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By RYAN MAVITY
I don’t know what the hell to make of I Have Made My Bed in Darkness—the latest from the ridiculously named Exotic Animal Petting Zoo—but I think I like it.
I guess I should just get this out of the way: I Have Made My Bed in Darkness is not an easy listen. The sound is all over the map, venturing from psychedelic melodies to out-of-control thrashing so fast the band members can barely keep up with one another. The band makes A LOT of racket, sounding at times like a bunch of 14-year-olds in a garage trying to piss off the neighbors at any cost. For evidence of this, just take a listen to “Hairdresser.” “Moonshoes” is in a similar vein, although it’s a bit more focused. “Richard Dean Anderson (One Is in Sheol, The Pit)” is a mess, veering in more directions than a car on a highway full of black ice.
Yet it takes a certain skill to make something this bizarre come together in moments of occasional brilliance. The opening track “Seeds” sounds like something you’ll hate at first, but then the band settles into a hypnotic psychedelic jam. The instrumental “A Balloon Enters Kyoto City” is even better as bassist Scott Certa and drummer Stephen Carr establish a head-bobbing groove while guitarist/vocalist Brandon Carr drops some watery noise guitar over top. “Every Waking Moment” settles into a similar groove. “Translations” and “Curse of the Sands” are the heaviest tracks on the album, especially the latter as Carr screams behind a tight math/death metal riff.
The best tracks are the longer ones, like the eight-minute “Ira Lore,” on which the band is able to best show its mix of poppy melodies and sledgehammer metal. Another eight-minute track, “Arendering,” eschews the metal and goes almost exclusively for a big, epic psychedelic finale. The song runs a little long but packs a tension where you just wait for the band to explode.
Albums like I Have Made My Bed in Darkness can be a bit hit or miss. When they work, it can be a mesmerizing experience. When they don’t, it can be almost a chore to slog through. I Have Made My Bed n Darkness thankfully does more of the former than the latter.
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