Bardo Pond / Carlton Melton Split [coll] – [Agitated Records]

surferrosa   1/3/2012   12-inch, A Library

Bardo Pond and Carlton Melton indulge us with two twenty minute side longs which compliment each other in their spaciousness as well as in their variance from one another. Bardo Pond fills their side with a dense, guitar driven, stoner rock head-scape. Drenched in fuzz, swirling and wandering guitar leads coming out through the smoke, dense with feedback and thick with riffage and drones. Ghostly banshee vocals appear in and out as well as the far away sounds of a psychedelic flute. An oscillating, freak out, space exploration. This side has more of a vaguely tangible, epic guitar-rock journey sort of feel. Carlton Melton starts off with blowing, wind like electronics and drones. A pleasantly tense, almost ethereal, encasing, ambient soundscape which simmers and bubbles for about five minutes before some fuzzed out guitar crunch slowly slips in. From here on its slow, driving, pulsating stoner rock thick with a dense, muddy sort of distortion. Low, moaning underground drones roll in about half way through, darkening and dampening this side long as it grows and decays throughout. Play the whole side, you know you want to. -Surfer Rosa