TLR 078: heavy winged — fields within fields LP + download
LP released 15 june 2010 in a limited edition of 994 copies. $12.00.
buy the lp below. also available physically or as a digital download or for streaming from bandcamp.
they're back. heavy winged has continued to stretch their leathery, scarred, er, wings and grow since their last release for three lobed recordings, 2008's alive in my mouth. from that time to the present the group has ventured to release three complete albums (spreading center, shaking, waking and the thinner the air) and a full-length collaboration with inca ore, each displaying a few additional wrinkles to heavy winged's sonic palette. while these additions to the band's distorto-electro-bombast may be most apparent to those who have closely tracked their total output, fields within fields, their latest and, all hyperbole aside, greatest album to date, displays the band's grand developments in a fashion apparent to even casual outside observer. every great band has that one totally assured statement album. for heavy winged, it is fields within fields.
the band was determined to make fields within fields into a significant part of their discography from the very outset. in october 2009, the band decided to enter the 5d studios in brooklyn to engage in what would be a first-time experiment - recording in a multi-track studio with overdubs planned from the session's start. prior to this experience their entire catalog was centered on displaying the band's ferocious live spirit. having already proven themselves to be adept at creating grand and heavy statements in an improvised, one-take-only setting, they felt that were ready for the challenge of being both improvisational and composition-minded. the band hunkered down for the session and even brought in some friends to help augment the heavy winged vibe. their time in 5d yielded the two dark fruits which combine to form fields within fields.
brutal and hard, "among the maori" leads the album off and encompasses the entire first side of vinyl. the track opens with a slow, deliberate fade into jed bindeman's tribal drumbeat. this beat may start controlled but the track's velocity and volume continue to accelerate, eventually turning "among the maori" into a highly tuned jet engine. ryan hebert's guitar playing is exceptional throughout, beginning with an initial prolonged banshee-like wailing and slowly building and fully giving way to a fantastically cranking and grinding post-metallic din by the track's conclusion. "among the maori" stands out among the band's entire catalog as perhaps their truest moment. the album's second side is fully dedicated to the drone doom opus "the hum of the universe." "the hum..." adds bob jones on viola to the band's three piece lineup. the results of this pairing are epic and haunting. jones' viola couples nicely with brady sansone's low-end work to create a churning sound vortex that will pull you in and release you only when the stylus reaches the run-out groove. fields within fields is a powerful and assured statement, one that strongly rings "death to the new flesh - long live heavy winged's drone!"
fields within fields is pressed on RTI vinyl and housed within a textured old-style stoughton tip-on sleeve bearing new artwork from rebecca carlisle-healy. the album will be accompanied by a download coupon for DRM-free MP3s of the album. this one will be released on june 15 but copies pre-ordered from three lobed will ship as soon as they are on hand in advance of that date. copies of fields within fields that were pre-ordered by may 15, 2010 had the option of being accompanied by a glass-mastered CD (TLR-079) presenting an additional thirty-plus minutes of studio material (including a long studio droner featuring a guest appearance from white hills' dave w.) that is not available for individual purchase.