Of all the artists associated with the freak-folk movement, Six Organs of Admittance’s Ben Chasny sounds most like a “normal” folk musician, largely because he’s a much better guitar player than most of his peers; he’s more Jimmy Page than John Fahey, though. Like Led Zeppelin’s acoustic work, Six Organs’ recent release, Shelter from the Ash (Drag City), co-opts folk-guitar vocabulary in the service of psychedelia, and more than other Six Organs releases, often approaches something resembling rock. Chasny, however, is sparing with his payoffs, especially those provided by drums. Even on full-band tracks like “Alone with the Alone” and “Shelter from the Ash,” heavy compression puts guitar in the foreground, and the other instruments serve mainly as texture. When rock payoffs do arrive, like the squalling freakout in the sixth minute of “Coming to Get You,” they are well worth the wait. When they do not, Shelter merely delivers hypnotically flowing riffs, unearthly drones, impassioned solos and perfectly sensitive finger-picking, along with a few masterfully understated vocals. It’s a form of guitar worship that, compared to the amplifier fetishism of Boris or the endless soloing of Stevie Ray Vaughan, is less obvious but no less pious.
This article appears in Jan 17-23, 2008.