Leechwife – Nebulae And Debris

6.19.22 by Jacob DeRaadt

Leechwife is the project of one Lilith Grace of Columbus, Ohio. There’s a rapid combination of Amphetamine Reptile style noise rock a la Hammerhead or Cows with distorted organ, or chunks of the doom metal band Pentagram, into weird proggy breakdowns with a more-punk-than-metal attitude towards the vocals on some songs. A really singular idiosyncratic universe of a solo project that sounds like a full band on most songs. There’s some tracks that feel more like studio jams than others, like the wandering tone of the interlude “Gelatin Planets, Glass Moons.”

Maybe it’s all the Chrome I’ve been listening to at work this week, but the record feels very acid influenced at certain moments. In a real way. I’ve only done acid once but this reminds me of it; loops of Stooges and Chrome floating through raga string tones while art objects become pathways to dark dimensions. Weird fusions of doom and raga melodic structures actually grab my attention for once in a long time. 

Then there’s the video game music meets meets King Crimson stylings of “Fractal Castles” to end it.  

What a truly strange tape.