(2018) Lumerians - Call of the Void

Review: 
…esoteric Oakland psych foursome Lumerians release their new album Call of the Void, via the excellent Fuzz Club records. 
It’s the group’s fifth LP since they formed in San Francisco in 2006, in which time they’ve toured with the likes of My Bloody Valentine, Black Moth Super Rainbow and Killing Joke. 
The album, their first since 2014’s Transmissions from Telos Volume III, continues to delve into a range of influences from space-rock to free jazz, drone and dub. It is dedicated to the memory of Barrett Clark, the band’s long-time friend, sound engineer and collaborator who passed away in the tragic Ghost Ship warehouse fire that took place in Oakland in 2016. 
…The excellently-titled Fuck All Y’all starts with the sounds of the Berlin School – arpeggiated synths and sustained chords but pretty quickly a busy beat and some nasty guitars come in. It’s a pretty dynamic combination, it has space, drive, and texture. The synths are a bit more warped on Silver Trash, lurching in and out of tune before a guitar riff stabilises things. 
…Space Curse has another synthy start, a bit more Krautrock this time but also quite pop with the double snare beat, it’s quite similar to Moon Duo. The vocals are distorted and buried in the mix. There’s more driving, Psychedelic, Synth-Pop on Signal, more pitch-shifting, like My Bloody Valentine but on keyboards. Another brilliant pop drum pattern starts Fictional, the combination of sounds here doesn’t work as well – simple bass, pop drums, Goth vocal, pitch-shifting keyboards, meandering lead lines. Ironically, as the track gets more chaotic, it makes more sense. The introduction of the guitars binds the disparate elements together. 
This chaotic sound continues on Masters but there is still a strange ’80s German/Goth feel to it. It’s in no way a bad thing, it’s quite intriguing. Ghost is quite like ’80s film music, there’s a great bassline and also a kind of Nick Rhodes synth section. Call Of The Void ends with the warm distortion of Clock Spell, probably their most successful combination of sounds, almost like Broadcast, although the vocal is possibly buried in effects too much. 

Tracklist: 
01 - Fuck All Y'all.flac 
02 - Silver Trash.flac 
03 - Space Curse.flac 
04 - Signal.flac 
05 - Fictional.flac 
06 - Masters Call.flac 
07 - Ghost Notes.flac 
08 - Clock Spell.flac 

Summary: 
Country: USA 
Genre: alternative rock, psychedelic rock