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Phantom Electric

by Dyr Faser

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1.
2.
Life Form 03:45
desperate hours numbers breathe new life to form in a way it's a way to escape raging waters heavy drag a lifeline lost I can pull you down you could drag me out of this comic tragic bend if it happens just once again testing ours against the unmarked crimson path in a way it's a way to escape
3.
this idea is not ours to shame coming out of nowhere is the game look into sudden shocks and fiercely guarded alibis taking tolls and empty promises to spirit guides just like this song will end our time is torn asunder here in our arms and then nowhere to be found look into sudden shocks and fiercely guarded lullabies taking tolls and empty promises just like this song will end our time is torn asunder here in our arms again nowhere to be found this idea is not ours to shame coming into somewhere is the game
4.
5.
Abandon 03:36
6.
now to make it through let go help is in their eyes and on the way away... ease a worried mind let go one forlorn do I belie a secrecy so this damage done slow to fray the fake will try to blind us the maze will wrap around us okay...the way to understanding weighs on our heart to fade into one mind we make let go...let go...let go...let go...let go ease a worried mind let go the weigh to understanding weighs the fake will try to blind us the maze will wrap around us okay...
7.
Kinghead 03:33
8.
New Rule 05:06
get on inside of this make it quick make a switch for all I never see it may be now our plan will come in motion all I have to do is create a monster and take it out of the dark i'll show you a charming imposter has become my new rule fool such i've never been lack of touch more machine for my old self i'm mourning it may be now it's time to kill this monster but I know I won't do it come on snap out of this make it quick make a switch will it hurt to be free or maybe now and then i'll need this cover you'll see it in my eyes when I create a monster and take it out of the dark i'll show you a charming imposter has become my new rule

about

All songs written & recorded by Eric Boomhower & Amelia May
Produced by Eric Boomhower
Album art drawn by Amelia May

Reviews:

Review & interview by Daz Lawrence, UK:
There’s something slightly religious about Dyr Faser. As I type this, listening to their new album through headphones which may have melted into my ears, there’s a towering, churchy, immoveability to their music. Guitar riffs punch you in the chest, rise to the rafters and circle back down to slap you about the chops. Economical, effective and chastening. Their songs rarely end up resembling the form they materialised from and have that alluring quality which makes you think: “how did you come up with this?”. One crazed mind could concoct strange, mismatched melodies perhaps but for two to synchronize and spit out such mutated children is just plain weird.

Dyr Faser are multi-instrumentalists Eric Boomhower and Amelia May – trios are so passé. Beyond the droning synths, bowed guitars and flutes, they’ve added drums to their sound, which one might think is working backwards – in fact, it is working backwards and that’s rather what make Dyr Faser so endearing. Their music is all about tone and feeling – I honestly don’t know if I’ve ever analysed their lyrics for a second, indeed, I have no idea even if they’re real words being sung, they simply melt into the maelstrom.

Over the course of well over a dozen releases, the band have often threatened to tumble fully into shoegaze, the last refuge for running out of ideas. Here, there is more of a feeling that this has been addressed – the deeply affecting wooshes of sound are more akin to the drone kings of Seattle, Earth and Sunn O))), with the singing simply an added bonus. The crashing percussion on ‘Kinghead’ sounds like some colossal beast rampaging towards you; heart pounding, cavernous gob drooling. ‘New Rule’ sounds like ‘The Twilight Zone‘ theme being attached to a giant rubber band and twanged into molten eyeballs. It’s exhilarating and disorientating with the same edge of malevolence that early Monster Magnet had. ‘Life Form’ is Dyr Faser at their most 60s, all oil-soaked light bulbs and projected images of doomed operations. There are moments of Sonic Youth but with a more inviting buffet on offer – you’d be happy to have a couple of sausage rolls at the former but you’d stay for space dust at Dyr Faser’s place.

Dyr Faser are proof that the DIY approach to music doesn’t have to mean succumbing to algorithms, pay for play or treating music as purely a hobby. You have the freedom to do what you want, without boundaries put in place by someone who wants to sell you rather than help you. From hand-drawn album covers and gig posters to bowed yawning guitars and funereal flutes, Dyr Faser remind you that with the raw energy of your imagination you can create pictures and change lives. Many people may treat music as transient flotsam and in some respects, they’re right. If you let it slip through your fingers or don’t treat the listening experience as something that you as the listener have a duty to meet the musician half-way, then you’re left with emptiness and half-caught conversations. There’s a ritual to listening to Dyr Faser and it’s worth committing to.

Interview with DYR FASER:

WB: After all these years, I’m not sure I’ve ever asked you where the band name comes from? Mis-spellings must have been common!?

Eric:
The last song I wrote for my prior band in 2015 began with the words ‘animal phases’ in the lyric. And as I was searching for a name for this new endeavor I typed those words into Norwegian translation. And DYR FASER was born signifying an ending and a new beginning, which was the reality. And yeah, spellcheck causes problems. ‘Dry Fraser’ pops up a lot. Sounds like a swanky hotel bar cocktail heavy on the vermouth.

Amelia:
I didn’t know Eric when I first saw the name DYR FASER on a poster. It was like an alien language, visually it pulled me in and grew in meaning instead of projecting any specific genre.

WB: Talk us through the new album – are there any themes or lyrics that really show the band differently this time around?

Eric:
The mysteries are even more compelling this time around. A lot of dark art themes appear and may seem dire but there’s always hope and humor in the abyss. For my part I sing many arcane phrases…’one forlorn do I belie a secrecy’ and ‘just like this song will end our time is torn asunder’ and ‘in a way it’s a way to escape’. Also, many guitar solos appear on this album along with our reccurring violin bow and flute. For guitar lovers ‘Phantom Electric’ is an entrancing spell.

Amelia:
I think the themes often evolve and circulate with whatever we are both/either going through, each album working as a capsule of a life-season. This fall has been tough for me, theme-wise I find myself fighting duality and trying to keep up.

WB: Band-wise, past or present, who do Dyr Faser feel an affinity with?

Eric:
I relate to artists who take risks and surprise me. I like all styles of music. And I have an obsessive love of art films too. Amelia and I vibe off one another and it’s not easy to pinpoint the influences. One minute I’m listening to Miles Davis and then Norwegian black metal and then Agitation Free and then Bjork and then The Fall and then Kate Bush and it just goes on and on.

Amelia:
I believe DYR FASER has the strongest affinity with the Voyager Golden Records. “To the makers of music – all worlds, all times” We are attempting to survive our time so we may live into yours.

WB: Do you feel you’re better or worse off without a label?

Eric:
We’re both really protective of our sound and visual style. We like to produce the music, videos, and performances ourselves. A label could be a help to push our music but up ’til now we feel free to follow our own path. For example we toured Europe twice so far…just us and a booking agent helping out. It feels good to be DIY and live a few of our dreams.

Amelia:
I feel we are better off without the entire music ‘industry’. Our music isn’t exactly sellable and it’s freeing to be untethered.

WB: If money were no object, how would you package your releases?

Eric:
With the same artwork created by Amelia for sure. I would love to have vinyl releases with our lyrics and any other messages we conjure up. I like cassettes too. It’s nice to just listen and not have the option to click through to the next song.

Amelia:
I don’t think we would package things differently, the DIY quality is personal for us and adds to the image we want for the band. It would be nice to have a packaging assistant, lol.

WB: You’ve brought drums in on this release – did you feel the new tracks needed them specifically or was it inevitable they’d make an appearance eventually?

Eric:
I’ve played drums in groups in the past and have always loved playing. I set up my drum set in our living room and just pressed record. We’ve also had guest live drummers. I think the way the songs were sounding on the new album really called out for drums and not drum machine. It is the next step in our evolution…to continue this path.

Amelia:
Inevitable. Playing with drums changes the feelings of the songs dramatically, and Eric’s drumming has style and personality. It’s been difficult finding musicians to play with live, but I’m happy these songs were recorded with drums.

WB: Are you both music collectors? Any treasures or unexpected titles in there?

Eric:
If I had not traded my William Shatner albums for some motorcycle parts I’d be slightly happier but…
I have a lot of vinyl. I really dig pulling out Jandek at the end of a long party to signal exit music for the stragglers. I treasure my Pink Floyd ‘Relics’ album with Nick Mason’s great artwork on the cover. And not that it’s so rare but my Screaming Trees ‘Uncle Anesthesia’ is a fave. Amelia bought me Larry Coryell’s ‘Spaces’ on vinyl as a gift and I truly love Larry.

Amelia:
Eric is the music collector. I search for the strange, Eric searches for everything. My favorites in the collection is an album by Japanese 60’s crooner, Kyu Sakamoto, and an 80’s Canadian folk singer, Stan Rogers. I also collect obscure Christmas records of popular artists, and it’s finally time to break out Beach Boys Christmas.
- Daz Lawrence weirdbones.co.uk/dyr-faser-phantom-electric-review-and-interview/

Review by Rock and Roll Fables:
Dyr Faser Create A Calculated Cacophony On Cathartic Phantom Electric.

It’s albums like the one Boston’s Dyr Faser’s recently put out that back our regular rule that starting any complete “Year End” list is a moot point until almost the very end and regarding Phantom Electric, we pretty much guarantee that you’re not likely to find any other artist in the area that sounds quite like this duo because the tracks found within this eight track full-length are similarly electric and eclectic, psychedelic and psionic so buckle up!

“Unusual Power” starts our journey with Amelia May (Vocals, guitar, flute, bow guitar) and Eric Boomhower (Vocals, guitar, drums, Univox) serving as our guides with May’s ethereal vocals flowing across the calculated cacophony like a specter. That haunting quality carries over into the upbeat “Life Form” with Boomhower taking over lead vox on a song that’s a natural mix of early Sonic Youth and The Raveonettes while “Rainer’s Game” is a trippy, ahem, trip. “Killing Our God” goes deeper into the trip with static drumming keeping the count for a Folk Implosion meets Tab-era Monster Magnet ditty that finds May once again behind the mic and crooning out some sweeping verses over the fuzzed out riffs.

“Abandon” is dreamy but with a certain clarity as it comes out of the previous haze for an upbeat ditty as May’s broad delivery elevates the track beyond your typical lo-fi Indie fare with “The Way To Understanding” going back down a darker path for an almost The Doors-esque journey before “Kinghead” thumps and shimmers and adds some more bluesy elements into the Dyr Faser aural arsenal. Phantom Electric closes with the swelling “New Rule” as May’s flute playing lies on display front and center which segue’s nicely into some tight vocal harmonies alongside Boomhower before it all ends with the boil becoming a simmer.
- rockandrollfables.com/dyr-faser-create-a-calculated-cacophony-on-cathartic-phantom-electric/

Review by Walter Price:
Discombobulated melodies, murky poetry, and noisy cerebral rock songs that’ll have your neighbors pissed off at 2 am—Yes indeed, Boston duo Dyr Faser have returned with a new experimental pop album, aptly titled “Phantom Electric”.

In the track “Rainer’s Game” Amelia May and Eric Boomhower sing these darkly picturesque lines in their indelibly signature uneven harmonies, “look into sudden shocks and fiercely guarded lullabies/ taking tolls and empty promises/ just like this song will end/ our time is torn asunder/ here in our arms again/ nowhere to be found/ this idea is not ours to shame/ coming into somewhere is the game.” or on the album defining “The Way to Understanding” we join these sound scientists, “ease a worried mind let go/ one forlorn do I belie a secrecy/ so this damage done/ slow to fray/ the fake will try to blind us/ the maze will wrap around us—okay…the way to understanding weighs on our heart to fade into one mind we make.” No further proof that these two songwriters move in deeply shadowy worlds. (Not to mention that ‘asunder’ in a song is an absolute rarity.)

Dyr Faser isn’t your average bedroom pop outfit by any stretch of the imagination, but if thought-provoking psych escapism is your bag then “Phantom Electric” will take you places you didn’t know you wanted to go. And that’s all the weird magic.
- globaltexanchronicles.com/dyr-faser-phantom-electric/

Best of 2022 year end list from the GTC:
Boston duo Dyr Faser have returned with a new experimental pop, err rock, album, aptly titled “Phantom Electric”. (GTC, 10. November 2022) The Boston duo sure isn’t begging for radio airplay or expected formality nor are they set to follow in lockstep with any conventional rock n roll framework. Rather these two noise rock composers are making what they want and it’s probably not for everyone, which, in a way, kinda makes it necessary for everyone to give their latest release a spin or two. They paint dark moving sceneries throughout “Phantom Electric” that’ll leave you enthralled, to say the least.
- globaltexanchronicles.com/best-rock-n-roll-moments-2022/

Review by Darker Side of Music:
DYR FASER – PHANTOM ELECTRIC
DREAMINESS, PSYCHEDELIA AND HAUNTING
Dyr Faser recently released their aptly-named album “Phantom Electric”, which offers a unique sonic experience.

Featuring tracks like “Unusual Power” and “Abandon”, this album will take listeners on a captivating auditory journey.

Notable for its blend of 70s rock with post-punk and indie vibes, the music creates an atmosphere of dreaminess, psychedelia and haunting vocals.

Whether you are a fan of these genres or not, “Phantom Electric” is worth exploring; you may be pleasantly surprised! Dyr Faser has truly excelled with this highly original project.
- darkersideofmusic.com/dyr-faser-phantom-electric-release-review/

Review by Edwin Cannistraci:
If you're into psychedelic indie rock you should definitely check out the new album from DYR FASER: Phantom Electric. Such amazing guitar tones and haunting melodies throughout. It’s like a beautiful dark dream that keeps shifting and changing while keeping you under its spell. It's currently available to stream or purchase on Bandcamp and will also be available on most streaming platforms on Nov 8th...!!!
- Edwin Cannistraci

Review by Caleb @caardamom (Twitter)
Gothy garage stuff from @dyr_faser - very cool. They remind me a little bit of Index, a band that tends towards the more sinister side of psychedelia. Lots of swirling gelatinous gloom, delicious stuff. I really loved it.
- @caardamom

credits

released November 4, 2022

Eric Boomhower > vocals, guitar, drums, Univox
Amelia May > vocals, guitar, flute, bow guitar

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