Double Leopards songs are pretty hard to review. Since there are three new full lengths (along with a double cassette, split LP with Mouthus, and upcoming split 2LP), I thought it might be better to come up with a more concise way of reviewing their music: "into it" or "not into it." For Double Leopards' music to be successful, it has to totally overcome you, make you lose your train of thought, lifting your mind out of its mundane trappings. Without that power, the music is just primitive. But when you're "into it," the music is spiritual.
So it all comes down to whether I'm "into it," and this release gets a split vote. Side A gets a "not into it." Buzzing guitars and bass moan fluctuations give me the sense of hanging out with other drones (bees, that is) in the inner sanctum of the hive. Meditating voices rise out of the guitar hum to add subtle drama, trying to push me and the other drones out of the hive as the queen prepares for winter. However, it's a quiet and minimal 18 minute piece, and the sounds tend to languish below my thoughts, making it only function as incidental music.
While Side A was mediocre for the group, Side B gets a big "into it" vote. At the beginning of the piece, heavily echoed vocals (and/or guitars) violently rise out of the smoke. The intense and rapid fluctuations of sound cleanse and calm the mind; I find if I listen too intently, my body literally starts to shake. Later in the song, as another wave of echoed wails washes over, distressed and damaged piano pounding fills the bass levels of the track, darkening the sound. It's a great 12 1/2 minutes to get lost in - if only Side A was as successful.
