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Thorn of Thrones is the second album from Detroit collective GIANT BRAIN. Like the band’s debut Plume, Thorn crossbreeds Germanic space rock with the muscular power rock for which the Motor City is so well-known, and the results are just as impressive and engrossing. The formula remains the same: former BIG CHIEF guitarist PHIL DÜRR applies his acid guitar expertise over a variety of grooves and settings prepared by the brotherly studio duo of AL and ANDY SUTTON. The founding trio is joined on this album by drummer/keyboardist ERIC HOEGEMEYER, late of the tragically unlamented GOLD CASH GOLD, and, on two tracks, drummer DAMON CHE of DON CABALLERO. The group excels on the usual epics – check out “Gooser,” “Relentful Resentless” and the brilliantly titled “This is Where the Robot Escapes His Evil Captor, Finds Raygun, Plots Revenge.” The band also adds a couple of ambient tracks in “Phones” and “Water-Bored,” and “Empyrian” boasts a Giant Brain first: lyrics and vocals, provided by the Sutton brothers and SLOT singer SUE LOTT. Everything fits together like pieces of a puzzle, with the music taking you on a journey through inner and outer dimensions. Spinning through space, Thorn of Thrones soothes the soul.
