It begins with the tinkle of chimes plucked from the strings you’re not meant to play in the neck space of an imagined instrument. This is mythic music, impossible and impressive.
From there we dive into an interstellar jam from another dimension. In amongst the wiggling of black holes and celestial bodies, a thin golden thread is plucked. It’s beauty is a safe haven from amongst the cosmic chaos and raw energy.
At the core of the track is an alien riff on the guitar backed up with primordial and raw drums. The energy is kept at maximum and never dips below heroic.
The track flexes and fluxes going from one refrain to the next with the jerky fluid skill of a pop and lock. Every musical muscle measured and precisely where it needs to be.
Any ears familiar with math rock might be surprised when the crooning vocals emerge. Unexpected they may be but they quickly make themselves very welcome.
The vocals provide a melodic bed that the rest of the instruments can pull against that much harder and they are beautifully deployed with passion and energetic flourishes.
At around the one minute mark the guitars, drums, and vocals all launch into a death dive together with a choral quality. It’s a thing of pure beauty.
When a 5 minute track has only 1 minute of play time and you’ve already written more than you do for most single reviews you know there’s something a little special about it.
The breakdown after the first vocal flurry is powerful with riffs that smack you about the ears and leave a buzzing echo.
The peaks are monstrous, the valleys are gorgeous vistas. Dome Dwellers are a band that will live in your head and heart for days after the first listen.
Kind of sounds like the hippy love child of Hella and The Black Keys.
Words by Matt Miles.
