Black metal psychedelia, Oranssi Pazuzu spirals out of any known universe on fourth album Värähtelijä. This isn’t the space that Neil deGrasse Tyson talks about, but rather the acid-laced galactic territory of Sixties mind warps like 2001: A Space Odyssey. Finnish fivepiece named for the Babylonian demon made famous by The Exorcist, Pazuzu, they field whispy drones and tribal drumming until the space/time fabric rips and another dimension unleashes a barrage of crusty ranting and firestorm guitar. Painful howling and tenacious blast beats corrupt the swirling doom of “Havuluu,” while “Valveavaruus” adds horror-film organ for an extended coda of meteor dust and bad vibes. The title track floats in a liquid gel cloud of mystery, made creepy by the guttural muttering weaving in and out of consciousness. The (bad?) trip comes to a head in “Vasemman Käden Hierarkia,” nearly 18 minutes of choral synthesizers, cosmic soloing, sheet-metal riffs, sneering vokills, percussive crunch, and ambient ugliness that summarizes Pazuzu’s career in one mighty track. Imagine Hawkwind if Dave Brock hired Emperor to back him up.

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This article appears in Our Next (P)resident.

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Michael Toland started writing about music in 1988 on the Gulf Coast, moved to Austin in early 1991, and has inflicted bylines upon the corporeal and digital pages of Pop Culture Press, The Big Takeover, Blurt, Amplifier, Austin.citysearch, the Austin American Statesman, Goldmine, Sleazegrinder, Rock & Roll Globe, High Bias, FHT Music Notes, and, since 2011, The Austin Chronicle.