Lotus on the Shore’s Astral Projection begins with “Part I”, where an extremely overdriven wash of bass and guitar play a semi-tonal noise riff repeatedly. A reverb-drenched bass drum comes in, playing a simple rhythm over the wash. There is subtle alteration to the sound, which is obscured by the bass drum. A new riff comes in which sounds like an engine starting and is repeated. More percussion comes in as the playing becomes chaos. Then the drums drop out, leaving the chaos, which repeats itself. A bass drum is struck three times sporadically. The drums start playing a more conventional rhythm, as the guitar plays a heavy riff propelled by the copious amounts of distortion. This pattern goes on unchanged for quite some time. There is some alteration to some noises in the background.
The percussion changes a bit, with some more emphasis on the cymbals as the guitar playing seems to break down into noise a bit. The rhythm slows down and the guitar plays a droning riff as the structure of the music seems to threaten to break down, but keeps going. Then, the percussion ends, and the guitar sustains until it fades out, leaving only the hum of the coils. There are some hints of notes and noise as the guitar is played in a manner which brings out both. This passage is ambient and it is difficult to tell if there are notes playing as there is so much distortion and reverb on the guitar. There is then a passage which relies on playing notes repeatedly with different amounts of sustain, playing with the reverb. This passage ends the first part.
“Part II” begins with a discernible guitar playing a slow feedback-laden part. There is a repeating melody which then plays and develops a little bit. The passage ends, and noisy rumbling guitar with a delay effect on it comes in and plays slowly. Then a note plays, until all that is left is the coil hum, and some more notes play, and the drums come in with a simple, plodding pattern, and else where in the mix all that is left are noisy effects playing in the background. A guitar plays through them, creating background noises. Then, a bass-guitar plays a low, distorted riff, again sustaining until all that remains is the coil hum. The drums cease, and the effects that have a guitar hooked up to them are invoked through jabs at guitar playing. The drums start up again, with another slow pattern. They stop playing, leaving only the effects laden guitar which plays a little and then fades out, ending the second part.
“Part III” begins with a resonance and distortion-laden part with a hi-hat playing, and then lumbering heavy drums are added, as the guitar playing is reduced to the soft cacophony of reverb-heavy effects. The guitar plays distorted power chords a few times and then lets them sustain. The riff develops into one that uses other positions on the fretboard, and is quite heavy sounding. It goes back to playing single position riffs, and there is a riff that alternates between two positions as the drums become faster. Then, all slows down, becoming very heavy for the finale of the album, and all music ceases, leaving the effects. There is a fade out, and Astral Projection is over.
(https://lotusontheshore.bandcamp.com/album/astral-projection, Name Your Price for digital)
