Astral Body Electric

Recorded direct to tape in an 18th-century New England barn, Herbcraft's third album, Astral Body Electric, is proof that sometimes you just have to let a band loose to get the desired results. This is a heavy, psychedelic album with drony undercurrents looming in the guitar-fueled blasts that dominate the 12-minute "A Knock at the Door in Your Mind." Elements of Krautrock can be heard in the rhythm section, but this Maine-based jam band's specialty is mixing all the parts until it's one huge fury. Heavy keyboard reverb adds a blurry creepiness, while leader Matt Lajoie can never get enough of the electric guitar. Once Lajoie's solo project, Herbcraft these days relies on a band chemistry that pushes Corinna Marshall's transcendent flute into the spotlight at all the right times. "Mother's Gate (Shambhala)" adds a Middle Eastern tone, with vocals emanating from the back of the cavern for a Middle Ages feel that continues throughout "Impermanence," "No Land," and the nine-minute "Full Circle (Eternally)."