Portland’s desert kosmische legends, Abronia, has returned with a record that finds the band in perhaps their deepest surrealist Spaghetti Western mode yet, and we couldn’t be more transfixed by it.

Available now through Cardinal Fuzz (UK, Europe, & the World) and Feeding Tube (North America), Shapes Unravel shows a tremendous amount of focus on an overarching thematic atmosphere and a greater reliance upon lyrics and vocals. The band leans heavily on the mix of country sounds like pedal steel, twanging guitars and strings with thunderous ritualistic percussion, blaring brass and a creeping post-rock like tempo, which together gives the record a strong cinematic-like quality.

A great example of this dynamic is “Mirrored Ends of Light,” with its multiple movements, haunting pedal steel whines and billowing battle cries, delivered powerfully by vocalist Keelin Mayer. This piece develops the vibe of an epic acid Western, complete with horns and a slowly building triumphant crescendo that echoes the work of Ennio Morricone (if he scored a film by Jodorowsky). The vast range of intertwined styles and moods of this track is the very definition of the record, almost serving as its mission statement.

When playing this album, just imagine images of hazy sunsets over arid, sandy landscapes, mysterious figures riding over the horizon and even ancient gods watching down from a burnt umber sky, all made slightly yellow and crispy by low-budget 70s film stock.

-KH