The Black Ryder
The Door Behind the Door (The Anti-Machine Machine)
Reviewed by Richard Whittaker, Fri., May 8, 2015
2013 Psych Fest deluge survivors, the Black Ryder are scarcely the same band that carved out 2009's Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride, goth-tinged garage-rock replaced for the follow-up with ethereal doom. Their debut hinted at this metamorphosis in the dreamlike "Outside," but as Australia-via-L.A. core duo Aimee Nash and Scott Von Ryper swap lead vocals, their psych influences have never been clearer than on The Door Behind the Door, with brief swerves into gospel ("Throwing Stones") and maudlin lullaby ("Until the Calm of Dawn"). While bookend instrumentals – dour cosmic prelude "Babylon" and the mournful strings of "(Le Dernier Sommeil) The Final Sleep" – resonate, the vocals are wan and the production too polished. Maybe live grit will stir them bones. (Sat., 8.30pm, Levitation Tent)
