By Jeffery McNulty
In doing research for this record review I found out that Chicago’s Indian had five full lengths out! I must have been sleeping because I only owned their first two. So you can see I’m already a fan and have been since I saw them a handful of years ago. They were touring for their first record The Unquiet Sky where they completely stole the show and I made sure to pick up their next outing Sights and Abuse when it came out a couple years later. I’m going to have to go back and pick up the pieces though because From All Purity is all the way crushing.
Indian’s combination of nihilistic sludge and over the top noise is completely realized on this record. I literally turned it down on my home stereo because I thought it was killing the speakers only to realize it was recorded that way! Unlike some doomy bands where the slow stuff sounds forced, Indian manages to find a perfect balance between tempos so you can still rock out and feel depressed at the same time. The vocals remind me of Today is The Day’s Steve Austin in the way that they sound anguished and not guttural. Great noise samples complete this very well recorded package. It is hard to capture a band’s music when they are so intense live but Sanford Parker, who also did records by YOB and Samothrace, really knows how to preserve it on wax!
This is a devastating new album by a great Chicago band. Get it here: http://indiandoom.bandcamp.com/ then pick up their back catalogue if you haven’t already.
