REVIEW: Thou & Emma Ruth Rundle, "The Helm of Sorrow"

By: Josh McIntyre

Album Type: EP

Date Released: 15/01/2021

Label: Sacred Bones Records

 

“The Helm of Sorrow” DD//LP track listing:

1). Orphan Limbs

2). Crone Dance

3), Recurrence

4). Hollywood

 

The Review: 

Thou is really, really good at being a (heavy) alt rock band. This EP, sibling to the full length (“May Our Chambers Be Full”) that came out a few months ago, also shares with it a spirit of the early 90s grunge era. The fusion of Thou’s and Rundle’s thick guitars, dynamic songwriting, extremely tasteful drumming, both clean and growled vocals, and a focus on hooks makes for a sonic ride that I cannot get enough of.

The truth is that this does sound like the leftovers, or b-sides, of the full length project. The truth is also that these tracks are still of high quality. B-sides of one of 2020’s best records still make for a phenomenal EP. Maybe the first song takes awhile to build up, my only real complaint, but then the huge, disgusting guitars come in like a runaway truck ramming into concrete. Our next tracks are just so damn excellent. They drift perfectly from section to section with a display of dynamic taste, versatility, energy, soul, and guitar riffs that Kim Thayil probably wishes he had written. Finally, we conclude with a well executed cover of The Cranberries’ “Hollywood” where Rundle’s vocals are a highlight. As different as her style is from Dolores’ (RIP) she did a fantastic job and the cover is a brilliant tribute.

Overall, like the full length before it, these musicians combined their efforts and tastes into a phenomenal project of 90s flavored sludgy alt metal. It feeds right into my love of artists like Deftones, Alice in Chains, Melvins, Neurosis, and the like. The songwriting is so catchy and full of flavor that I think anyone who can withstand screamed vocals will appreciate this sound (your dad will definitely say he likes the song “but why do they have to scream?”). I really, really hope that we will see more collaboration albums and EPs in the future. 

“The Helm of Sorrow” is available HERE

ALBUM REVIEW: Thou, "Magus"

By: Jay Hampshire

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 31/08/2018

Label: Sacred Bones Records

What lurks at its buried heart, as with much of Thou’s work, is a surprising positivity that’s belied by the ugliness and raw visceral spite that surrounds it – this work is, for all its crushing weight, effortlessly uplifting, cathartic and even motivational. Another vital release by one of the most vital bands in extreme music.

‘Magus’ CD//DD//LP track listing:

1. Inward ​

2. My Brother Caliban​

3. Transcending Dualities

4. The Changeling Prince

5. Sovereign Self​

6. Divine Will​

7. In the Kingdom of Meaning​

8. Greater Invocation of Disgust

9. Elimination Rhetoric

10. The Law Which Compels​

11. Supremacy

The Review:

Sometimes art can be a daunting prospect, a towering, inaccessible edifice of grandiose scope. It can cow the unprepared and deter the unwary. Think of those who have meant to read Melville but balked at the density of Moby Dick, have longed to delve into the canon of a serial drama but are paralysed into inaction by the sheer number of episodes.

This is where we find ourselves with Baton Rouge’s premier doomed out sludge slingers Thou. Since their formation in 2005 they’ve exhibited a blistering work ethic that’s seen them churn out (according to Metal Archives) forty one separate demos, splits, compilations, EPs, singles and full lengths (that’s an average of around three releases a year, for you metal maths fans). Four of these have been released in the last nine months alone.  And it isn’t a simple case of quantity of quality either; each Thou release, hell, every Thou song is heaving under the weight of more riffs than most bands can conjure up in their entire life span. For the neophyte, picking a place to start would seem futile. Latest full length ‘Magus’ might not be the most accessible foothold, weighing in at over seventy minutes long, but as a pure distillation of what the five piece can do, it stands shoulder to shoulder among the best of their oeuvre.

Opener ‘Inward’ lulls with a false sense of security, the melancholic creeping notes taking on a sub-black metal lilt before it opens up into a stately, processional main riff. Alternating between this grander section and moments of claustrophobic, tunnel dredging chug, it’s a velvet wrapped sledgehammer of restless density. ‘My Brother Caliban’ offers brief respite with tension building electronics before ‘Transcending Dualities’ drags us down into the choking waters of doom, guitars shifting and squirming through cracks in the dense chord onslaught of the instrumental trawl.

‘The Changeling Prince’ is fittingly regal, with lush, majestic chord progressions waging pitched battle with rolling chugs, Bryan Funck bringing things crashing down with his scalded shriek of “behind the mask, another mask” ad infinitum. ‘Sovereign Self’ picks up the pace, gentle guitars and vulnerable vocals suddenly exploding with a jarring shift into thick riffs and tribal tom work. ‘Diving Will’ drifts with dreamlike, ethereal vocals before ‘In The Kingdom Of Meaning’ swings in with lurching, meandering layers that build to an inexorable climb.

‘Greater Invocation Of Disgust’ drips with scuzzy, moody bass, uneasily shifting on the back of an infectious drum groove and squealing guitar protests. ‘Elimination Rhetoric’ stabs with atonal guitars, swaying into a hazy solo before buckling under its own weight into a bloated chug.

By the time you reach the zenith of sprawling closer ‘Supremacy’, all but the most hardened aural pilgrims will doubtless be suffering from ‘riff fatigue’. ‘Magus’ is a gauntlet, a crust of straining musculature beneath which an endless chasm of nuance and reward lurks. You could stay too long in its stygian depths and risk madness, or skim the surface and come away satisfied. What lurks at its buried heart, as with much of Thou’s work, is a surprising positivity that’s belied by the ugliness and raw visceral spite that surrounds it – this work is, for all its crushing weight, effortlessly uplifting, cathartic and even motivational. Another vital release by one of the most vital bands in extreme music.

“Magus’ is available here

Band info:  bandcamp

ALBUM REVIEW: Uniform & The Body, "Mental Wounds Not Healing"

By: Dominic Walsh

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 08/06/2018

Label: Sacred Bones Records

Mental Wounds Not Healing” is a phenomenally heavy 27 minutes of music. Throughout the seven tracks, there are some extremely harsh vocals, mountainous droning guitar riffs and glitchy distorted beats.  This record is well worth your time if you like having your boundaries of music tested.

“Mental Wounds Not Healing” DD//LP track listing:

1). Dead River

2). The Curse of Eternal Life

3). Come and See

4). The Boy With Death in His Eyes

5). In My Skin

6). We Have Always Lived in the Castle

7). Empty Comforts

The Review:

With a title taken from an Ozzy Osbourne lyric (“Crazy Train”), Uniform and The Body have joined forces for a collaboration that pushes both bands far beyond their roots in industrial music and metal - creating an immersive listening experience that truly transcends genre. 

“Mental Wounds Not Healing” is a phenomenally heavy 27 minutes of music. Throughout the seven tracks, there are some extremely harsh vocals, mountainous droning guitar riffs and glitchy distorted beats. Think NIN, Einstürzende Neubauten, Sunn 0))) and bits of Ministry mixed together with Pharmakon and Blanck Mass. It’s a complete maelstrom of industrial noise throughout.

Most of the song titles are culled from horror literature and cinema. “The Boy With Death In His eyes” is a particular highlight at the midpoint of the album. The beat is more orthodox, and the distorted synthesizers and guitars that accompany the beat create a dark, tension filled backdrop to the despairing vocals.

“In My Skin” contains a particularly unnerving screaming sound throughout the entire track, but the track also contains one of the most notable guitar melodies that spins its web around more twisted and distorted noise. As you disappear down the hole of this track, the ending of the track feels almost serene against many other parts of the song, but don’t be fooled into thinking this is full of lush melodies! “Dead River” also has the same screaming motif that runs throughout the track. It takes you wonderfully out of your comfort zone.

“We Have Always Lived in a Castle” is pure drone. “Empty Comforts” and “The Curse of Eternal Life” are the most NIN style moments on the album as the electronic beats are clear and punchy, but the former really lacks any kind of recognisable rhythm; like a heartbeat with no real idea of what it is doing. The guitars again convene towards the end of “Empty Comforts” to show that this collaboration is not simply about making a glorious racket; there is melody rooted deep within this album – you just have to have the endurance to stick around to find it. “Mental Wounds Not Healing” is well worth your time if you like having your boundaries of music tested.

“Mental Wounds Not Healing” is available here

Band info: facebook || facebook