American Dollar Bill - Keep Facing Sideways, You’re Too Hideous To Look At Face On

Sumac is a project led by former ISIS guitarist/vocalist Aaron Turner, with bassist Brian Cook of Russian Circles and These Arms Are Snakes and drummer Nick Yacyshyn of Baptists. In 2017, they wandered into a Tokyo recording studio for a fully improvised encounter with Keiji Haino, which was eventually released as this CD. It’s one of the heaviest items in his catalog, in large part due to Yacyshyn’s thunderous, tribal and not at all free-sounding drumming. He anchors the music to the floor, allowing Turner, Cook and Haino to dig deep and crank out riff after riff, punching through the air with astonishing force as Haino sputters and growls his lyrics. There are only five pieces here, and only one of those is shorter than ten minutes; the opening title track runs nearly twenty, so strap in and take the ride.