Blueprints can be nice things but in the world of music they’re often derided when artists other than those who created them choose to follow them. Yet, whenever a band becomes popular, whether or not they intend to, they leave behind one of these documents that others will inevitably stumble across or seek out in developing their own vision. Like any blueprint, it is what the given architect decides to do with it and, most importantly, what embellishments they will make to create something new and different out of a pre-existing structure or form that is key.
Many times, artists will borrow liberally from several of these to cobble together something deemed suitable to what they are attempting to create. This is much of how new pieces of art, architecture, and, obviously, music, get created. It is a natural process and so one has to, even if begrudgingly, admire the work that others do in re-assembling pieces creating new collages of all their own. The hitch then becomes how close the artist hews to another’s original vision. In some cases, one artist may stay faithful to more than one idea or source at a time while adding their own to the mix.
Enter: Howling Giant. They have returned with their third release, Black Hole Space Wizard Part 2, and have turned out something quite awesome with their collection of blueprints. The band here are in fine form melding together some of the best elements of bands such as Coheed and Cambria, Elder, and Mastodon. The spacier prog rock of the first band collides with the low end progressive doom of the second before topping off the mix with a hint of the Atlanta stalwarts vocal style that swirls and builds to something quite satisfying. Hear this delightful concoction for yourself in our exclusive streaming premiere below:
This EP starts pretty straight-forward before becoming increasingly complex and, pleasingly, heavier as it makes its way through 30+ minutes of great jams. Part of the delight is in the unexpected embellishments that occur all over these 6 tracks particularly in the latter half of the album. This band rewards you for sticking around and staying engaged. For fans of the “doot”, there’s a very nice cameo on the reflective middle track here, “The Forest Speaks”, which showcases even more of the band’s versatility. Which is about the only spoiler we will give here but we’ll let the band tell you more about that track and the Black Hole Space Wizard adventure here:
“We wanted a track that embodied the language of tree folk. I’ve always felt that the bassoon or any low reed instrument is the perfect embodiment of a forest spirit” and it turned out that “our mixing engineer, Kim Wheeler, studied baritone sax in college. We knew that she was a gift sent from the old gods.”
You can order your copy of Howling Giant’s Black Hole Space Wizard, Part 2 from their Bandcamp page here.
Catch the band on tour!
9/9/2017 Springwater Supper Club – Nashville TN
9/13/2017 Melody Inn – Indianapolis IN
9/14/2017 Skeletunes Lounge – Ft. Wayne IN
9/15/2017 PJ’s Lager House – Detroit MI
9/16/2017 Blind Bob’s – Dayton OH
9/17/2017 Now That’s Class – Cleveland OH
9/19/2017 Mohawk Place – Buffalo NY
9/21/2017 Ante Room – Charlottesville VA
9/23/2017 Reggies 42nd St Tavern – Wilmington NC
9/24/2017 The Milestone – Charlotte NC