Arbouretum’s “Destroying to Save,” utilizes a wicked blues riff, a deliberate tempo, and dramatic vocals from Dave Heumann to achieve doom both in the dictionary sense of the word and in the musical sense of the word. The vibe is straight out of the late ’60s — The drugs, mind exploration, with or without the aid of those drugs, and a sense that things would never be the same. The work of recording engineer, Matt Boynton, adds to that feel. Using a combination of new and old technology, he was able to make the track sound more like an archival recording than anything laid down in the past year. And while it’s true many bands in the past decade have been given the label doom as they reached back to this point in time for their inspiration, few bands have been so convincing, and few tracks have been so deserving of the word.

MP3: Arbouretum – Destroying to Save

Arbouretum’s fourth album, The Gathering, will be released February 15th on Thrill Jockey Records. For more from Arboretum, check out this solo-acoustic version of “When Delivery Comes,” also taken from The Gathering, over at Arthur Magazine.