Barn Owl

San Francisco drone specialists Barn Owl channel the daring experimentalism of Alice Coltrane and Keiji Haino while extending the heavy foundations first laid by Black Sabbath. Guitarists Jon Porras and Evan Caminiti began collaborating shortly after crossing paths in a 2005 American Indian science course at San Francisco State, where they discovered parallel histories in metal bands along with a mutual attraction to contemplative, psychedelic sounds. Throughout the second half of the 2000s the pair produced home recordings amid various side projects. Their breakthrough arrived in 2010, when they launched the Electric Totem imprint and issued three full-lengths: Conjurer via Rootstrata, Headlands on Important Records, and Ancestral Star following their signing to Thrill Jockey. International touring sustained their momentum into the next year, which opened with the 24-minute Shadowland EP tracked by Phil Manley of Trans Am in San Francisco; that release was followed in summer by the full-length Lost in the Glare. Manley again handled recording duties, swapping the harmonium prominent on prior works for a Farfisa organ. The duo resurfaced in 2013 with their fifth studio album V, incorporating understated drum machines and electronics into their palette.