John Whitson of the Holy Mountain label has a knack for unearthing full-throttle psych-rock bands-- the kind who don't just set their controls for the heart of the sun, they actually launch from that far-out star. Residual Echoes, Mammatus, Zodiacs, and the masterful Davis Redford Triad all have an insatiable jones for psych's extreme edges: raging, feedback-drenched guitar, jazzy drums, and stair-climbing bass. But instead of ramping up to those heights, they often bypass song structures and tear straight into endless climaxes and elongated tangents.
Measured by that template, California trio the Shining Path sound like they were created expressly to join the Holy Mountain lineup. Each of the four tracks on their self-titled debut starts smack in the middle of crashing crescendos and freak-outs, and keeps rising. But the band is actually an outgrowth of Monosov/Swirnoff (the duo of guitarist Ilya Monosov and multi-instrumentalist Preston Swirnoff), who have crafted two LPs of wide-ranging sound for the Eclipse label. When that pair adds drummer Brandon Relf, their path shines but also narrows, hewing to chugging beats and sky-seeking guitar wank.
That formula works pretty spectacularly on the opening cut, which bears the humble title "I Think I Am Becoming God". Fading up to a hurtling jam, the band teems through ten minutes of dive-bombing guitar and propulsive rhythm. Monosov's feedback massaging has a strong Jimi Hendrix bent, and Reif's rolling drums evoke the spastics of Keith Moon. But together the trio most recalls Japanese explorers like High Rise, Fushitsusha, and Kousokuya. That's especially clear in the closer, "The Day When He Himself Shall Wipe Away My Tears", which gets jolts of adrenaline from Swirnoff's whirring synth and droning organ.
On the album's middle two tracks, the band slips off course a bit. The plodding bass and drums of "Hadiku Ner" never pay off, as they meander around for somewhere to land. "Moroccan Summer" is more productive, with spilling noise that piles into nice peaks. But the track mostly sounds like an outtake from the end of Hendrix's Woodstock set-- a fine moment to mimic, for sure, but not exactly the most surprising note for a noisy psych band to strike.
Ultimately, such predictability keeps the Shining Path from greatness. Though impressively executed, their debut is hard to recommend to any non-psych-freak, or even anyone who likes their psych cut with verses, choruses, or just an occasional pause. Not that guys in the Shining Path should necessarily care-- even if they never trod down fresher turf, there are tons of heads out there who will be happy to nod out to their gleaming trips.
