If you haven’t heard the new album by Sleepytime Gorilla Museum (SGM) yet, you are surely missing out on a fascinating experience. I’ve always thought of SGM as the band that plays in the evil carnival that rolls through town every 23 years and steals the souls of all the children in town before vanishing in the night. I’m pleased to say that In Glorious Times does not disappoint.

In Glorious Times maintains the chaotic dynamics of SGM’s previous endeavors. Although, this album does feel slightly less aggressive than Of Natural History. This is largely due to the fact that Carla Kihlstedt plays a larger role in the vocal department on In Glorious Times. Ms. Kihlstedt’s vocals run the gamut of soft, sweet and melodic to guttural screams. All the same, she does not have the utter demonic tenor that Nils Frykdahl brings to the table. The vocal duality punctuates the struggle between light and dark that lives within the core of Sleepytime’s music.

A good impression of In Glorious Times can be garnered by the differences between the first two tracks. The Companions is a sweeping 10 minute track that starts off quietly, the music gently rolls in, Nils softly announces “All the desperate people are coming out tonight” in a voice that is almost imploring the listener for either feel pity or fear for the terror that is about to unfold. All in all it’s a very mellow tune, with a fair number of pauses, and just the right amount of tension to keep you on your toes.

Track two Helpless Corpse Enactment on the other hand is a song that could’ve come straight off of Of Natural History it opens with some chanting, then Nils and the gang hammer right into something that sounds like a modern ritual for invoking demons with a metal twist. There is no doubt why SGM use Helpless Corpse as the teaser track for their new album, and it was a total treat to watch Adam Feinstein’s video for this song. It embodies so many of the mental pictures you get while listening to SGM—old time puritanism tainted by an unseen evil with a Lovecraftian aura.

A couple other tracks that really stand out for me are Formicary—a kinda funny song that bounces along to a light strumming— and Angel in Repose—that feels like a slow dance with anguish on a long dark night.

In addition to a lot of great dynamic music you will also get a treat that is both funny and sad at the end of many of the tracks.