The current wave of what Pitchfork's Philip Sherburne called "drone-heavy psychedelia" has been created mostly with pedals, synths, and computers. Acts such as Emeralds, Black to Comm, Ben Frost, and Oneohtrix Point Never all rely primarily on electronics, but high-level drones can still be made with just guitar, bass, and drums. Exhibit A would be Robedoor, who after years of pedal-pushing have put rock instruments at the center of their noise. Even more trad-leaning is Heavy Winged. The trio's long-form jams recall rock-damaged droners like the Dead C and Bardo Pond, yet they're as forward-looking as any of the acts above.
Fields Within Fields continues the big, cavernous din that Heavy Winged have honed via numerous releases over the past four years. But this is the first time they've made major use of overdubs rather than hammering out one-take improvisations. The result is denser and more detailed than previous work. Tactile sounds and thick noises shift like tectonic plates and hurtle like storm clouds. All the guitar feedback and bass rumble is punctuated by the rolling commas and crashing exclamation points of drummer Jed Bindeman. It's impressive to hear the trio build such density using such simple tools.
Most of that density comes in "Among the Maori", the 16-minute track that occupies side one. Everything Heavy Winged do well--siren-like noise, enveloping ambience, jazzy psych-- is on display. The title's reference to the New Zealand Moari tribe could also be an allusion to that country's greatest primitive drone outfit, the Dead C. You can hear echoes of that group's most expansive forays, like "Driver UFO" or "Helen Said This", in Heavy Winged's drifting racket. Side two's lone piece, "The Hum of the Universe", is more esoteric. Its slow repetitions can be an endurance test, though they do evoke the early drones of Earth and, with the addition of viola by Bob Jones, the minimalist din of Tony Conrad. Think of "Among the Maori" as the side for every drone fan, and "The Hum of the Universe" as the side for hardcore addicts.
Said addicts will also be satiated by Infinite in Every Direction, a two-track CD included with early pre-orders of Fields Within Fields. It's a strong piece of work on its own, with "Forty Fourth Parallel" (made during the same sessions as the proper LP) retaining the kaleidoscopic feel of "Among the Maori". A section of bassy echo and whirring grind at the end is a deft mix of moods-- eerie and blissful, static and kinetic, elegiac and hopeful-- and a reminder that even the simplest drones can contain multitudes.
