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A quick heads-up to the folks at the Nature Channel or anyone working on one of those films about the formation of the Earth: this third LP from San Francisco instrumental duo Barn Owl has the type of glacially churning geological-genesis drone rock you're looking for in a soundtrack. And not just because the 10 songs here have titles that seem like Post-it Notes on God's refrigerator. Opening suite "Sundown" and "Visions in Dust" move from slow-boiling power ambiance to tectonic heaves of feedback drone. For such an all-encompassing panorama, it's surprisingly minimal. The riffs may scatter in waves to either pole on the horizon, but the mossy pace and restrained drumming bring everything back from the doom-slayer instrumental metal edge this record could have tottered over in a lesser incarnation. The title track twinkles and glows, sending off sound waves that move so slowly, they might as well be transmissions from light years away; eventually, the smooth plane of stellar noise devolves into a storm of buzzing chaos. It's an atmosphere-setting collection, with little in the way of memorable riffs or melodies. But that's the point: Earth has needed to slow its roll for a minute now. Here's the inspiration.
BARN OWL + MV & EE + THE BODY + HIGH AURA'D | P.A.'s Lounge, 345 Somerville Ave, Somerville | November 16 at 8:30 pm | 21+ | $8 | 617.776.1557 or paslounge.com
