The Black Angels

A little drone goes a long way, but the Black Angels, bless their hearts of darkness, aren’t taking any chances. On Directions to See a Ghost, the Austin sextet picks up right where it left off on its 2006 full-length debut, Passover, and drills even deeper into its hellish, Velvet Underground-inspired netherworld. This time around, though, they don’t muck around so much with the twisted but driving hooks that gave Passover as much substance as atmosphere. Sonically, Directions comes on as strong as drummer Stephanie Bailey’s pounding percussion, and the dense rhythms and swirls of reverb occasionally coalesce into the shadowy hint of a memorable tune (“Doves,” “You in Color”), but more often than not the band seems willfully lost in its own hazy soundscape. The results would probably sync up nicely (in a brain-frying kind of way) with Apocalypse Now, a la Dark Side of the Moon and The Wizard of Oz, but unless you’re packing additional mind-altering aids for this trip, don’t be surprised if you’re gasping “the horror!” long before the 16-minute closer, “Snake in the Grass,” buzzes to a close.