Carlton Melton – Always Even
Well played Carlton Melton . Instead of ploughing exactly the same furrow as on last year’s lab-grade bong-athon, Photos Of Photos , the Californian trio have switched fields … to one on Mars. All the same, their fourth LP, Always Even , is another winning hypno-missive from within the cosmic centre of their geodesic dome-cum-studio.
Things start slowly with the gentle lappings of “Slow Wake” – a mind massage aboard the holodeck of the Enterprise , the track’s amorphous landscape swirling together with producer John McBain of Monster Magnet ‘s extensive echoplex delay. The kraut-rocking “Keeping On” then sets the dial for deep space via its crunching bassline and sci-fi synth dither, exploding latterly with brain-busting guitar riffs. Next, the red-eyed “Spiderwebs” explores the same synth-driven, “psychedelically-enhanced drone” as helped made Photos Of Photos a success.
The two ten-minute closers are harder, peeling back layers of chugging kraut to expose phaser battles, righteous shred and thick streams of dark paranoia that slowly creep around and strangle the senses. Maybe it’s just a case of Carlton Melton having overdone the herb – maybe not – but the darkside always was more appealing in any case. Always Even is but more proof.
~Always Even is released September 23rd 2013 on Agitated .~
[sic] review – Carlton Melton – Photos Of Photos