The ever-faithful and ever-consistent SKULLFLOWER return with Draconis, a truly massive sounding (and massive in length) full-length album for the Cold Spring label. When you’ve done over two dozen albums it can be easy to settle into a groove, but these two do not seem content to simply shit out a new record once a year and be done with it.
For something so assaulting and droning, SKULLFLOWER have always found a way to give off an air of the contemplative, the psychedelic, dare I say it, the blissful? Draconis is no exception. Sure, like all the work of theirs I’ve heard it requires patience and the right mood or else it can come across as a bit much. But given the right frame of mind, all that static and distortion takes on a sort of maximalist minimalism, something that can inspire the same feelings as say JOHN CAGE, TONY CONRAD or LA MONTE YOUNG.
Draconis is not the definitive SKULLFLOWER record. As I mentioned, their discography is daunting in its sheer breadth. But some 30 years in it’s still better than a lot of what groups half their age are capable of, and is definitely worth a listen.
Draconis is available now on Cold Spring