Dilate, the fifth Bardo record, is titled in their tradition of using a drug reference as a title. For the band, these titles are less about using drugs then they are metaphors for lifting one out of one's self, opening up, dilating. While new drummer Ed Farnsworth may be the only physical manifestation of how the band has changed, the record shows a stupefying leap forward. Their ominous and solipsistic intensity keeps breathing underneath, yet their sound is something new and expanded.

While they've established themselves as the premiere lurching noisemakers, with their new record they've created something so utterly expanse, so ponderously beautiful, it could be argued all their past work merely exists as a build up to this release. The band has always worked by using sludge to their advantage, but never has it been fashioned to such mastery.