Totem - Self-Titled

Jex Thoth- Vocals
Zeke - Guitar
Silas Paine - Guitar
Grim Jim - Bass
Johnny Dee - Percussion

While this is but their virgin offering, Totem have managed to arouse the ire of puritanical doom purists and self-righteous Luddites alike over the past few months. Propelled to stratospheric heights by a devout Myspace fanbase, Totem were ushered to the forefront of the underground atop a crest of clamor and controversy. With the deluge of "postmodern metal” in recent years, it is little surprise that Totem have been subject to the same litmus test. Grizzled armchair commentators have made this rite of passage particularly arduous for this enigmatic Southern quartet, though they haven't exactly done themselves too many favors by accoutering themselves with kitschy clerical garbs and broadswords. It is heartening, then, to know that beneath such dubious superficialities this EP offers enough ambition and ingénue to dispel any vexations concerning cosmetic trifles.

One might propose that Totem's allegiance to a flourishing (and fashionable) acid-prog revivalist sentiment is in itself a cause for jaundice, but repeated listens reveal enough vision and adventure to augur a bright future for the band. True, the EP reveals gaping flaws that betray all impetuous upstart troupes on their virgin studio outings- a sparse looseness that sometimes veers into Electric Wizard sloppiness, curious, callous production that often suggests a poorly-mixed live recording and the occasional jerky transition, but the lavish richness of the music would convince even the most particular pedant. Behind a shimmering, sylvan veil of Holy Mountain guitars, Jex Thoth's ethereal, seraphic voice glides effortlessly atop lumbering, robust bass and heavy-handed percussion, while phantasmagoric whispers of Hammond Organ suggests a ritualistic undercurrent to the proceedings.

There is a definite sense of whimsy and playfulness to the music throughout, the brooding, hulking negative riffing offset by a Bacchanalian sprightliness that is wholly complementary to the band's assertively naturalistic image. This juxtaposition between repetitious, almost martial riffing (the last track “Tauti” being a gorgeously mesmeric example) and a reckless groove that almost suggests Eternal (pre-Electric Wizard) makes for truly hypnotic listening, peppering their dense stews of droning guitar and black mass Hammond with scalding lashes of wah-drenched guitar. Alternately haunting and impish, the music effortlessly shifts from bouts of Dopethrone dirge to mindmelting Krautified Guru Guru jam-rock ala Mammatus or Comets On Fire, resisting the convenient categories that presumptuous journos (myself included) employ with such abandon. Much ink will be spilled in honor of the bewitching Jex Thoth before the band's career draws to a close- her pipes will likely arouse much affection in fans well-acquainted with the likes of Curved Air, Aguaturbia, Jefferson Airplane, Mellow Candle, Affinity, Agincourt and the like. Her voice has a startlingly bold, commanding presence that truly augments the otherworldly atmospherics in the band, projecting an unabashed sensuality that your favorite doom band probably lacks.

While I still harbor some considerable gripes with this recording- cymbals and kick drums tend to be obscured by innumerable sheaths of guitar (one gets the impression, almost, that the drummer recorded in an entirely different room from the rest of the band), bass playing could be more imaginative for the most part etc, as a whole the promise suggested throughout this mCD is stunning for such a young band. This precocity has already yielded a new song (“The Banishment”, culled from their upcoming full length) which eclipses any of the material contained here. The future bodes well for this band, which sits comfortably next to Reino Ermitaño as my favorite female-fronted band in the new epoch. Recommended.

June 7th, 2007