DOWNLOAD: Locrian/Mamiffer

By Jon Graef in Arts & Entertainment on Feb 2, 2012 7:20PM

If you ever wish your yoga chants also featured blood-curdling noise, swashes of sonic texture, and pastoral acoustic guitars, have we ever got the track for you. Download a collaborative song from Chicagoans Locrian and Seattle-based Mamiffer below.

Truth: "In Fulmanic Blaze," the song in question from the ambient metal duos upcoming collaborative album Bless Them That Curse You, has been available online for a while now. So why revisit old news? Because of an interview published yesterday in online metal magazine Cvlt Nation, where Locrian and Mamiffer talk music with fellow composer Daniel Menche.

In it, the two duos talk about their inspirations for their music, and it's worth a read to see what Locrian have to say about how Chicago has influenced their music. Here's a sample quote, from band member André Foisy:

I really like living in Chicago, but it also symbolizes a lot of things that frighten me about humanity. I lived around the St. Lawrence River, and the Great Lakes all of my life and Lake Michigan can almost seem like an ocean. I also grew up in the mountains and around some really wild places. Chicago lacks any of that for sure. We have simulacrum mountains: sky scrapers, but I definitely feel like it sparks my creativity to be in this environment more than anything ...

There are some wild places around Chicago that are truly unique and inspiring, but they are places that you have to seek out.

Read more here. Seek out Chicago's wild places -- no, the zoo doesn't count -- and let "In Fulmanic Blaze" be your soundtrack.

It's both a challenging and comforting listen, swaying from confrontational noise one minute, to calming, dark folk the next, all building up to an epic, chaotic crescendo reminiscent of local post-metal acts like Russian Circles. Bless Them That Curse You is out March 6 on Profound Lore.

MP3: Locrian/Mamiffer "In Fulmanic Blaze"