Back in 2004, Justin Greaves was known as a go-to drummer for such bong-toting bands as Electric Wizard and Iron Monkey. Not to mention the Earth-worshipping Sunn O)))/Cathedral side project, Teeth of Lions Rule the Divine. Greaves had some widescreen ideas that wouldn't leave his head, though, so with the encouragement of Mogwai bassist Dominic Aitchison, the fidgety time-keeper carefully constructed Crippled Black Phoenix's 78-minute debut, A Love of Shared Disasters.

Which brings us to Pearson's multi-layered attempt at an even more epic album, the prog/doom/psych/post-everything hybrid that is 200 Tons of Bad Luck. While there's no one way to wrap your head around the sheer scope of Pearson's self-proclaimed "endtime ballads" (the third track alone is a towering three-movement piece that's as lengthy as most EPs), there are snippets of what stood out to us the first couple times around: woozy pipe organs, analog synths that scream Yes, vaguely classic rock chords, samples from self-help seminars, sheets of white noise, flourishes of folk and alternating attempts at being minimal and downright massive — enough to leave you reeling by the end. Good luck "getting" everything, but we're willing to bet that's exactly… read more »