[batreleaser]

This band has been continuously growing on me for a year. I seem to just like them more and more as I hear more and more. I never thought I'd like them more than "Double Leapords", but after repeated listens to "the Door", it seems to be so. They are obviously waaaay different bands, with Double Leapords hyper-metallic drone tape collage noise explosions and Religious Knives with thier dreamy drone infused psychedelic rock music. But it seems to me, Maya Miller and Michael Bernstien are much more into making this dreamy rock music that gets people vibin, than the shrieking electronics that gets people crouthced into the fetal position. Nate Nelson's rich but simple drumming sounds so much better and in place in the Knives songs than it does in Mouthus where the drums sound just like they are there for the fuck of it.

So many of the great psychedelic bands are channeled through thier unique sound. The wierdest and darkest moments of the Doors are heard in Maya's organ playing. They actually make me like the Doors more, I had to listen to them after hearing the "Door" and dspite all thier albums having tons of duds, they had moments of brilliance. They would have been better off had they had more songs like the Velvets and less like a drunken Monkees (hahaha). Anyways, enough of that. The guitar playing is very simple and reverb drenched but super dreamy and interesting, reminding me more of like a Lou Reed who admits that he smokes pot instead of baffling on about Speed all day. Of course the rhythmic entrancing of the music is total Krautrock-worship. I've heard Popul Vuh named as an influence, but I'm not hearing that, as most of thier albums were just experiments in electronic beauty and ambient soundscapes for the Herzog movies (watched "Cobra Verde" last night, I think that's my favorite, Kinski was fucking amazing in that film). The Knives are rock, and Can and Neu definitely are heard hear for sure, with the spirit of Klaus Schulze making himself known. Another influence that I and others have noticed is Goblin. When the music gets faster and Michael kicks in with the synth, the music gets very progressive and complex, often recalling the super intense chase sequences of Argento's films in which Goblin's synth driven Prog made it impossible to turn from the screen. Like those film moments, this music is impossible to not listen to.

A great band that seems like they might have the kind of longevity to last a long time. They have already proven that they can make a straight forward album in "The Door" and be the most interesting they ever have been. Like other great Rock bands. Religious Knives will re-invent themselves and explore new sounds while never losing that great dreamy pulse that made them great in the first place.