lightning bolt - earthly delights

Noise-rock and metal are two genres that, for some odd reason, have a blurry, grey distinction. The two are abrasive, experimental, and angry. Classifications between the two strands of rock deal mostly with aesthetic. Noise-rock bands usually affiliate themselves with a broad D.I.Y. mentality arguably introduced and influenced by 80's hardcore punk. It's a more humble approach to playing shows than your glossy arena-rock concerts. Metal, however, has always carried a type of grandiose, almost biblical vision of popularity where small clubs aren't big enough to house such walls of dark sound.

But if the line between noise-rock and metal are already cloudy, then Lightning Bolt's new album Earthly Delights does not help the cause. The pummel-throbbing Providence, Rhode Island noise giants released their 5th album; an album so rough and droney, it can easily be passed off as some kind of post-metal oddity.

Lightning Bolt comprise Brian Chippendale on drums/vocals and Brian Gibson on bass guitar, sorta. See, Gibson modifies his bass guitar to hold both guitar and bass strings, then passing that sound through pedals and effects. The work of one guitar player now sounds like eight. Not to mention Chippendale's unreal, power-drumming and voice effects give the band a collective sound. The product is rough, fast, and really noisy.

Earthly Delights begins with the suitably titled "Sound Guardians". The song is Lightning Bolt in a nut-shell: stony, violent, and harsh. It's the tone LB play with since their beginnings in the late 90s.

The beginning of "Colossus", clocking in at seven minutes, can be confused with an Electric Wizard or Melvins song, but as soon as Chippendale starts his parade of hell-drums, it becomes pretty distinct as LB fodder. The song does sound a bit restricted. Lightning Bolt is supposed to sound like a full-fledged band, but the presence of only two members can easily be heard.

They experiment with proggy-country riffs ("Funny Farm"), and wreak total chaos with unconventional song structures and call-and-response vocals (S.O.S).

Yet, I've always thought of Lightning Bolt as a "metal band". Song-titles like "Dracula Mountain", "Ride The Sky", and "Riffwraiths", border on exaggeration and epic fantasy. There's something to be admired about that. A band working on a consistent grass-roots aesthetic confused with delusions of Melville-like epics.

The album's sound is pretty consistent. But consistency might not be Lightning Bolt's most flattering characteristic. Though, it's this kind of anarchic consistency that makes Earthly Delights one of the best rock albums of the year. Just don't call it an earthly delight.