Sumac - Love In Shadow (Thrill Jockey)
8
Not so much an evolution as an amalgamation, Love In Shadow pulls together plenty of what made SUMAC’s three components giants in their own rights while adding a few lessons picked up from their recent adventure with Keiji Haino. It’s a muscular journey, beefed up by Turner’s bellicose growls and the jarring basswork of Brian Cook, yet it tempers its physical prowess with an air of complexity, its deftly intertwined moments of eerie stillness, gravelly repetition and out-and-out weirdness making it unpredictable yet hypnotic, leaving the listener in a state of perpetual unease. By placing an inordinate focus on structure, tone and by flirting with madness, rage and contemplation without fully giving themselves over to any one aspect, they’ve delivered an album that not only warrants repeated listens, but demands it and rewards you for doing so.