Anyone that is into the sounds of drifting drones of the guitar-based sort and/or the more blissed out, textural strains of doom metal is going to at least be aware of Canadian avant-guitarist Aidan Baker, either from his excellent solo recordings or from his prolific and increasingly popular dronemetal band Nadja. There's another band that Aidan is a member of, however, that isn't nearly as well known, but which is just as great as any of his other projects. That band is Arc, a Toronto based trio that crafts what I'd call a sort of improvised ambient rock. If you're familiar with Aidan Baker's solo work and the kind of drifting, layered drones that he creates using guitar and effects, that's a large part of Arc's sound, and he's joined by Christopher Kukiel on percussion and electronics and Richard Baker on drums and other percussion. Aidan also contributes drums and other percussion to Arc's music, and what we get is heavily rhythmic dronerock, with cascading tribal rhythms amd dreamy guitar drones swirling together into a wash of hypnotic ambience.This newest album, the band's fourth, is a bit surprising as it has been released by the Czech avant-metal label Epidemie Records, whose catalog includes albums from avant-death metallers Azure Emote, experimental electro-doom duo Dusk, and funeral doomsters Mistress Of The Dead. Which leads me to believe that this Arc album might be heading in a heavier direction than previous recordings. That's partially the case, through most of Arkhangelsk stays in a subdued state of hazy drones and swirling percussion. The disc features four lengthy tracks, all of them created initially with improvisational performances on drums and guitar and then layered with additional percussion, electronics and woodwinds, with each of these two sessions recorded in a single sitting, using only minimal post-production on the recordings. The disc begins with the glistening sheets of guitar and dense polyrhythms of'Relicary', then moves through the spacious dronescapes of 'Angel Sightings' and "ossuary', but it's on the second track "The Valley Of Dry Bones" that Aidan lashes out with crushing distorted riffs and improvised blues licks, and even comes within range of Nadja-levels of metallic overdrive towards the end of that track. Even at it's heaviest, though, Arc's music is constantly underscored by the surging and receding waves of krautrocky percussion, an eternally moving mass of rhythm riding out on Aidan's ethereal guitars. These tracks flow together like an epic fusion of Troum, Can, Nadja, and the trippy drum-trance music of the Boredoms. Limited to a mere 600 copies, the disc comes in a sleek 6-panel digisleeve illustrated with abstract, Shroud Of Turin-esque artwork. Highly recommended!