Black Holes 1995

Dwell Records specializes in the nexus point where grunge, noise, psychedelia, and, most importantly, metal meet. Fitting then that they would release this tribute comp to Syd Barrett, the madcap wonder boy who in the late '60s had a hand in inspiring all those genres. The collection features artists who run the metal gamut. Stoner legends Pentagram deliver a dynamic "Flaming" while trance-metallers Jesu drive "Chapter 24" deeper into the cosmos than Pink Floyd ever did. Prog-metal kings Yakuza tackle "Lucifer Sam" while noisy underground dwellers Stinking Lizavetta lay a guitar-heavy "Matilda Mother." Some versions are better than others, but taken as a whole LIKE BLACK HOLES IN THE SKY proves the modern reach of Barrett's vision and the breadth of his songwriting.

Who has not gazed with wonder at the night sky, especially from a dark site far away from city lights? The great canopy of stars stretching overhead suggests that our world is part of a vastly larger cosmos. But how large is it? Where do we fit in? And how did it all begin? These questions have puzzled stargazers for thousands of years, and the search for answers helped spark the great advances of the scientific revolution in the 16th and 17th centuries. But only in our own time has the full picture of the true immensity, variety, and surpassing strangeness of the Universe come into focus.