Asbest Hooking Up with Lord Kesseli & the Drums

Lord Kesseli & The Drums, purveyors of psychedelically hypnotic trance grooves, and the monumentally heavy Asbest – it turns out to be a marriage made in heaven. The proof? “Altari”, a mini-album that somehow manages to combine serious heaviness and anger with a beautifully restrained melodiousness, often at the same time. The co-production was released on 30 June 2023 by a coalition of two labels, A Tree in a Field Records and Irascible.

The collaboration between Asbest’s Robyn Trachsel (vocals, guitar) and Judith Breitlinger (vocals, bass), and Lord Kesseli & The Drums (vocals, various instruments) began when St. Gallen’s Palace Club, due to a Covid-induced lack of live concerts, opened its doors to a number of collaborative writing and recording projects. Starting off with two minutes’ worth of meditative non-groove (“Intro”), the track segues into “Détruisez Tout!” (“destroy everything!”) which, after a deceptively becalmed beginning, properly turns on the heaviosity. The nine-minute “Anarchitect” reverses that process, beginning “heavy” and ending, rather unexpectedly, in an atmospheric, minimalist keyboard motif. “Levitate into the Ground”, finally, brings proceedings to a beautifully monolithic climax.

And while we’re on the subject, Asbest’s own album, “Cyanide”, was released only a couple of months ago on A Tree in the Field Records.

Asbest
Lord Kesseli & The Drums
A Tree in a Field Records
Irascible