AS EYES BURN CLEAN LP REVIEWS

Terrescope - March 2010
(U.K.)
Ian Fraser

"And finally, it's back to some comforting wig-out madness courtesy of Cleveland, Ohio's psych-heavy Terminal Lovers on their latest effort "As Eyes Burn Clean" (Public Guilt PGO18). "Press The Bank", mixes 1960s West Coast excess with Camembert era Gong and sets the scene for the next 50 or so minutes. The guitar sound is heavily reminiscent of Jefferson Airplane circa "After Bathing at Baxters" and "Crown of Creation" and the tribal chug of bass and drums of the seemingly ubiquitous Germanic (I've pledged not to use the term Krautrock again during this set of reviews) influence that pervades much of today's best stuff.

The album comprises 7 tracks labelled A1-4 and B5-7, so even on CD you get the at once welcome and irksome impression of a pause in proceedings (the saving grace being that you don't have to flip over, blow the dust off the needles and hope for a safe landing of stylus on vinyl.

There ain't no duff track here, Ma. However considering that the underlying musical theme here is one of sonic attack it's ironic that two of the most interesting tracks are the slower and curiously named "Steve Ashby" and the mind blowing *Truth Between Errors" which is bookended by a rock hard shell of furious shredding but has such a deliciously soft centre. Bloody brilliant!"

terrascope.co.uk

Foxy Digitalis
Mike Wood

"C'mon, any band that has been called "Can Meets Pere Ubu" is worth a listen, right? And a band that comes from that legendary home of art/noise/sludge, Cleveland, to boot? How could Terminal Lovers not be a winner? Well, it IS a winner, and more so, as any spin to the sloppy glory of As Eyes Burn Clean will prove. Guitarist/singer Dave Cintron (Scarcity of Tanks) is surrounded by many Cleveland punk veterans, including former Keelhaul guitarist Chris Smith and two (!) drummers.

"Press The Bank" kicks things off, a sludgy, fuzzy missive that sounds like it was recorded in a slaughterhouse. "Ion Gate" almost seems like a pop tune in comparision, but only because it has a chord. Sarcastic or not, tribal bass &percussion help kickstart a quasi Eastern guitar/metal groove that instantly consigns most prog-rock heroes to the dustbin. "Shadow Driver" is old-school Stooges, and "Steve Ashby" is one of the wierdest tracks ever: an almost ambient sludge tune, barely there but for some fits and starts before "kicking in" with a lo-fi finale that is almost seizure inducing.

The title track is a greasy three section jam that parties like it's 1972. Noise, punk, doom, minimalist all brew until the finale "Sun, Lit Rings'" BIG riff outro brings it all down to a majestic close.

"As Eyes Burn Clean" will certainly clean out your ears and make room for new sounds, while at the same time squeegy-ing your Third Eye clean of dross. Viva Terminal Lovers! 8/10"

www.digitalisindustries.com

Cleveland Scene

Best original band 2011.

Cleveland Scene: Best Of 2011

ROCKET RECORDINGS / ON THE DECKS # 15
Dave W.

"TERMINAL LOVERS – As Eyes Burn Clean (Public Guilt)
After the release of Drama Pit and Loan (which still gets regular spins at WH central) I wondered how they could top that record. Then they released 2 Cdr's Release Valve Rattle and Basement Tapes Vol. 2 that saw the raw energy of DP&L taken to the outter reaches of experimentation. Then I anxiously awaited the release of As Eyes Burn Clean which just happens to be a perfect mix of hard edged guitar driven rock and experimentation. Concise and to the point. This album is immediate and a great listen from beginning to end. It is time this band gets the noteriety they deserve. The world needs more rock bands like the Terminal Lovers!"

irocketrecordings.blogspot.com

Ecos De R'lyeh

"uf ... at this rate I delete my best of 2009, because I'm leaving on the floor with each new discovery. And this record is something from another planet. What I say, of another plane-dimensional space clearly more evolved than ours, where the entities that inhabit LSD breathe just as we do with stale oxygen. Terminal Lovers are a quintet from Cleveland, and consists of members from bands such as Keelhaul, Integrity, Midnight and Lung. These bands probably sound like the same thing to me, or anything. And no less intriguing than enough scrotumtightening musicians as talented and whisk copper formations as unknown. Unjust world in which we live. Also, my surprise and indignation (with myself) came to learn that this is already their second album, following the 2003 launch of Drama Pit And Loan. No one can be, I suppose.

But hey, let's get down to business. The first thing I have to say is that if the word MUSIC had a mortal incarnation, that would be the Terminal Lovers. I mean that organic music that flows naturally, without judicious squares and arithmetic enforced. In these creations do not need more than bring together the right talent, and no fixed script takes the form of authentic spiritual journeys, which is beyond any rational dissection from an intellectual understanding to carry out. Eyes Burn Clean As heard with closed eyes and spiky hair, or not heard. And if possible with copious amounts of hallucinogenic substances in the blood. Is a journey in time, because these guys drink of classic jam bands of 60 and 70, as well as high psychedelia to the nth degree. Think King Crimson, Captain Beyond, Amon Duul or the Butthole Surfers and go in the right direction, although only have one direction, because what Terminal Lovers developed during the seven tracks on the album is full of so much personality that is hard to imagine this music in other hands. Initial Press The Bank introduces us to his lysergic world, space-rock base to align the ear is going to have to go. Gives exactly the same, because it falls hopelessly baba with this absolute wonder of Ion Gate. Here the work of the two guitars is true geniuses, much in the vein of King Crimson, as if you were a newborn baby, helpless, drag you and your craving whimsically dark places at times, at others pictures of blinding luminescence . And all this to leave you breathless. Melody, rhythm, progression ... all flowing with a truly astonishing naturalness. And I speak of naturalness it is evident that this has the same performance tests that Faemino and Tired. That is, just to say hello and see their faces, and then to heaven. Shadow Driver is the perfect example of how absolutely from a vintage pattern (which are retro falls short), and through layers of distortion and play around with the noise, bill, an issue that is able to excite any listener restless today day. Steve Ashby is based on one of the strengths and defining the band, its two drummers. Based primarily on African drums, provide the rhythm section of Terminal Lovers overwhelming personality, unique. And here we reach the final trilogy of the album, an entire space odyssey in which there are so many twists, turns, textures and sounds that one faces, in the end the only thing you can do is lower their arms and surrender to arguments so fucking irrefutable. The journey begins with the highly psychedelic Sacred And The Man, which also lets us psychotronic blues beautiful strokes. Well it's nothing, because immediately afterwards assail us with the Truth Between Errors instrumental, nine minutes of oriental sounds that will direct you believe you're at the top of Himalaya hallucinogen toad licking frenzy. While desperately trying to grab what little sanity that still resist entrenched in a corner of your brain, get Sun Lit, Rings and sends you a kick out of the Milky Way. Probably the best cut of the album with Ion Gate, is a fucking classic track, unbeatable, and with an epic whispered, that you do not need to fuss to inflame the blood.

Sincerely, As Eyes Burn Clean can look at the face of any hard totem 60 and 70, and without any shame. We are in a timeless wonder that is above any time and place, because this is simply not true. As I said, this is MUSIC.

Note: 10/10"

Hellride Music
Jay Snyder

"It has been an eon since I've heard mention of Ohio shuttle crew, Terminal Lovers; a sprawling super project, masterminded by Dave Cintron (guitar/vocals), featuring Chris Smith (Keelhaul, Integrity) on second guitar, Jamie Walters (Midnight, Boulder) on bass, with the dual percussive attack of Brent Gemmill (Lung) and Bob Zeiger (Midnight) rounding things out for this band of astral plane wanderers.

My first and only introduction to the band was the Shifty involved,Drama Pit and Loan some odd years back…probably around 4 or 5 at this point. It was a great album but quite challenging, choosing to explore the farthest reaches of space, pop, 70's rock and early Ash Ra Tempel or Amon Duul, definitely not an album that stuck immediately. Instead, it got better with each subsequent spin…slowly revealing an altered universe of delightfully trippy mood swings and spacious psychedelic sounds within its diverse palette.

Apparently the band has put out a few scant recordings I've missed in the interim, most recently some self-released deals on their own imprint, but a proper full-length follow-up hasn't become available till now. As Eyes burn Clean is the band's latest and greatest... a masterful piece of work, and much more retro tinged than the last recording I had the pleasure of hearing. At times it sounds like Ash Ra Tempel circa Join Inn or Schwingungen, with a beefier, updated production job, more assorted space sounds in the background and a larger emphasis on hooky grooves.

Opener, "Press the Bank" meanders with a cosmic strangeness that is certainly kindred to the material on Drama Pit and Loan. An extended introduction of hallucinatory noise, ebbing guitar fuzz and distant space-rock sets a very eerie mood indeed, enticing the ears to anticipate what will eventually come next, in addition to making one wonder what direction it will come from… When a distant guitar solo plunges the depths of krautrock greats gone by, only to be followed by a driving beat, killer guitar interplay and LSD enhanced singing…it is clear Terminal Lovers are headed straight back to the roots for this record.

Flowing seamlessly into the scraping chords and the Latin flavored percussion of "Ion Gate", the unit capitalizes on their ability to grab onto a mood and clench its throat for dear life. The twin guitars nail some unique, King Crimon-esque melody lines, collapsing and falling as necessary, creating some space to unleash a leaden Sabbath boogie bolstered by extremely drugged out vocals. Everything about this behemoth and the atmosphere it creates, struggles between a light and dark realm that simultaneously lifts and deconstructs the listener's psyche, all in one fell swoop. Delving further into sonic exploration and sheer groove for groove's sake, the high-octane buzz and boogie of "Shadow Driver" bares a strange resemblance to the first two Captain Beyond LPs (seriously!), as if ran through some cheap transistor full of oddities, effects and warped vocal incantations. There's a totally classy, vintage vibe on hand, although updated by the modern generation of noise arsonists the world over.

Fans of Titan would probably like this stuff, as it has got very off-kilter hooks, but listen deep and they are in there, tending to jump out on repeat listens whenever you least expect it. "Steve Ashby" is a little mellower and more limber overall, adding some nice tribal percussion (bongos, I think) to the pristine guitar lines and breathy singing. Nary does the volume rise, until the very end, when squalls of guitar scorch, clear the lane for the bluesy licks and roaming psychedelic pilgrimage of "Sacred and the Man"; tied for album highlight with epic closer "Sun, Lit Rings". This space odyssey is backed by a lush, forward pushing bass groove that sets the foundation for the grinding, 70's gnash emitted by the guitars. Cintron and Smith put out a helluva a lot of noise all throughout this one, but keep the music anchored with obtuse, time-machine grooves, never losing focus of writing a good song for the sake of heavy handed, fucking around. In fact, this tune has the weird aura of the Butthole Surfers jamming with Amon Duul and Captain Beyond…definitely not your atypical sound at all, but one well worth riding out for the long haul.

Instrumental, "Truth between Errors" is a yin and yang piece that sort of stumbles around aimlessly, it isn't a bad track but more of a spacer, serving a greater purpose as a segue to the piece de resistance "Sun, Lit Rings"…which caps the album, ending the previous three songs as a themed trilogy. The first half melds all sorts of noise cacophonies with a break of soft guitar strum and smooth as silk, melodic vocals. This one locks you in, letting you know that something monumental is lurking on the horizon. When the clouds part and the starlit guitar lines of the 3:20 mark come starkly into view, it'll fill your ears and soul with a hope that life isn't as bad as you think it is. Seriously, it is one of those rock n' roll moments that I'm damned proud I got a chance to experience, let alone write about and all I can do is my best to wrap a couple of my feeble descriptive attempts around it. It is a moment completely and beautifully rooted in the 70's psych explosion, but with a saddened yet somehow optimistic feel…that is almost nearly impossible to attach words to. Imagine Hawkwind, crossed with Titan and a whole sack of magic mushrooms filling your belly…and that is the very trip that "Sun, Lit Rings" takes you on! Phenomenal, classy and classic if you ask me, ending this record on an extremely high note, cementing it as a psychedelic album that never loses its track, and one that always has some enlightening moment around the corner.

To be honest, I pulled out Drama Pit and Loan to stand it up against this one, and as good as that record was, it can't even touch As Eyes burn Clean; which makes me wonder how this shit was developing from point A to point B (guess I'm gonna have to find out!). Whatever the case, and whatever Dave Cintron and his cast of cohorts have been doing, it is a path that they should keep down. As Eyes burn Clean is richly developed, carefully cultivated and majestically blissful. It has an air of immediacy in its delivery, causing one to remember parts of the songs after the very first listen, but there's plenty of depth for further, more rewarding spins down the line. A sign of a truly gripping psych record!

By far, this album is the psychedelic mindfuck of the year from my standpoint, beaconing both as a glorious nod to the old guard and a raised fist to the new breed of noiseants. I'm damn glad this came my way, it brought me back into Terminal Lovers' wild, weird world once again…and this time I'm going to be extending my stay!"

Deaf Sparrow

"This project doesn't only have the coolest moniker ever, but have also just released one of the greatest albums of 2009. This my friends, is fucking MUSIC. Beautiful, natural and organic. It's aural grandiosity in full bloom not by its heaviness or volume but by its soulful depth. Terminal Lovers are a colorful call for attention, but shall only be perceived by those who dare go beyond the mundane. As Eyes Burn Clean is just too good for the masses. Too abstract for the pop addict and too layered for the musical simpleton.  Regardless who this is exposed to; this will only appeal to the good ones.
 
As the music of Terminal Lovers takes from many genres we can't go on without citing some of these. One would be stoner rock. This is by default. Yes, there is nary a bluesy note here, but the density of these songs recalls one of stoner rock's best traits. To that let's add that the Lovers' 2003 release Drama Pit & Loan was released by mostly stoner doom label Shifty records. Anyway, there is also a significant quotient of psychedelic rock. That's undeniable. With so much layering and so many sounds going on it's impossible not to think of all that goes on in an altered mind. Not much wah wah in these places, just blankets of noise, kilos of feedback and ounces of sonic debris. That load is constant. The krautock dose is also clearer than the artwork on the cover.   The natural way in which the songs flow may evidence that most of these songs were born from jamming.  The absolute experimental sounds wink and nod to progressive rock more than to the 'pop' influences claimed in the press clip.
 
Terminal Lovers hail from Cleveland and in its ranks we can find musicians who have played in bands as disparate as Midnight, Boulder, Keelhaul and Scarcity of Tanks. I don't think that knowing this would tell you anything about how this band sounds like.  This is far more avant garde and experimental. The tunes flow and float and slowly reveal themselves.  In "Ion Gate" we get a watery sensibility. There is a jazzy feeling, but the tune is not cluttered and the drums are anything but that.  There is far more percussion than a mere drummer though and the guitar dwindling adds to the jamming factor. And in "Sacred and the Man" I got teary eyed reminiscing of how Monster Magnet once sounded like. Hands down; stellar record."

4.5/5

deafsparrow.com

Cosmic Lava
(Germany)

"Cleveland is another place in the USA where music history has been written during the 1970's, especially in the genre which is known under the name proto punk. Some of the more famous bands are Mirrors, The Electric Eels, The Styrenes and last but not least Rocket From The Tombs from which later Dead Boys and Pere Ubu have emerged. It's been almost 35 years ago when all this happened and Cleveland is still a fertile soil for high-quality music. This has been demonstrated once again by TERMINAL LOVERS and their third record, released by Public Guilt in November 2009. One could call this band a supergroup, because they consist of members from bands like Midnight, Keelhaul and Lung, but I think that descriptions like "supergroup" distract the attention from the most important thing, which is, of course, the music.
Their first album 'Drama Pit And Loan' has been released by Shifty Records in 2003, but their music was quite different from all the other bands on that record label. There was no filthy sludge or aggressive thrash metal, but rather a weird blend of classic rock, psychedelic metal and a small dose of 1980's pop music. It was definitely very fascinating and exceptional music. Five years later TERMINAL LOVERS released their second album 'Basement Tapes Vol. 2', but I had no chance to listen to it so I can't compare it to 'As Eyes Burn Clean'. The first thing that strikes me about the new record is the variety of influences although the music is based on the psychedelic rock of the 1960's. This is a very trippy album and still very catchy. That is something I particularly enjoy about each song. There are clear and tight structures which can cause an addictive effect.
Each song is full of details and they can also rock what they prove with 'Shadow Driver' while 'Truth Between Errors' is an epic track divided into three parts. Especially the first part 'Sacred and the Man' is finest acid rock while the middle section displays a similarity to early Velvet Underground. Once again, it's striking how carefully and virtous this guys have arranged their music. There are of course also a few cuts that are more quieter like 'Steve Ashby', a dub-inspired track that provides relaxation and contemplation. In sum, 'As Eyes Burn Clean' is a mind-blowing trip, which lasts almost 44 minutes. If you have any interest in psychedelic rock that is not only a retrospective rehash than it's worth the price. Please notice, that this record is limited to 500 copies on yellow/black swirled vinyl."

cosmiclava.com

Robert Music
Robert Hutton

"The indie scene in recent years has become pretty corporate - indie is the new mainstream, in many ways. So here comes a new record by a REAL underground band - Terminal Lovers, the brainchild of Dave Cintron, from Cleveland. I have their earlier CD, Drama Pit and Loan, which is a personal treasure. This record is even better. It's a psych hard rock record with attitude and edge, even a certain amount of abandon. It's real. It's authentic.

The tunes are extended and take turns unexpectedly, well structured. Lyrically wonderful, obtuse and direct at the same time, and gripping in it's originality. Musically there are many nods to the past, touchpoints varying from Zep, to Sabbath, to 13th Floor Elevators through to underground bands from the garage ethos. Not metal, but noisy without being random, a true stoner rock groove flowing from song to song, creating a whole organically bigger than it's parts. Cintron is a guitar hero in the biggest sense, and the band is tight and focused.

A GREAT record that will never be in the mainstream - it's too good for that.

Only 500 copies pressed, on great colored vinyl, so get it while you can. An ear opened and 500 lucky folks, me included, get to have their minds blown."

robertmusic.blogspot.com

Staf Magazine #43
(Spain)

"Because it is coming together from quite a few friends in a thousand hardened musical stories, including Chis Smith(Keelhaul) and Jamie Walters(Midnight) on guitar and bass, although the name is just plain informative, because little or nothing here you will find that you remember those bands and influences null and armed to the customers with their respective instruments give life to a great album (which is not their first, as they have been doing studio visits quite frequently since 2003) at the crossroads of both the space rock, psychedelic, pop, krautrock and latin percussion, a nod to Black Sabbath, King Crimson, Captain Beyond, Can, Amon Duul ... complex issues, dense, sticky passengers flow, and float as they sound ... and you, imagine it ... you say mushrooms? wait, I'm writing a review of a disc ... oh, and of pasteurization - has been charged nothing more and nothing less than the great James Plotkin.Come, okay, yeah ... yeah, I'm still on the ship, I have not left, I finished the review that..."

stafmagazine

I94Bar
Arthur S.

"Cleveland, Ohio has always been a metropolitan area where an off-kilter pulse is alive and well in both sports and music. Some sports events that have taken place over the years, which have cemented its reputation for the surreal, include the Cleveland Free Times mascot Freebie and the Cleveland Indians Mascot Slider brawling; mayflies (or commonly called "Canadian Soldiers") flying off Lake Erie to attack NY Yankees pitcher Joba Chamberlain in the 2007 MLB American League Divisional Series; and, in a strange display of nature once again, seagulls assisting the Cleveland Indians beat the Kansas City Royals this past June.

Correlating to these off the wall occurrences, the city has also held a long tradition of psych-punk bands, such as Mirrors and Pere Ubu, that feel equally comfortable with hallucinatory ethos of Krautrock – Don Von Vliet in addition to the drug punk of the Stooges and the Metal Machine Music. All of these great bands / artists leave the listener scratching their heads, because of the musician's refusal to follow the rules, as they build their own construct. Terminal Lovers are comfortable with this idea. The newest endeavor of the group As Eyes Burn Clean is a culmination of the band's exercise in following their instinctual nature.

The opening track "Press the Bank" introduces the listener to a haze of white noise. The buzzing feedback, drone of distortion and bass – cymbal percussion are further enhanced by some killer guitar interplay between Dave Cintron and Chris Smith. The track beautifully segues into "Ion Gate" as a serene mood is established with a mellow guitar line and Middle Eastern percussion, supplied by both Brent Gammil and Bob Zieger. Above the groove, both Citron and Smith set the controls for the heart of the sun. Once the hypnotic aspect of the band is pushed aside, a hard rock riff is soon introduced by the two guitarists.

The band plays it straight on "Shadow Driver" which is a more of a straightforward rocker. Upon closer inspection, the song reveals the benefits of having two percussionists, as there is a propulsive effect at work. The track "Steve Ashby" offers a heady combination of great bass work (by Jamie Walters), delicate guitar lines, and a looping accompaniment of feedback.

The final three tracks exemplify the brilliance of Terminal Lovers. "Sacred and the Man" exhumes the ashes of Furnier, Buxton and Bruce's exquisite body of work. Midway during the song, the song stops and a drum fill is introduced. The song abruptly increases the volume for guitar riffage, as a drum – bass pummeling is set and the band flexes their excessive muscle. The band then rides out on a rhythmic groove, smacking into wall of distortion, which serves as the introduction of "Truth Between Errors". An instrumental piece, the band exudes a psychedelic sheen, as the song flows into the final track "Sun, Light Rings". "Sun, Light Rings", complete with that classic recipe of light – heavy duality, hushed vocals and a bombastic playing, ends on the quiet whisper of pedal effects.

I want to let you in on a dirty little secret, Terminal Lovers have quietly established themselves as a great band. The band's prior release "Drama Pit and Loan" (Shifty Records, 2003), a great record in its own right, merely hinted at what was to expect from this mid-western unit. Now, on "As Eyes Burn Clean", all of the pieces come together, and ultimately the listener is greatly rewarded by hearing the band's unique brand of monumental hard rock - psych dunt."

5/5

i94bar.com

The One True Dead Angel

"Cleveland seems like a strange place to me to harbor such a vast, sprawling cast of bands dedicated to weird music; then again, it is the home of Pere Ubu, so maybe it's not so strange after all. Which brings us to this Cleveland band, featuring vocalist and guitarist Dave Cintron (who also plays in several other bands, including The Downside Special and Scarcity of Tanks), guitarist Chris Smith (Keelhaul, Integrity), bassist Jamie Walters (Midnight, Boulder, Destructor), and dual drummers Brent Genmill (Lung) and Bob Zeiger (Midnight, Darvocets). Given that the band contains members of twelve other totally different bands, it is hardly surprising that they bring a lot of different sounds and styles to their oceanic brand of psych rock. The seven songs (four on the A side, three on the flip side) all flow from one to the next, with a constantly shifting sonic landscape that incorporates elements of punk, metal, psych rock, Krautrock, alien soundtracks, pop, drone, and pure unalloyed weirdness. The heavy psych vibe is the cosmic cornerstone from which all these other sounds radiate, though; this is definitely an album made for tripping through the inner realms of your psyche (pyschotropic drugs optional but not necessary). Unlike a lot of trippy cosmic rock, this is not marred by excessive doodling or endless passages of some stoned dude whapping on bongos while his bandmates descend into pointless wanking; there's plenty of tripped-out moments, sure, but the band has made a serious effort to avoid descending into cliches or getting stuck in a particular groove. Instead, they've concentrated on whipping up an amazing pallette of distinct and memorable sounds and spreading them out in carefully selected chunks across the entire album, then chaining those bizarre explosions of sound to a constantly percolating rhythm section. For an album rooted in a genre of music whose practictioners tend to get lost in their own nebulous clockwork, this is supremely focused and consistently high (in more than one sense) in quality. This is an acid-rock album you don't need to take drugs to enjoy (although it probably wouldn't hurt, either). Mastered by James Plotkin (him again!) and limited to 500 copies on swirly yellow and black vinyl.."

theonetruedeadangel.blogspot.com

Peace Dog Man
Waldron

"Well, this is some pretty nifty stuff right here! TERMINAL LOVERS obviously are a band after my own heart by making music that features glorious feedback orgies, laid back psychedelic swirling noises and obvious references to HAWKWIND and Syd Barrett era PINK FLOYD (you know? Before they sounded terminally dull). There's a lot of George Harrison (circa "Revolver") styled guitar playing in there, too.

So that's another "retro" band, right? Well, not really, see; TERMINAL LOVERS aren't just the sound of yesteryear's heroes taking their chosen favourite psychotropic substances and having a "all-star" jam, there's a wealth of life and personality from these Cleveland boys. The vocals are perhaps the band's weakest link -- but they certainly have their moments of gruff, yet melodic brilliance. But overall the band seem to completely work, leaving their listener with a "handful of mushrooms" grin on his/her face.

Mmmm, tasty, a psychedelic, whirling mess -- who wouldn't want that all over their living room? This would be a great soundtrack to a 3-day binge on any appropriately "mind-expanding" substance, methinks. "As Eyes Burn Clean" does sound -- from its title at least -- to be a metalcore album. Believe me, it's not."

4/5

peacedogman.com

The Sound Projector
Ed Pinsent

“ Terminal Lovers spring out of Cleveland with a very convincing set of murky avant-rock in the shape of As Eyes Burn Clean (PUBLIC GUILT PG018). Led by Dave Cintron, the band includes players scaped from numerous other band projects, such as Keelhaul, Midnight, Lung, Darvocets, Dimbulb and many others, including the very fine Scarcity Of Tanks. I find it fascinating how many contemporary American underground bands are rediscovering their country's rich heritage of late-psychedelic rock, but doing it by way of Krautrock and throwing in other influences from post-punk experimental bands. Terminal Lovers add a knowing, semi-literary touch of surrealism into their lyrics, which we are told are intended to emulate the effects of the cinema of Jodorowsky. Whether you accept any of this rich cultural cross-fertilisation or not, there's no denying this stoned-out groovester of a record rocks like a greasy acid-fried demon. This combo have swallowed their influences whole like an enormous whale filling up on plankton and krill, and in only a few years have honed their ensemble sound to fatal perfection. Released on 24th this month as a limited press LP pressed in yellow and black swirling vinyl. A delirious slab to charm your fitful dreams at night.”

thesoundprojector.com

This Is Books

"Methodical chaos, this is what I thought of as I was listening to Terminal Lovers' new album, As Eyes Burn Clean (Public Guilt). These guys play well scripted songs with the kind of heaviness that will bring to mind the best of Sunny Day Real Estate, 65daysofstatic, and maybe a slight hint of a band that is highly respected around the world but I'm not going to mention them, in fear readers will think Terminal Lovers sound like them. They do not, but what they share is a love to take their music into unexpected directions within the boundaries of a song.

What I like is that they expand on what progressive rock has given to them, and takes it into worlds unknown or unexpected in the 1970′s. A track like "Ion Gate" (5.17mb) may sound like heavy metal appreciation, but then they'll get into these melodic textures where it sounds atmospheric, almost in a Mars Volta/Coheed And Cambria sense but still retaining a Melvins-like heaviness. The best song on here has to be the 3-part, 23 minute side length (since this is being released on vinyl, I'm assuming this takes up the entire side 2) "Truth Between Errors". I'm a sucker for a good side length opus, and these guys deliver through the many peaks and valleys they supply. What I mean is, sometimes they get into what sounds like a blitzkreig of distorted guitars where it sounds like you've entered into a wall of feedback. Underneath that a mid-tempo melody begins to surface and the bass guitar suddenly becomes meditative and then you're thinking wait a minute, this sounds like a sludgy tribute to The Byrds' "Eight Miles High", where that jingle-jangle Indian flavor comes through strong. It sounds incredible, foreign and distant (perhaps as intended), but it makes you smile (at least I did) because that's pulls at your heartstrings.

With this style of music, one rarely talks about the technological side of it but then again, I'm sure a guitar or rock magazine will get into the Terminal Lovers' gear or something. I go back to the beginning of the review where I say this is methodical chaos, because as noisy, sludgy, and forceful this sounds, it's not random noise. The volume and the way these songs weld and move into each other from start to finish shows me they care for not only how these songs are interpreted, but by how they sound individually and as a whole. The final package comes out sounding like a rock opera, but without the opera, without the generalizations, without a storyline you have to follow. You're following sound, although you're also listening… you know what, just get the album and listen. Fans of hard rock, heavy metal, or independent-minded rock in general, as the non hard rock/heavy metal fan will enjoy this as much as the dedicated headbanger… it is something to enjoy. It will be a classic amongst those who know. Others, let them discover it on their own time. For us, let's enjoy it today."

thisisbooks.com

Creative Eclipse
(Germany)
Konstantin Hanke

"Five veterans of the Cleveland rock scene (including Chris Smith of Keelhaul, INTEGRITY) have teamed up to rip the frozen ground aesthetics of rock in the air and the resulting fragments simply wildly back together. The result is called "As Exes Burn Clean" and confident with ingenuity, diversity, warmth and consistency. The over cool, smooth transmission of late Led Zeppelin is associated with kraut rock to himself wavering song structures to crude sound buildings that move somewhere between KAYO DOT and GOON MOON. TERMINAL LOVERS but never exceed, such as U.S. MAPLE, the limit to the total dissonance. Quite the contrary, despite all the pieces have a somewhat obliquity Catchy pop and make it to exert a certain fascination. An interesting disc."

creative-eclipse.com

BASEMENT TAPES VOL. II REVIEWS

Foxy Digitalis
Dave Miller

"Psychedelic guitar smoke settles like a black cloud. It seems like this is it…a bleak, cold start to two long tracks. But hard jams begin to rise out of the abyss like a phoenix from the ashes. They swirl around and around until all obscurity is stripped away, exposed for the beast it truly is. Just as soon as you think you've got the chords under your net, the guitar slips away into the second track. Instead, the steady tap of the snare guides you into the next road of your sojourn, leaving the guitar to retreat into the background. It is only subtly eclipsed, settling like a dispossessed blur once again. Everything erodes away into a rushing stream of oblivion to reinvent itself in a warzone of tenacious drums and manic riffs. And then…done. It stops abruptly, going back to the nonexistence from whence it came. You almost wonder if it ever happened. The only thing left is the faint memory of a wraithlike transient dance that once took you. Oh, but wait…that's right…the replay button! 8/10"

www.digitalisindustries.com

Head Heritage
Julian Cope

"Great to see Dave Cintron's Terminal Lovers are back at last after over half a decade away. His all-new incarnation of the band is featured here on two huge grooves that both clock in at well over a quarter-of-an-hour each. And despite my yearning for the absent riffology and anguished larynx of earlier Cintron times, I truly believe that we must totally accept an artist's shifting metaphor rather than pine for the good old times. Those Head Heritage freaks who go way back will remember Herr Cintron's scored a pair of HH Albums of the Month, with the Lovers' DRAMA PIT & LOAN (Review #44 back in January 2004CE) and with his earlier band The Downside Special (Review #50 in June 2004CE). Well, he's back and his new ramalama is real guitar-informed head trauma"

www.headheritage.co.uk