When I first heard Implodes’ Black Earth, I assumed Kranky Records had pulled its woozy strains of droning psych-rock out of the ether. I’d listened to the record a few times before I learned that one of Implodes’ guitarist/vocalists (trust me, the guitars come before the vocals on Black Earth) is Matt Jencik, formerly of math-rock groups Hurl, Taking Pictures, Don Caballero, and Thee Speaking Canaries. Suddenly, the title of “Song for Fucking Damon II (Trap Door)” made considerably more sense, a callback to Thee Speaking Canaries’ “Song for Fucking Damon” on Life-Like Homes.

Yet this connection offers practically no illumination on the dark terrain of Black Earth, except to identify what it is not. (Guitarist/vocalist Ken Camden’s 2010 Kranky LP Lethargy & Repercussion is a somewhat closer stylistic kin.) Implodes do not engage in time-signature workouts. Five of the album’s eleven tracks eschew percussion entirely. Instead, Black Earth thrives on an evocative haze of layered guitars. Lead track “Open the Door” maps out a landscape of strummed acoustic guitar, electric echoes, and distant distortion. Black Earth is a record of guitar tones, first and foremost, and Implodes craft a range of compelling sounds throughout. Songs like “Oxblood” and “Down Time” are welcome additions to Kranky’s canon of droning guitar compositions.

That isn’t to say that Black Earth lacks tangible songwriting. “Marker” obscures its vocals to the point of unintelligibility, but its billowing riffs translate the menace. “Meadowlands” kicks off the second side with a dose of propulsive psych-rock, highlighted by haunting vocals and keyboard punctuation. Closing track “Hands on the Rail” pairs the gothic doom of its spoken vocals with some of Black Earth’s finest guitar work.

This balance between guitar drones and psych-rock maintains Black Earth’s dark, menacing atmosphere. I could wax poetic about the world Implodes creates here—a thick forest at dusk, dark arts practiced around a dying fire, animal blood marking abandoned trails—but the important point is Black Earth encourages such mental pictures. Few debut LPs, even from groups with math-rock elite in their ranks, appear so fully formed.