Earthless: Night Parade Of One Hundred Demons (gold) LP

The latest from the San Diego-based psych rock power trio Earthless was recorded with Mario Rubalcaba's childhood friend Ben Moore, who's worked with everyone from Diamanda Galas and Burt Bacharach to Ceremony and Hot Snakes. Their fifth album is comprised of two monster songs: the 41-minute title track and the 20-minute "Death To The Red Sun." The album and its title were inspired by an ancient Japanese legend in which a horde of demons, ghosts and other terrifying ghouls descend upon sleeping villages at night, once a year. Known as Hyakki Yagyō, or the "Night Parade Of One Hundred Demons," one version of the tale states that anyone who witnesses this otherworldly procession will die instantly – or be carried off by the creatures of the night. As a result, the villagers hide in their homes, lest they become victims of these supernatural invaders. "My son and I came across the ‘Night Parade of One Hundred Demons' in a book of traditional Japanese ghost stories," bassist Mike Eginton explains. "I like the idea of people hiding and being able to hear the madness but not see it. It's the fear of the unknown." Given the record's inspiration, it should come as no surprise that Night Parade Of One Hundred Demons strikes a more sinister tone than the rest of the band's catalogue. "It definitely has a darker, almost evil kind of vibe compared to stuff we've done in the past," Rubalcaba says. "There's more paranoia and noise, and some of Isaiah's whammy-bar stuff kind of reminds me of these Jeff Hanneman moments in Reign In Blood, where it just seems like everything is going to hell. It's pretty fun." All told, Night Parade Of One Hundred Demons isn't just a return to the band's traditional format – it's a return to their very beginnings. "This album actually has the very first Earthless riff in it," Eginton reveals. "We just recorded it 20 years after we wrote it. But we're really happy with how this record came out. We feel it might be our finest to date."