Album of the Day: Ahkmed – Distance

Lovingly pinched from The Dreaded Press: I’ve been having a difficult time getting a handle on this expansive and fascinating album by Australian bunch Ahkmed and I’ve finally realised why: distance (they insist upon lower case) is not, as the press release and label would have it, a stoner rock album at all.
It is closer in kinship to the swirling and intricate sound of unclassifiable post-rock heroes Godspeed You Black Emperor!, albeit with a slight space rock twist.

By contrast to the seven- or eight-strong line-ups of Godspeed in their hey-day, however, Ahkmed are a compact three-man group of guitar, bass and drums / vocals who produce a mountainous noise that moves like tectonic plates. distance opens with one of the most basic and plodding of all drum beats, which hardly prepares you for the head-spinning delirium of the psychedelic guitar that gradually insinuates itself into the mix, weaving around the pedestrian rhythm with a skill any guitarist would be proud of.

Continue reading: Album review – Ahkmed – distance | The Dreaded Press.

Tags: Ahkmed, album of the day, Distance, Duncan Harris, Elektrohasch Records, Postrock, Stonerrock, The Dreaded Press

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 30th, 2009 at 8:48 am and is filed under 2009, Album of the Day, Roadburn Recommended . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.