High Lightning by Dyr Faser

Review by Walter Price, Leipzig Germany
…why do you leave me here, DYR FASER – High Lightning
"In this new post-pandemic TikTok sugar-pop-dance-mimickers world, I’m not too confident that the younger generation of music experiencers will take the time to delve into the experimental side of pop music. Which, in my opinion, is an outright travesty. For example, earlier this month the Boston duo DYR FASER [Amelia May / Eric Boomhower] dropped a 7-track album called ‘High Lightning’ that will blow your mind, if you let it.

This set isn’t particularly pretty. It’s a bit dystopian, twisted for sure, and, well, as the band says, “‘High Lightning’ is a slow-burning spatial escape countered by strong, emotive swellings of doom.” Yeah, but there is an obsessive draw to this kind of soundscape. For example, for me, I hear hints of whimsey when May’s flute sneaks in and warps the sense of time. Or take the disjointed harmonies, these composers know that things aren’t as fluffy and clean as some would have you think. Hence, macabre is all around us and the freak shows are the actual main attractions.

And after a dozen or more listens and many thoughts about the plot lines, I’ve come to the conclusion that I will never be able to figure out all the nuances of the intricate instrumentation, the songwriter’s thought processes, nor does it matter if I do. Because the magic of this album is its complicated structure and ghostly undertones, which is what brings me back for more. Now, if these two can come up with a dance move the kids can attach themselves to, maybe more ears will find the time to check it out. I’m not holding my breath…"
- https://globaltexanchronicles.com/dyr-faser/

“Seven new tracks from Eric Boomhower and Amelia May, Boston's answer to the newspaper ad asking for musicians creating music that creeps. Dyr Faser are always a hair's breadth away from the perfect release, always inventive and irreverent but often drifting just a little too near to Shoegaze, the tolling bell of warning to any band who mistakes atmosphere for rambling. Their latest album has largely eradicated the flab and has a tweaked soundset which elevates mood ahead of emotion, allowing strangled keyboards to gasp and occasionally roar, with vocals and guitar providing a Greek chorus. This is Dyr Faser at their most deliciously twisted, comfortable in their own scaly skin and conniving in their compositions.

Lead single, 'Sun Worship', is Dyr Faser at their spaciest – bowed guitars chant subserviently as Amelia's voice sings to the heavens, the scant percussion sounding like a threshing machine. A flute brings the ceremony to a close…a very cult's funeral service to a glowing star ends as it begins – stifling yet chilling. Continuing the gas planet theme, 'Burning Star' has some drowsy wasp-sounding stylophone that brings to mind Brian Eno's 'Another Green World', however it has a spikiness which leaves the ooziness feeling a bit abstract, which is a shame.

'Faye's Clue' is a glorious track: haunting; driving, unsettling – if a gialli film were ever to be set in space, here's the ideal theme. An occasion when Eric's voice fits perfectly, the song is judged superbly, a psychedelic lament with the suggestion of a sideways glance. 'Knife Inside the Night' sags a little at the sides, too lo-fi for its own good, it lacks the body and atmosphere of the other tracks, with only the track's ending blending together the elements so that an air of menace looms large. The same cannot be said of 'Overwhelm or Destroy', Amelia's vocals delivered like an incantation and some soupy synth work adding to the quasi-religious tone, like a backstreet ceremony for down-and-outs. The track stays with you. It feels like a threat – an ominous warning and the track's end leaves you feeling curiously lost and ill at ease.

'Screaming Reckless' is positively murderous, yawning synths and buzzing guitars churn to make a Lon Chaney-toned fugue with some skull-clacking percussion which reminds me of Suicide's glacial backdrops. The album's closer, 'Heavy Vibrating R's', is the album's longest and the one which takes the most listens to really glean anything from. It has the kind of relentless lurch of Amon Düül II but with the flesh ripped from its bones. Rather like the album as a whole, it builds up an intoxicating mood but leaves you hanging rather than imparting a wholly satisfactory final blow.”
- Daz Lawrence, UK review

"These otherworldly sound explorers translate dream images into sonic sketches. Their psychedelic wanderings seem to be recorded anywhere except on our troubled Planet Earth. My guess is, at the dark side of the moon."
- turnupthevolume.blog, Belgium

“It’s all good, and the last 2 minutes of Heavy Vibrating R's sounds exactly like what that album cover looks like.”
- George Luke, Boston MA

Buy ‘Touching Embers’ on vinyl today.
“DYR FASER, for us, is kind of a “Gotcha!” band as they seemingly drop releases out of nowhere and when they do they’re not only a pleasant surprise but also constantly contain the kind of music that just sticks with you. New release Falling Stereos is no different with 10 all new tracks of pure modern Alt Rawk bliss.”
- rockandrollfables.com

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