Named after an 1870s tome of lectures on the Apocalypse, Rick Tomlinson's Voice of the Seven Thunders distills years of divergent musical exploration that followed his much-acclaimed Voice of the Seven Woods debut (Twisted Nerve, 2007). This time around, multi-instrumentalist and sound sculptor Tomlinson has assembled a full-fledged rock group. On their self-titled new release, infernal and primitive energies mingle with the bucolic reveries that won him previous acclaim.
"Open Lighted Doorway" begins the album with a glimmer of the pastoral sounds that mark Tomlinson's earlier recordings, soaked in reverb as if corrupted by time; the monolithic "Kommune" follows with rolling guitars and rhythmic layers of primal percussion. "The Burning Mountain" erupts like flames from an Anatolian mirage--a tide from the East. The purely acoustic "Dry Leaves" offers the listener a momentary respite before "Dalaelven" breaks the spell with its vertiginous howl. This blinding acid haze is broken only by the stripped-down vocal harmonies of the introspective closer "Disappearances."
Voice of the Seven Thunders is already drawing comparison to the heyday of '70s acid rock and the likes of Amon Düül II, Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, Japan's Flower Travelin' Band, early Pink Floyd, the Velvet Underground's drone jams, the electronic kosmische of Cluster and the unhinged organic grooves of International Harvester. The album was recorded in just three days in the spring of 2009 at Andy Ramsey's Stereolab studio with engineer Jimmy Robertson, and features long-standing Tomlinson collaborator Chris Walmsley on drums and Rory Gibson on bass. Voice of the Seven Thunders will play select dates as a full band in 2010.
