Blitzen Trapper are back with their 5. album Destroyer of the Void, following their highly acclaimed 2008 album Furr. This will be the year where they can enjoy the fruits of their own labor, after 10 years of releasing records. The album is chock-full of American music influences; from the ‘60s folk to the country and prog sounds of the ’70s, to the pop balladry of the ’80s. The Portland sextet is not afraid to experiment, and their singer/guitarist Eric Early effortlessly adjust his voice to any musical vibe.

 Album opener and title track “Destroyer of the Void” is a proggy, epic suite that has it all; guitar solos, group vocals, and a psychedelic bridge with a hard-rocking jam that leads back to a soft part. It almost sounds like Grizzly Bear are covering Queen with Beatles harmonies and King Crimson as a backup band, and it plays like a sister track to “Flash Delirium” by MGMT. “Below the Hurricane” is a beautiful folksy two part song, sharing influences with  grunge-era bands, and could easily fit on the album On The Beach by Neil Young. It’s followed by the chilling murder ballad “The Man Who Would Speak True”, a real Dylan moment with the lyrics “I fed my tongue on the Devil’s rum / in a roadhouse run by a godless bum / on a drunken night with a stolen gun / I shot my lover as she made to run.” And it all sounds authentic. “Love and Hate,” a sludgy heavy rock track with country vocals follows, and you don’t even question the genre jumping but just accept everything they have to offer. “Heaven And Earth” a grandiose piano ballad complete with strings offers a nice break before jumping back to some prog in “Dragon’s Song”, and to the folksy Dylan duet of “The Tree” sung with fellow West Coast folkie Alela Diane. “Evening Star” follows; a rhythmic Wilco/Tom Petty-esque roots-pop song that leads into the piano driven and Beach Boys vocal scalings of “Lover Leave Me Drowning” where they show their mutual Grizzly Bear influences of Steely Dan and Harry Nilsson. They end the record with “Sadie,” a Roling Stones/ Jam band sounding piano ballad.

You would think that all this grandiose genre-juggling would play out like a collection of songs, but it all works well together and plays like a cohesive album. They might have invented something you could label as country-prog, and with such a strong opening track, they should’ve included some more of that. But their effortless display of western ballads and homesick blues makes you hungry for more, regardless of how their music is labeled.

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