting, grinding riffs, led through fens, fjords and uncanny plateaus by those deep, guttural vocals. The listener is given strands off accessibility to latch on to but such attachments are frayed as one is tossed and turned like a salad attempting to bond with a surprise dressing.

Several listens down the line and I’m still attempting to fathom such drama and contorted horizons. Considering Shambhallic Vibrations runs short of half an hour it remains a healthy taster for what these guys can muster, and is also evidence as to the extraordinary levels displayed within a genre that is going from strength to strength.

Neil Arnold

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