FIELD RECORDINGS FROM THE SUN

Field Recordings from the Sun has a sound very similar to the self-titled debut, a very energetic hard rock sound with the ever present echoplex of Noel von Harmonson. However the band starts to take a new direction with this sophomore album that they'll take much farther with future albums.

Ben Chasny takes a break from his great solo project Six Organs of Admittance to perform as a guest on this album. He can be heard in the percussion section of the first few minutes of Beneath the Ice Age. The track starts out with a very quiet, ambient feel to it for about 3 minutes lulling the listener into a false sense of security before exploding into the familiar territory of the self-titled debut. Chasny is also responsible for composing and playing on the out-of-place 3rd track, The Unicorn. The Unicorn is a sublime acoustic track that features the guitar playing of both Ethan Miller and a guest performance of Ben Chasny. Chasny's playing is as distinctive as always, and the track sounds like it comes right off a Six Organs of Admittance record until the playing is drowned in a growing sonic wave of echoplex.

Musically it is very similar to the debut (despite the contrasts of Chasny's presence), and the band plays just as tight. However the song structure is lengthened from the conventional structure into a more progressive spacey jam kind of feel. Because of this change in structure, and the contrasts provided by Chasny's input, the album is a much more solid effort than the debut. However Comets on Fire still has much more to offer, which they'll be showing us when Chasny becomes a full-time member to record their next album.

Recommended to those who like space rock and dense, energetic music.