Somewhere, on a frozen colony moon a scientist steps out of the research facility. The shutters clang shut behind him. Stamping his feet, little use for providing warmth, he slowly makes progress across the snow laden compound. The wind fires needles of pain into his face. The things would be returning soon. The scientists haven’t given the things a name yet, they have been too busy trying to stay alive. All they know is the things will be back, and there will be more death…
That’s the scenario in which Swedish space rockers Yuri Gagarin pitch us headlong into with the brutal ‘Cluster Of Minds’. It’s a blizzard of ice-cold guitars so rough and piercing you can feel the frostbite. It’s a cold, dark universe…
Confession time, this listener found the band S/T debut album a tad frustrating, considering the mix a little underpowered for space rock, a little static for rapture. Here however, on their new album At The Centre Of All Infinity, the needles are in the red; the drums are battering, the guitars blistering. Proceedings verge close to being metal but the heart is pure space rock; where groove is never sacrificed.
Opener ‘The New Order’ sounds like jet-stream Hawkwind fucked to the gills on good shit. Sounding like rampaging Mastodons on the loose, swarming through a boiling river of mud, this’ll get the blood pumping and the neighbours banging on the walls.
‘In The Abyss’ sounds exactly how you think it does, black molten furies of guitars, demonic spirals of noise and blunderbuss drumming.
‘I See No God Here’ provides succour from the storm; a Tangerine Dream style pastoral sashay into ambience.
The title track is another example of where Yuri Gagarin should appeal to fans of both metal/stoner and space rock leanings. Blocks of noise so tectonic should not be so fleet-footed…
‘Oblivion’ sees the reign of paranoia guitar careen uncontrollably past safety limits, this is subterranean machinery gone haywire as the world collapses around us… who knows how it will all end??
The album is a godless block of rampaging noise; angry and unyielding, but pulsing along on a liquid skeleton that makes for an electrifying listen.
colourhorizon 