Photo by Jason Bender, story by Justin Metzger.
Arbouretum front-man David Heumann acquiesces to the doom folk label to describe his band, though it’s as apt a description as you could come up with for what they do. The line up that preformed Wednesday, sans keyboardist Matthew Pierce, featured bassist Corey Allender and new drummer Buck Carey. This is the line featured on the next Arbouretum album ‘The Gathering’ due out in February on Thrill Jockey Records.
The new version of the band moves Arbouretum in a slightly different direction. Corey describes the group now as “still doomy, but leaving the folk part behind.” The keyboard and synth aspects take a more prominent role without the second guitar in the band.
In addition to keys, Bucks drumming will also be a stylistic shift. Playing a style that he hopes brings a “mystery of space and spiritualism vibe but up tempo that gets you steppin, very warm, stripped down take on the old blues, to a more psychedelic approach.”
Arbouretum masterfully position themselves as shamanistic leaders who take their fans on a musical trip. Within the first few songs the band makes you feel like you’re falling off a cliff in slow motion while listening to East Texas roadhouse swamp rock only to suddenly wake with the first glimmer of the rising sun though not entirely sure where the day begins and the dream recedes.
