A crater marks the explosive point where the heavens collide with the earth, a dramatic fusion of the cosmic and the terrestrial. In their debut studio LP Crater Family, the Modern Folk Trio Band embarks on a similarly daring fusion, crafting a unique sonic landscape straight to the raw, magnetic embrace of 4-track cassette tape.
With a stripped-down recording process deep in a basement and minimal overdubs, the album bridges ancient and modern worlds. It channels the haunting, earthbound roots of old-time Appalachian music—an influence drawn from the Trio’s Virginia origins—while launching into uncharted cosmic territory with swirling krautrock, dreamlike shoegaze and drone, and the mind-expanding echoes of vintage psychedelia.
The result is a sonic trip that feels like traversing electric marshlands, dripping with over-saturated, fuzzed-out waves of sound that carry you from groovy, hypnotic rhythms to ambient stretches of space.
The music morphs from moments of serene reflection to explosive eruptions like comets streaking across the night sky or waterfalls crashing onto moss-covered rocks. It’s an instrumental odyssey, and a creepy one at times, where each track feels like a distinct chapter in a much larger, cosmic narrative.
Initially completed in 2019—before the world turned upside down—Crater Family was released digitally, but is now being revived in its fullest form, with a limited edition of 100 LPs through Echodelick Records and Ramble Records.
As I listened to Crater Family, I was reminded of a 2009 folk/songwriter/indie rock compilation I used to obsessively listen to called Dark Was The Night. On the Crater Family, the night is indeed dark. This is electronic–meets–folk music for Appalachian ghost stories and nightmarish mountain journeys.
In Crater Family, the Modern Folk Trio Band has created a bridge between the familiar and the unknown, where the traditions of Appalachian folk meet the eerie pulse of experimental soundscapes.
This music is for those who appreciate strange beauty in contrasts, where the past and future harmonize. With each spin of the vinyl, you’ll find yourself wandering deeper into the dark, haunting world they’ve built—a place where echoes of the Carter Family are reborn in the eerie glow of modern psychedelia.
It’s a record that haunts long after the final note, beckoning you to revisit its sonic terrain and discover something new with every listen.
Check out Crater Family by The Modern Folk Trio on Bandcamp here.
Echodelick Records: Bandcamp | Instagram
Ramble Records: Bandcamp | Instagram | Official Website | Facebook
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