ALBUM REVIEW: Acheron – King Buffalo
An album born out of the pandemic-era touring shutdown, KING BUFFALO’s latest release, Acheron, is the band’s second record of 2021. It follows on from The Burden Of Restlessness, which was released in the spring, and is part of a series of albums whose third chapter is expected next year. This new album sees the band expand their heavy psych sound into something more spacious and fluid in comparison to the sharper edges and earthier grit of The Burden Of Restlessness. Acheron is dubbed ‘The Cave Album’ by the band as it was recorded in the Howe Caverns, which is three hours east from Rochester, New York.
Once you become aware that this album was recorded in a cave, the spaciousness of its features becomes unmissable. This is only backed up by the sound of an underground stream that can be heard throughout the album but more obviously in the introduction to the album’s title track Acheron. The album’s title derives from the river of Acheron of Greek mythology, and translates as “the river of woe”. It is said to be one of the five rivers that lead to the underworld where souls must be ferried across by Charon the Ferryman to the realm of the infamous Hades. The Romans would later coin its more well known name and call it the river Styx. The band embody this concept throughout the album, providing a trance-inducing sonic journey to parts unknown. KING BUFFALO have taken their signature psychedelic sound in a more atmospheric direction. With floating, melancholic passages dominating the album, the heavier riffs serve as brief moments of reality as you’re brought back down to Earth.
In comparison to its predecessor, Acheron is an album that takes its time. Graceful and patient in its delivery, it takes a communion with reflection and contemplates the organic surroundings that it was created in. The Howe Caverns’ characteristics give the album an otherworldly and ethereal tone that simply cannot be matched in a studio, and which, alongside the album’s overall fluidity, makes for a listening experience unlike any other. There’s a gentle ebb and flow as the songs cascade into each other, yet again embodying the river, as the various melodies and riffs wash over. The gentle and gradual waves of fuzz, reverb, chorus and delay that saturate the guitar hypnotise you, swirling like a whirlpool around your head.
Title track Acheron sets out the album’s themes from the beginning, as it harnesses the power of reflection and contemplation in the context of a moving river. Lyrically, Zephyr is the hardest hitting, as it uses the river as a metaphor for a person’s journey through life. As each stage brings you to another new shoreline, you have the realisation that you never expected to get this far. Within that is something quite cathartic, knowing that the river flows forever, just like your life marches on, evolving and meandering to suit your current environment. Cerberus is the most tense song on the album, channelling the eerie vibes of the underworld. Cerberus in Greek mythology is the multi-headed hound of Hades, and he prevents the dead from leaving Hades’ domain. Here, we see echoes of The Burden Of Restlessness mixed with an almost PINK FLOYD-esque approach to melancholic melody.
Altogether, Acheron is an album full of nuance, ambiguity and delicate complexities, yet it is engaging, mystical and magical. Utilising Greek mythology in a unique way lyrically whilst recording in a cave gives the album a distinct synergy. It is easy to get lost in such a finely crafted yet flexible album, as though the enchanting and eerie river Acheron has been created in sonic form and all that is left to do now is wait for that most auspicious ferryman Charon to come and take us away.
Rating: 8/10
Acheron is set for release on December 3rd via Stickman Records.
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