Head Dress – Backwards
6.20.15 by Ian Franklin

Scooped out of the sedimentary blanket of worn earth lives “Backwards” from Head Dress released on Geology Records. Originally released on Distance Recordings in 2010, “Backwards” is getting a fresh treatment from Geology Recs. in an edition of 50; and this is good news for all of us because these 4 tracks of concentrated drone doom, running in the range of 7 to 17 minutes each, are superbly crafted slices of guitar ambiance.

Head Dress’ sense of pacing is exemplary whether using the cold, filtered sounds of modular synths as on “Warren” released last year on Phinery, or when using passages of slowly evolving reverberated guitar and distortion as he does here on “Backwards”. The melodic passages inch forward adding small pieces with every rotation growing into a massive force. Hair, the second track, builds with a slow and disorienting dread like the tide calmly rising up above your shoulders, creeping towards your neck. Reverberating wails of shimmering metallic guitar shine through and fade as pulsing heartbeats.

Slightly before the half way point of Fantasy comes the slow descent into distorted dust fields, though it never loses sight of the dancing melodic mirage within. The landscape is barren and mostly unforgiving, stripped of any unnecessary pretense. Feels like early Earth writing a score for a hard sci-fi flick where the dessert is the main character.

Backwards is pro-dubbed on chrome, features some killer acrylic based 2-sided color j-cards and clear shells with black imprinting. You know what to do… GRIP!