Review Summary: Take one down, pass it around, 99 Demons on the wall.
Oftentimes society’s use of ghost stories are educational; specific tales crafted to guide [mostly] children away from making wrong decisions. For Earthless, who’ve taken on an ancient Japanese legend, Hyakki Yagyō (translated to
Night Parade of One Hundred Demons), stories of the boogeyman and the big bad wolf are replaced with demons, ghosts and other terrifying ghouls as they descend upon sleeping villages once a year. The tale, expanded through the album’s presser, continues: that anyone who witnesses this otherworldly procession will die instantly—or be carried off by the creatures of the night. As a result, the villagers hide in their homes, lest they become victims of these supernatural invaders. Spooky right?
Contextually, the
Night Parade of One Hundred Demons is a decent enough pillar to which these San Diego heavy stoner rockers can find inspiration, cultivating three colossal twenty minute tracks chock full of dizzying guitar wizardry and circular instrumental motifs. Of the album’s hour-long journey into Japanese folklore, the first forty minutes “Night Parade Of One Hundred Demons” parts one and two gallop into the fray, riffs possessed by the very spirits which contextually drive this record. Impressive, burly riffs tinker with pretty cymbal work. That is before the psychedelic fuzz and wandering guitars circular, yet slightly less familiar soundscapes. Sabbath-ian rock becomes infused with sludge, feedback screaming into the night as the first part of the record’s titular track truly takes hold. What’s made clear between
parts one and two is Earthless are more than happy to receive the full measure of an idea before moving on, or back, or around but things
really become interesting within the second of the two tracks already mentioned. Earthless slow their roll, taking breath and releasing it slowly.
Night Parade of One Hundred Demons’s instrumentation builds slowly, playing host to the howling of the wind and increasingly ominous atmospheres. One steady, giant atmospheric lead up into the album’s climax.
“Death To The Red Sun” is gargantuan, despite maintaining the same hold on the album’s run-time as the tracks that came before it. The track itself is noticeably heavier, a cesspool collection of thundering riffs, burly, meaty grooves are infused with the same Earthless formula that’s carried them this far into their illustrious, workhorse of a career. While most listeners may be hauntingly focused on the two-part titular tracks it’s here that
Night Parade of One Hundred Demons cements itself as a statement piece. Solos pepper the track’s length while wah-wah pedals reinforce the sound dexterity this San Diego trio musters on a compositional level. Even as I try to move on to conclude this review I can’t help but add another guitar solo mention. Layers. Every time I say that particular word I subconsciously think of
Shrek; ogres, onions and “Death To The Red Sun”. You see, like ogres, Earthless doesn’t mind dressing one solo with another, next to another and keeping it tasteful along the way. The effect is remarkable. Little earworms that are more possessive than the album’s more contextual leanings.
I know I’ve prattled on about the record’s three tracks long enough, but we really have to give credit where it’s due. Earthless have continued to develop from their debut; moving from a plateau of strength to even greater heights.
Night Parade of One Hundred Demons might even top the scale, supreme to all other consistently great albums under the Earthless moniker. Ghost stories or not,
Night Parade of One Hundred Demons is mandatory listening for fans who like massive compositions and whirlwind guitar melodies.
