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Aug 24, 2011 Web Exclusive By Austin Trunick

Find It At: Insound

Ancient Romans, Sun Araw’s sprawling fifth album, meanders where it should propel. Previous efforts seemed to transport listeners to far-off domains through a psychedelic and cinematic wash of tape loops, dreamy synth work, and exploratory guitar sounds. Here, Sun Araw's man-behind the curtain, Cameron Stallones, presents a package that is conceptually solid—with song titles, album art and choice of instruments calling up images of ancient Greek and Roman architecture and folklore—but it's the music itself that too often comes off as only half-formed.

The first half of the album falls into a trap of haphazardly warbled effects and over-repetition that wears thin across tracks that clock in at an average of nine minutes' length. Each song drops a new trick into the mix: “Crete” adds NES beeps and “Crown Shell” plays with distorted vocal samples, while “Lute and Lyre” takes a noticeably more laid-back approach. Nothing here sticks out enough to draw the listener in, making the first 30-odd minutes of the disc skip-able (particularly the album opener “Lucretius,” where the heavy use of high-pitch organ trills borders on cloying). “At Delphi” is where things start to turn around, with Sun Araw shedding the cheesier sound effects in favor of a slow burn of drawn-out synth chords and fluid tape effects that build towards a more interesting whole, rather than just piling on. With “Fit for Caesar,” Stallones steps into a dub-inflected drone territory that will feel a bit more familiar for Sun Araw followers, but it comes too late in the process. That's a shame, since the soothing hum unlocks an exotic and exciting soundscape that's easy to lose yourself in.

While Sun Araw's last proper album, 2010’s On Patrol, felt carefully planned amidst all of the controlled chaos, Ancient Romans seems to wander for too long without aim or purpose. When an artist's been this prolific in such a short period of time, not every record will be a winner—you're better off grabbing the much better Night Gallery collaborative release from Sun Araw and Eternal Tapestry, which came out earlier this summer, and waiting to see what comes after this. (www.sunaraw.com)

Author rating: 4/10