Six Organs of Admittance: Asleep on the Floodplain

Label: Drag City

Guitarmancer Ben Chasny is back and even after umpteen albums under his Six Organs of Admittance moniker, he just continues to deepen the eldritch atmosphere. Asleep on the Floodplain is the sort of album you could recommend to someone new to the Six Organs vibe: acres of astral landscape, shadowy acoustic forests, mountains to mystic-hop, all suitable for deep thinking and/or pilgrimage of any kind. No pussyfooting here—opening song "Above a Desert I've Never Seen" demonstrates Chasny's naked power, a stirring flow of notes, strings resonating out over a dusty plain, a beautiful melody holding fast as his playing grows more intense. "Light of the Light" brings in his hushed vocals, worth listening closely for; "River of My Youth" goes even further into the shadowlands, an underplayed raga over humming strings and a chant/sung vocal by Elisa Ambrogio (Magik Markers), all adding up to a moving, even reassuring sound. Could this record save your misbegotten soul? We believe so.