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Causa Sui — From the Source
(El Paraiso EPR076, 2024, LP / CD / DL)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2024-08-08

From the Source Cover art

It’s been a while since Causa Sui released a new studio record, I think 2020’s Szabodelico was their last, with a live record Loppen 2021 in the interim. As before, the four tracks that make up the single LP release breathe deep with exploration, combining psychedelic hard rock, jazz, cosmic elements, and brutal heavy slag, a deep dream of wandering mystery and sonic intensity. One might notice that the crispness of some previous studio albums has given way, at least in part, to a crushing heaviness that makes a listener sit up and take notice. The band remains the quartet of guitarist (and engineer) Jonas Munk, drummer (and visual artist) Jakob Skøtt, bassist Jess Kahr, and keyboardist Rasmus Rasmussen, a lineup that’s been constant for fifteen years or more now. More than anything else here, the standout is the 24-minute seven-part suite that takes up the entirety of the B side of the LP; call it heavy space rock, psychedelic free-wheeling fury, whatever you like, delicate and masterfully executed, ideas change with regularity as the listener is propelled into a cosmic bliss, the pace quickens and relaxes, strange sonics illuminate the horizon while a steady groove blasts the listener home — things never last too long before something (sometimes everything) changes, but after the trip concludes it all pretty much ends where it began, with only the memories of the journey remaining. The A side is comprised of three pieces totaling roughly 22 minutes: the opener “Sorcerer's Disciple” presents a jangly guitar lead over an earthshaking power riff that more than occasionally will remind of early Black Sabbath, of course without the vocals — Causa Sui has been all instrumental since their singer left after the second album back in 2007. Distortion abounds throughout. Rasmussen opens a beautiful early Floydian styled riff on “Dusk Dwellers” before the guitar solo takes us on a magical voyage; it may be the album’s shortest track at just over five minutes, but one of the most alluring. “The Spot” is another heavy one, as a repetitive figure finally gives way to numerous changes on the way to its ten-minute conclusion. What remains to be seen is how these pieces translate to a live setting, and I’m sure a live follow-up will be coming along shortly.

Filed under: New releases, 2024 releases

Related artist(s): Causa Sui, Jonas Munk

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