Creepoid – Horse Heaven – Styrofoam Drone

Today we are proud to present to you on this fine morning the debut full length release from Philadelphia’s own CREEPOID. Today is the official release date of the album, and it comes from Ian Records, which is also Philadelphia based.

If you know anything about Creepoid prior to reading this post, it’s probably because of their debut release, the Yellow Life Giver 7″. Since the release of that 7″, the band has been hard at work promoting their music and getting their name out there. Now it’s all about to pay off the with release of the album, and the pinnacle of the release occurs this Thursday when Creepoid plays their record release show at Kung Fu Necktie in Philadelphia. See you there?!

“Horse Heaven” comes eleven tracks deep, forty-four minutes in length, and with enough dirge and sadness you might not want to leave your bedroom for a couple days after listening. For the most part, the album gives nods to dreamy garage rock and moody grunge, while almost always coming through with angst-driven grit and darkened vibes.

Opening track “Wishing Well” sets the course for the album, acting as a precursor to everything else that’s to come down the road with it’s hazy, buzzing guitars that already create a sweltering atmosphere – kind of like a walk through a heated desert. Track two “Dream Out” is still only the beginning, but there’s already a huge longing feel that’s easily picked up from the weeping guitars. Suddenly there’s a powerful breakdown that presents itself, and really all you need to do from here is sit back and waste away as the guitars singe the hairs right off your face.

Track three, “Staircase”, starts up with an inviting guitar, hereby making this one of the more accessible songs from the record. Lead singer Sean Miller sounds cool and comforting, yet at the same time still manages to keep a mysterious quality attached to his voice – almost like there’s something he knows that he’s not quite telling us. The hollow sounding guitars are complemented by sandpapery lead guitar squeals throughout the song, resulting in a progressively growing sound that eventually gives way to an invigorating guitar ambiance at the end of the track. The end of this makes way for “Emily”, which may be the first noticeably “sad” song from the record. Dreary guy-girl vocal pairings and more weeping guitars only further prove that statement.

Next up comes “Hollow Doubt”, bringing a very uncertain and unsettling vibe to the table – probably from that sinister guitar hook that never seems to loosen it’s grasp. There’s definitely a darkened tone in a song like this one, and it transfers over into the following track “Grave Blanket” as well. “Grave Blanket” appears to be a much more subtle song at first with it’s sounds of nature, but it finally pops off into a heavily grungy jam with fiery guitars that you probably didn’t see coming upon first listen. Following up this track is “Spirit Birds”, which again has an unsettling and deliciously dark tone that’s palpable enough to sink your teeth into. The resonating guitar twang is mystified even further by the haunted howling in the distance and Anna Troxell’s creepy conversational-tone vocals before you’re suddenly thrown into a strangely energetic freak-out. They rock out for the final minute of the song, and there’s really no looking back from there.

Skipping ahead to the downer-rock anthem “Find You Out”, this is surely a song of it’s own on this record. The spooky intro leaves you wondering what direction the song is going to take, and for awhile you’re pretty much clueless. When it finally reaches its point, the song becomes equivalent to a lazy, strung out stroll through the blistering heat in hell without the smallest hope of escaping. The dark vibes become absolutely intoxicating (and even hypnotizing) as the song progresses further, doing nothing other than forcing you to bob your head along with the swaying rhythm. There’s even a trance-like, visual quality that requires much concentration so you don’t get lost in your thoughts while listening. This is without a doubt a unique song that can really catch the listener off guard.

Second to last comes “Enabler”. The song starts with what should by now be familiar guitars, complemented by a hazy, dreamy texture that comes from Pete Urban’s slide guitar work. A pause about halfway through paves way for complete and utter destruction, almost like the culminating breakdown of all the heaviness and dark moods found on the album. “Epic” is a word that is thrown around and overused constantly when describing things (especially music), but this ending is nothing short of that – it almost commands you to call it so. Demonic and evil guitars take a firm stranglehold from here on out as everything continues to swirl and simmer over your head, all while throbbing bass lines and Pat Troxell’s manic drumming hold the song together. Sometimes it’s fun to say “I told ya so”, and this song is like saying just that to your worst enemy. It’s not clear how the band managed to cook up such a fiery exit here in this song, but it is nothing short of a dazzling climax to an awesome song, and it’s inclusion on the record is surely essential.

One song still stands, which would be the eerie title track “Horse Heaven”. This was originally the second to last song on the record, but they switched it up with “Enabler” at the last minute. The song vaguely includes part of the story behind the name of the record, but at the same time brings plenty more sadness into the mix. The orchestral qualities give the song a bigger sound than it initially would have had, and we’ll actually have a surprise for you tomorrow in the form of this song. That’s all for today, and we highly suggest you listen to these tracks from the record below. We also suggest you make a point to go see Creepoid at their record release show this Thursday @ Kung Fu Necktie. It should be without a doubt a fantastic night. We’ll see you there.

PS – You can now listen to the entire album and buy it digitally from the Creepoid Bandcamp

My Rating: 8.5/10
Genre/ Tags: Psychedelic, Grunge, Dream Rock, Slowcore
Horse Heaven: Tracklist:
1.) Wishing Well
2.) Dream Out
3.) Staircase
4.) Emily
5.) Hollow Doubt
6.) Grave Blanket
7.) Spirit Birds
8.) Stranger
9.) Find You Out
10.) Enabler
11.) Horse Heaven

BUY and listen to the new album from the Creepoid Bandcamp
Creepoid on Myspace
Creepoid – Official Website
Creepoid – Yellow Life Giver 7″ previously posted on the Drone