The Black Drumset's 'Friends In Dark Places' Is Seven Years of Bedroom Psychedelia Paying Off
Brian Wiley has been quietly building Friends In Dark Places under the name The Black Drumset for seven years, and the patience shows — seven tracks, entirely self-released, that treat droning keyboards and guitars as equal instruments in the same swirling arrangement. Bandcamp Daily gave it an Album of the Day feature, praising Wiley’s ability to experiment without ever losing the listener along the way.
The Sonic Breakdown
The Production & Mix
The Low-End: Wiley anchors the record on drums and percussion he plays and records himself, with droning keyboards applied just as thickly as the droning guitars — a dense but never cluttered low end that gives the whole thing a submerged, tidal quality.
The Spatial Dynamics: His own mesmerizingly monotone vocal delivery sits inside that drone rather than on top of it, less a lead instrument than another texture in the mix — a choice that keeps seven years of solo tinkering from ever curdling into indulgence.
Standout Performance
“Moment, Moment, Moment, Moment” is the clearest showcase of Wiley’s instrumental restraint, an irresistible instrumental that lets the drone build and release without a single wasted bar.
Why It’s Certified
“The Ice Melted, We Had to Swim” takes on climate anxiety without ever losing the record’s essential warmth, while closer “Open Flames” plays as the whole album’s coup de grâce — the clearest distillation of the interstellar intrigue and carnal rhythms that make this such a strange, satisfying listen. Seven years and seven tracks is a patient ratio for a bedroom record, but Friends In Dark Places justifies every year of it: a swirling, mesmerizing psych odyssey built entirely by one person who knew exactly how long it needed to sit before it was done. Certified great.