Holy Mcgrail - Burning Rome [Southern Cross - 2007]Burning Rome is a live recording of Holy Mcgrails support show for Julian Copes Hammersmith Lyric show in 2003. The near on 50 minute is a good quality live recording touching down in all facets of Mr Mcgrails work from his solo drone/ ambient & the more rock traces of his solo album to the woodland drone project of slomo with Howard Marsden. It presents one long morphing track called Lady Hölle Suite, indexed on the back cover into three parts though it plays as one track. It starts with a slow building wall of drone guitar craft instantly recognizable to those who know Mr Mcgrails work, With synth throbs and purring under murmurs. Been both huge and spacey in its slowly enveloping and growing tones, it just seems to pull you in father and father like a vast calming black hole of sound, never threatening just soothing. At about the 14 minute mark things calm down after reaching a peak in sound, Mcgrail plays out a looped, clean and pretty gitarmelody overlapping with waves of feedback. Like walking along a beautiful empty sunshine basked beech, as the tide slowly slipps in and out . At the twenty minute mark the ring tones Lady Hölle (which original appeared on Holy Magrails debut album Collecting Earthquakes) appears shaking you from your mellow slumber, with it’s shrill tones and added slomo type bass rumble and whistling over the top. At the 30 minute mark the Lady Hölle element is dropped out and we left with a more active version of Slomo’s the Creep main bass riff, with feedback, spacey echo, and guitar picking traces, lower into great head vibrating bassy valleys. Before once more introducing the Lady Hölle element as the tracks nears it end. Worth a look if you enjoyed either Collecting Earthquakes or Slomo's the Creep , or guitar drone craft that is skilful grown and receding over the near on hour running time. To find out more go here, but act quick as their only ltd to 99 copies! Roger Batty
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