Blackwater Holylight radiate elemental splendor on 'Not Here Not Gone'
Regarded for a heady trifecta of doomy psychedelia reflective of their Pacific Northwest origins, Blackwater Holylight have conjured something of a reinvention on their latest LP, Not Here Not Gone, dressing the elemental pillars of the band’s established foundation with dramatic tapestries of remarkable sonic brilliance and a refined melodic emphasis to majestic effect.
Relocating from Portland’s misty forests to the sun-baked expanse of Los Angeles has made an conspicuous impact on Blackwater Holylight’s attitude, all but evaporating the obfuscating haze of perpetual gloom under the radiant warmth of an everlasting summer. The heavy, doom-adjacent perspective of the band’s earlier releases gives way to a more nuanced approach that turns towards the warmth of kalidescopic, light-dappled psychedelia like a field of wildflowers blossoming in heliolatry after the tumultuous inundation of a passing thunderstorm. But don’t mistake Not Here Not Gone as a trifling confection. Blackwater Holylight still firmly exist within primeval shadows, and from these umbral origins have begun to expand their presence like a fiery coronal halo burning beyond the void of a total solar eclipse. The effect is awe inspiring, a reminder of the celestial immensity in which mortals occupy the merest of moments, and the potential within which for individuals to shine brighter than supernova.
The A-side of Not Here Not Gone feels very much like an evolution, as Blackwater Holylight build upon the efforts of their established catalog with a newfound level of polish that draws from a well of influences and emotions plumbed from the depths of introspective reflection and the accumulation of life experience. Chiming, crystalline guitars glide above surges of downtuned riffs on album openers “How You Feel” and “Involuntary Haze,” while densely layered compositions define the weighty, rhythmic persistence of “Heavy, Why?” and the heaving, rolling cadence of “Bodies.” Persevering through it all, Blackwater Holylight refuse to surrender to the darkness, juxtaposing the terror of the abyss with an unquenchable fire that burns in furious resistance to the surrounding black like human souls crying out from the precipice of eternity. The effect is primal, and taps directly into the very core of one’s being to elicit emotions inherent to the human experience that stretch back with universal commonality from the earliest moments of our divergent evolution to the advanced realities of life in our modern age.
The experimental instrumental interlude “Giraffe” represents a turning point for the album, appearing midway through the tracklist with a thick, molasses groove over deconstructed industrial rhythms and a mesmerizing substrate of buzzing electronic distortion. From here Blackwater Holylight begin to reveal their hand in “Spades,” unleashing a massively devastating crunch of downtuned riffs and pummeling, thrashy percussion. Channeling the overpowering intensity of early grunge and desert rock into a head-on collision of Badmotorfinger and Blues For The Red Sun spiked with apocalyptic psychedelia, Blackwater Holylight incite a churning mosh of inescapable gravity, an event horizon of utter destruction that ends as abruptly as it began.
“Void To Be” burnishes sentimental prose to a brilliant glow as heroic guitar lines intertwine in the atmosphere, accented with subtle hints of delicate strings. “Fade” soars with unbridled freedom between the peaks of verdant mountains wreathed in mist, before settling comfortably back to earth in its final moments amidst the golden hour hue of the slowly setting sun and familiar sounds of the everyday.
“Mourning After” moves with the deliberate sorrow of a funerary dirge, swaying over a mildly unsettling undercurrent that tilts the axis of reality ever so slightly like coming to terms with life in the aftermath of an unexpected loss and finding the strength necessary to carry on. The album closes with a tremendous 7-minute dirge that accumulates like a thunderhead rising on the horizon, billowing with glacial immensity and heralding the impending onslaught of the entirety Mother Nature’s unbridled fury unleashed upon the earth with absolute impunity. Percussion gallops like the perilous arrival of Four Horseman astride mechanical steeds, unrelenting in their approach and staggering in the totality of terror brought before them. But out of the destruction ethereal vocals arise from the din, carried aloft on luminous guitars that pierce the gray canopy like gleaming swords of divine retribution, neatly vanquishing doom’s most notorious agents. In the wake of this cosmic conflict, Blackwater Holylight rests on a field of poppies as melancholy strings conjure memories of the past laid to rest with enduring reverence.
Not Here Not Gone is available now via Suicide Squeeze. Stream the album on Spotify and follow Blackwater Holylight on Instagram.
Upcoming Shows
FEB 13 - Casbah - San Diego, CA - TICKETS
FEB 14 - Last Exit - Phoenix, AZ - TICKETS
FEB 15 - Sister - Albuquerque, NM - TICKETS
FEB 17 - Radio/East - Austin, TX - TICKETS
FEB 18 - White Oak - Houston, TX - TICKETS
FEB 19 - No Dice - New Orleans, LA - TICKETS
FEB 20 - Handlebar - Pensacola, FL - TICKETS
FEB 21 - Drunken Unicorn - Atlanta, GA - TICKETS
FEB 22 - Eulogy - Asheville, NC - TICKETS
FEB 24 - Southern Cafe - Charlottesville, VA - TICKETS
FEB 25 - Metro - Baltimore, MD - TICKETS
FEB 26 - Johnny Brenda’s - Philadelphia, PA - TICKETS
FEB 27 - Meadows - Brooklyn, NY - TICKETS
FEB 28 - Widowmaker Brewing - Braintree, MA - TICKETS
MAR 02 - Westside Bowl - Youngstown, OH - TICKETS
MAR 03 - Black Circle - Indianapolis, IN - TICKETS
MAR 04 - Sleeping Village - Chicago, IL - TICKETS
MAR 06 - Hi-Dive - Denver, CO - TICKETS
MAT 07 - Hi-Dive - Denver, CO - TICKETS
MAR 08 - Aces High - Salt Lake City, UT - TICKETS
MAR 10 - Neumos - Seattle, WA - TICKETS
MAR 11 - Aladdin Theater - Portland, OR - TICKETS
MAR 12 - Starlet - Sacramento, CA - TICKETS
MAR 13 - The Chapel - San Francisco, CA - TICKETS
MAR 14 - Moe’s Alley - Santa Cruz, CA - TICKETS
MAR 21 - Pacific Electric - Los Angeles, CA - TICKETS
APR 18 - Roadburn - Tilburg, NL - TICKETS
MAY 06 - Ancienne Belgique - Brussels, BE - SOLD OUT
MAY 07 - MS Stubnitz - Hamburg, DE - TICKETS
MAY 08 - A Colossal Weekend - Copenhagen, DK - TICKETS
MAY 09 - Desertfest - Oslo, NO - TICKETS
MAY 10 - Monument - Gothenburg, SE
MAY 12 - Pod Minoga - Poznan, PL - TICKETS
MAY 13 - UT Connewitz - Leipzig, DE - TICKETS
MAY 14 - Desertfest - Berlin, DE - TICKETS
MAY 15 - Stummsche Reithalle - Neunkirchen, BE - TICKETS
MAY 16 - Obsidian Dust - Brussels, BE - TICKETS
MAY 17 - Desertfest - London, UK - TICKETS
MAY 18 - The Cluny - Newcastle, UK - TICKETS
MAY 19 - Stereo - Glasgow, UK - TICKETS
MAY 20 - The Deaf Institute - Manchester, UK - TICKETS
MAY 22 - Sonic Rites - Helsinki, FIN - TICKETS