Locrian

With Territories, Locrian have branched out beyond their decayed world of noise and drone, augmenting their traditionally bleak, soulless mire with elements of black metal and power electronics. Fittingly, all but one of the six compositions presented on this LP feature an expanded line-up ― the core duo of André Foisy and Terence Hannum have enlisted four of Chicago's black metal/power electronics luminaries to lend a hand. This symbiotic relationship has resulted in the most ambitious and malevolent Locrian release yet. Tracks such as "Procession of Ancestral Brutalism" and "The Columnless Arcade" are exercises in noise/metal fusion, while "Between Barrows" and "Ring Road" almost veer into (gasp!) post-rock territory. Each song is able to stand on its own, yet there is an element of fluid cohesion that binds the tracks together. Taken as a whole, Territories comes across as a well-assembled document.