The Elemental Chrysalis - The Dark Path to Spiritual Expansion

The first thing that strikes me about this band is that their sound is timeless. As if my parents played me this record while I was in the womb, only to lose it to the universe for me to find it almost 30 years later. Or maybe I'm just remembering God jamming on his thunder gong when I hear this band.

The Elemental Chrysalis self-described their music as "funeral doom", which is apt at times, but doesn't tell the whole story. The extensive list of instruments that supposedly make up all this sound is surprising to read after hearing such a seamlessly conceived world of tree knots, incantations, the march of ants, satyrs' late night escapades, faery war stories, the cold morning sun striking the hull of a still-steaming cauldron, fresh with magic from the night before. It all flows together so nicely. With many a plucked guitar and accompanied by a plethora of ambient percussion and noise, this music evokes the forest and some unknown spawn of Wicca. And it's what you'd expect with track names like "A Banshee's Blackened Wail" and "Jeweled Blue Waters Of A Slumbering Ocean."

The big change for this album as compared to the previous "The Calocybe Collection" is the addition of vocals. Chants. Poems. Spoken by wandering souls, wraiths, golems, and troubadours from a nigh-gone era. All of them adding a piece to a puzzle you either try to solve on your path to spiritual expansion or let swallow you whole as the spell takes its hold. The album sounds like a more realistic soundtrack to the Legend of Zelda, offering a darker, more emotional look into the burden that a fantasy hero might carry on his or her quest. And that's where these albums are so great; they aren't fantasy. This is the real deal. People are really playing the black cat ocarina (!), a fretless acoustic guitar and a bowed ocean harp (!!) right now, in your room! It's wonderful. This folk music is glorious and special, made just for you.

People who run their own music label work hard. There is no other (dark) path to success than being entirely passionate about your music and the music you help produce. All the pitfalls that come along are shouldered entirely by the creator of a small label. This fellow at Glass Throat Recordings and one half of T.E.C. named Chet Scott is an honest, caring human. His label creates beautiful artwork, and the sleeve for "The Dark Path To Spiritual Expansion" is no exception. A green/black over-sized gatefold with artwork by the other man who plays in the band, James Woodhead.

I emailed Chet to tell him that one of the two discs on this double disc album I bought (yes it's a double disker!) was inherently screwed up, in that one of the tracks wouldn't play. I told him how much I loved his music and that I wondered if there was a way I could download this one track. He replied the same day, upset with this problem, and offered to send me a brand new disc! What a guy. He also asked if I would send him the "bad" disc as proof for the inevitable battle with his presser, which I obliged. He was so concerned that I get a good copy of the album but also happy about our connection through the music.

The Elemental Chrysalis is good people