Two Beasts

Pacific Northwest abstract-expressionist metallurgists SUMAC are known for their knotty, long-form explorations of the territory between chaos and cohesion. They vacillate between the visceral power of bottom-feeder metal, the instinctive spontaneity of free jazz, and the tactile pleasures of experimental music in a mélange of tightly wound riffage and aural deconstructions. One can’t help but wonder how their protracted dirges and drones could possibly be contained within the format of a 7”, but with their Sub Pop Singles Club Vol. 5 contribution we’re all set to find out.
 
“Two Beasts (excerpt)” spans both sides of the vinyl edition, and even then we’re only catching a glimpse of a longer composition. It may seem like a loss to learn that a third of the run-time for “Two Beasts” didn’t make it on the 7”, but SUMAC’s songs have always felt like snapshot of a fleeting moment where order arises out of entropy, so on the vinyl version we are merely experiencing that genesis and decay within a tighter timeframe. We can hear the entire 18+ minutes of “Two Beasts” on digital music platforms, where it lives as a single unedited song. “Two Beasts” is a fitting continuation of the sonic rise-and-fall documented on their latest album May You Be Held.

Recorded Feb 2020 by Nicholas Wilbur at The Unknown, Anacortes, WA; and March 2020 by A. Turner at HoLC, Vashon, WA. Mixed and mastered April 2020 by Kevin Ratterman at Invisible Creature, Los Angeles, CA. Mono-print images by Faith Coloccia. Thank you and love to: our friends/families, Nich W, Kevin, Faith, Nick T, Robot, and all…. © SUMAC 2020 / OCEANICON SESAC/BMG. SUMAC: P.O. Box 1706, Vashon, WA 98070.