Thou - Inconsolable (Community, 2018)

Thou have taken a lot of departures from being the doom metal band they're Supposed to Be, and Inconsolable may be the wildest departure yet. It's an all-acoustic EP, the 2nd of three leading up to their new full-length Magus later this year, and supposedly inspired by Nirvana's MTV Unplugged album. Vocalist Bryan Funck is absent - rather, he's written the lyrics and given them over to a cast of women to sing in his stead. The Nirvana album was evoked only intermittently with me - the first track, "The Unspeakable Oath", sounded more like Mogwai and I was preparing myself for a really interesting album. The rest of the album scores only so-so for me. Like "The Unspeakable Oath", "Come Home, You Are Missed" has a downtempo Thou feel (remarkable given there's no metal to be found here) and sonically could slot alongside Nirvana, Alice in Chains, or similar downtrodden alt/metal fare. "The Hammer" is a longer, more prog-ish piece with a lot of violin - the vocals are handed over to K.C. Stafford, evoking Jarboe (and the music following, 90's Swans isn't a far off comparison). From "The Hammer" onward the EP departs from the alt-metal feel of the first two cuts. "Behind the Mask, Another Mask", "Fallow State" and "Into the Scourge Pit" are in that Swans-y, Marianne Faithful-y, less interesting mode. A curveball in an an album of curveballs comes in the form of "Find the Cost of Freedom", a CSNY cover, splitting an acoustic melody with a vocal harmony (featuring I believe the only male vocals on the EP. "Entombed in Man" is the short fuzzed instrumental closer that returns to the Mogwai vibe, but too little too late as most of the disc just wasn't as interesting as the promise shown on those first couple of tunes. Too bad.

Comments

Eartheater - IRISIRI (Pan, 2018)

Eartheater first came on my radar (and many others) with 2 Hausu Mountain tapes in 2015. She makes glitchy, disorienting music, combining electronics and synthesized percussion with voice, guitars and who knows what else. The whole thing is a confusing stew, kind of reminiscent of Inga Copeland but I would say even more detached from "song". Didn't do much for me.

Kevin Drumm - Jury Prize (Karl Schmidt Verlag, 2018)

Here's a new kd album on Tom Smith's Karl Schmidt Verlag label that's very much the opposite of some of the kd we've heard earlier this year - namely, it's loud as fuck. There's one 53-minute track here, "Schmickedtwice (Jury Prize)" and it sounds as chaotic and unhinged as anything from Drumm, certainly a return to the noisy Sheer Hellish Miasma days but sonically on par with analog Merzbow. Recorded this year though so not an old recording. It sounds like there's vocals buried way deep, somebody screaming through the TV static, maybe even some percussion? This one's a heater.

Albums of the Year 2017 // New Releases

//40 Migos Culture (300 Entertainment) //39 Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein Stranger Things 2: A Netflix Original Series Soundtrack (Lakeshore) //38 Unsane Sterilize (Southern Lord) //37 Hans Zimmer & Benjamin Wallfisch Blade Runner 2049: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Epic/ASG) //36 Ricardo Villalobos Empirical House ([a:rpi:r]) //35 Brockhampton Saturation II (Question Everything Inc./Empire) //34 Fire-Toolz Drip Mental (Hausu Mountain) //33 Clams Casino Instrumental Mixtape 4 (no label) //32 Yves Tumor Experiencing the Deposit of Faith (no label) //31 Lil Yachty Teenage Emotions (Virgin/EMI) //30 Thriftworks The Feather and the Sword (no label) //29 Paul White & Danny Brown Accelerator (R&S) //28 Keiji Haino, Jim O'Rourke & Oren Ambarchi This Dazzling, Genuine "Difference" Now Where Shall It Go? (Black Truffle) //27 Nazoranai Beginning to Fal...

Tips Zum Selbstmord

Search This Blog