Album Review...The Cult of Dom Keller - Goodbye to the Light

  

Its hard to believe its been 3 years since Nottingham's The Cult of Dom Keller's 2013's Self Titled LP was released.  The band have toured Europe and supported the likes of Wooden Shjips, as well as playing the Austin Psych Fest. Last Year also saw the band contribute to the HeavyPsych compilation 'A Stoned Out Salute to Led Zeppelin with their brilliant version of 'Dazed and Confused'.

'Goodbye to the Light' finds the band in good form. 'Hole in the Whole' opens the album as a pulsating drone that builds up to a wall of feedback and noise; its end is abrupt, giving way to a pulsating note. 'Broken Arm of God' is fuzzy and grimy and seems to have an almost eerie, yet anthemic, chorus.
Elsewhere 'Ravens & Rockets' offers up driving, rhythmic drums and gloomy, sinister, harmonising vocals on a track reminiscent of Bowie's 'Scary Monsters'.
The record doesn't shy away from being experimental, for example, on songs such as 'Waltz of the Morgellons' and the sonically weird 'Tunnel in the Clouds', offering some small respite from the deep intensity the rest of the album serves up. As Psychedelia goes this is pretty dark stuff; its far more gothic in tone than their last release and draws on many influences.  'Astrum Argenteum' plays like later era Depeche Mode; the percussive styles of Phil Spector's Wall of Sound and Bauhaus. There is also a deeper intensity to the music recorded here, particularly on tracks like the Joy Divisionesque 'Exterminating Angels'.

Goodbye to the light truly is an excellent record.  It succeeds in drawing you in and will reward you with multiple listens. There are a wealth of different textures in the mix, all of them welcome and adding something to the bands already established sounds.  This album is another great example of a piece of work that should be played as a whole. The Cult of Dom Keller have managed to create the same kind of shadowy atmospheres within the grooves of the records as they do when witnessed live. Right now, they're touring the UK, don't miss them.


Buy Goodbye To The Light from Fuzz Club

The Cult of Dom Keller Facebook

The Cult of Dom Keller Bandcamp