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"My swamp-dwelling buddies in THOU will soon be making their way across the Mariana Trench to flatten the old-world on their 2011 European tour. Please do whatever you can to meet them at these locations on these days:
10.06 - Brighton, England at Cowley Club
11.06 - Groningen, Netherlands at Vera
12.06 - Eindhoven, Netherlands at Area 51
13.06 - Leiden, Netherlands at 071
14.06 - Bielefeld, Germany at AJZ
15.06 - Hamburg, Germany at Flora
16.06 - Copenhagen, Denmark at Stengade
17.06 - Berlin, Germany at Cassiopeia
18.06 - Leipzig, Germany at Zoro
19.06 - Praha, Czech Republic at 007 Club
20.06 - Wien, Austria at Arena
21.06 - Koper, Slovenia at Pandamonium
22.06 - Milano, Italy at Dauntaun / Leocavallo
23.06 - Bologna, Italy at XM24
24.06 - Stuttgart, Germany at JH West
25.06 - Versmold, Germany at Cry Me a River Fest
26.06 - Mülheim, Germany at AZ Mülheim
27.06 - Utrecht, Netherlands at dB's CAB-Rondom 100
28.06 - Kortrijk, Belgium at Cinepalace
29.06 - Portiers, France at Le Confort Moderne
30.06 - Paris, France at La Miroiterie
01.07 - London, England
02.07 - Nottingham, England at Stuck on a Name Studios
Bring Josh and Matthew greasy food, bring Andy an
d Bryan vegan food, and bring Mitch lots and lots of comics."
I am very pleased to announce the second annual year's best presented by Chainsaw Justice. Chainsaw Justice Vol. III will follow soon as a collection of the best songs of the year.
Bluntly said, I'm not happy with the output of 2010. Full length wise there were some good ones, but very lackluster (especially for grindcore/power violence). There have also been some difficulties personally. I know that Lycanthrophy's LP as well as The Makai's LP would be top 10 material, but I can't get a hold of them until after New Years. I'd rather not put off this list anymore than I have, so without further adieu here are the best albums of 2010.
10.Jesus Cröst- 010 A soccer (football) hooligan's approach to stop'n'go fastcore from this dutch duo. Just making it at the 10 spot with their World Cup offering -010. Thankfully the band's use of pitch-shifted vocals has been greatly reduced this time around. 206's review
9.Lantlôs- .neon One of the better mixtures of black metal and post-rock/shoegaze out there, Lantlôs take it down a notch after their debut but still offer up some blissed out black metal jams with .neon. A bit melodramatic, but it still packs that melodic and emotional punch we've come to expect from this group of bands. Features Neige (Alcest, Amesoeurs, ex-Peste Noire, etc) on vocals.
8. Nails- Unsilent Death Ignoring the fact that the badassness of this album largely pertains to the ridiculously over the top production, Nails's debut is a killer slab of death metal tinged power violence. Think Crossed Out teaming up with Entombed. Short and barbwire bitter.
7. Protestant- Judgments Milwaukee hardcore juggernauts return after their amazing Antagonist Ep from last year. A furious slab of metallic hardcore, that finds a good balance in everything that hardcore stands for. For fans of Integrity, Tragedy, and Behind Enemy Lines.
6. Bastard Priest - Under the Hammer of Destruction I'm a complete sucker for old school death metal that finds its reanimated pulse to have d-beats. Bastard Priest are a pure and brilliant homage to bands like Dismember, Entombed, and Master.
5.Enabler- Eden Sank To Grief Gothenburg tinged hardcore that's not afraid to blast and thrash, Eden Sank To Grief is a dirty pearl of music that's got the grooves to headbang to and the riffage to pray to. Underwhelming attention to this overwhelming band.
4. Salome- Terminal After their excellent split with Thou, it was only a matter of time before another full length from this trio would surface. The band seems to have come into their own as their debut was good, but nothing out of the ordinary. Terminal is violent, heavy, and painfully noisy as the band experiments with much longer and sparse sounds. Oh, and Katherine Katz has one of the best voices in metal today, she absolutely kills with her powerful and varied voice.
3. Thou- Summit If you read my review you'd know I wasn't completely sold on this one. With that said, Thou's 'good' is better than most band's best. Summit showcases some instant classics, as well as a more optimistic and experimental sound. There's a lot of buzz around this one and for good reason.
2.Suffering Mind- Suffering Mind As I said, it was a lackluster year for grindcore. Thankfully though, Poland's shining star Suffering Mind put out this stellar release which almost makes up for the lack of everything else. Off the wall vocals match the firecracker snap drums and cement churning guitars. The band isn't afraid to slow things down with double bass bouts and stomach dropping rhythmic shifts; a must have. 1. Deathspell Omega - Paracletus Surprised? Me too. DSO's latest effort was off my radar for awhile as I've become a bit dismissive of the band's mumbo-jumbo black metal. This time around, however, I find the band to be much different. The band has built upon the absurd complexity of works like Fas - Ite, Maledicti, in Ignem where the dissonance and jarring composure work to highlight some of the sublimely clear and melodic passages and riffs. Overwhelming is an understatement first time around, Paracletus, benefits greatly from shorter and more diverse songs and a lack of pedantic intros. Deathspell Omega have finally reached a point that they first alluded to with Kenose.
Here are my favorite eps, comps, and splits of the year.
V/A- This Comp Kills Fascists Vol. 2 Sakatat/Dispepsiaa- Split 7" PLF/ In Disgust- Pray for Death / Visions of Your Own Death Machetazo - Necrocovered Endless Blockade/ Bastard Noise - The Red List Innumerable Forms - Dark Worship Lycanthrophy/ FUBAR - Doomed to Consume Swarrrm/Atka -Split 7" Parlamentarisk Sodomi/Blodspurt 7"
In the 2 or so month wake of Thou's latest full length, Summit, I think I've finally arrived at an opinion. I'll shelf my personal recollection of Thou's back catalog and get right to it.
It comes to me as a paradox as the album is coherent and well constructed, yet incomplete and a bit too long.
The album itself doesn't offer amateurish leaps from mood to mood, or anything too avant-garde and misplaced, rather it's something I don't know how to really approach or pin-point. To play it safe, I'd say it feels as Thou are holding back with this release. One track shines, and another doesn't really do anything for me. "By Endurance We Conquer," "Prometheus," and "Another World Is Inevitable" are shining examples of Thou at their best. Maybe moreso than before, Thou showcases detailed, complicated, and moving songwriting as each of these three bleed sludgy sophistication. But on the other hand, I tend to skip "Grissecon" every time i spin the cd, as well as "Summit Revisited" and "Voices In The Wilderness." This is a real shame as that makes up for 2/5 of the album.
The first track, "By Endurance We Conquer" is a winner, although I kind of dislike the synth or whatever effect that is around the end. This song, and the one after, I think sum up my view on the album perfectly. Starting off and being great throughout, "By Endurance We Conquer" closes like some pre-war ritual; a preamble if you will. Unfortunately "Grissecon" loses the vibe and just widdles around for 8 minutes. There's many different things in the song, but nothing that really grabs me; call me spoiled.
Whatever complaints aside, the album is about the 4th track and the 4th track alone. "Another World Is Inevitable" is a typical Thou styled lesson in tension, climax, melody and emotion. Just 2 seconds over 10 minutes, "Another World Is Inevitable" works it's way through heaves of tar and viscous fluid until finally erupting around the 7 minute mark as constant bass drum beats merge into the measure like troops ranking into a final formation. The outcome is uplifting, trance inducing and awe-inspiring as Bryan screeches "A new world springs from the corpse of the old," and eventually "This will be the day." With the shift towards more dynamic and sprawling composure, the lyrics seem to match as they're optimistic and more demanding (fortunately, lyrics are a strong point of Thou and always have been;so this isn't such a stretch). Needless to say, I end up playing this track a lot.
When the muck boils away what's left is that I'm not thoroughly satisfied with this album. This isn't as good as Tyrant, I don't know if anything could be. It's similar to Peasant as there are stellar songs but also some that are less. Where Peasant had "The Work Ethic Myth," "Belt of Fire to Guide me, Cloak of Night to Hide me," "Burning Black Coals And Dark Memories," and "They Stretch Out Their Hands;" Summit has its three as stated earlier.
Without question it's worth a purchase (as is everything this band seems to touch). That being said, Thou is dynamic enough, heartfelt enough, and invigorating enough to be the only band that matters now, and even though Summit has it's rough edges, there's plenty of strong footing.
Buy it here. I'll add one other thing, there can't be enough praise for Adam over at Gilead for his work with this release and all other Thou stuff; the cd jacket is beautiful and quality and the shirt is flawless.
Official Myspace Label: Relapse Released: 2010 Release Type: Vinyl 12" 105 White, 105 Clear (not released to public), 556 Black Genre: Hardcore/Sludge
I've been pretty busy, and I can assume the same for the rest of the GJ crew. I'd love to see 206 drop in and give some of his grindly insight into the goings on of today, because frankly I'm out of the loop. That being said one of the only recent non-Thou things I've gotten is Weekend Nachos's new ep Bleed, something I had been waiting for since last year when Unforgivable stopped spinning its first time on my turntable.
If you've dipped into our back catalog of reviews and commentary, or if you're a faithful follower you should know how I feel about Weekend Nachos. Their second full length, and reinvention that is Unforgivable made me forever a fan. Bleed is odd in terms of its direction not just because it sounds nothing like their older material, but because it's a strangely logical continuation of Unforgivable.
The band's affinity for heaviness and brutality is what's on the mantel here. Bleed is 14 minutes of leisure time hardcore. The thing starts off at a crawl, resembling some of the beatdown parts of Unforgivable but ultimately sounding more like a sludge band than anything else. John's vocals are as tough as ever, bludgeoning the listener with very bark. It's not so far fetched coming from this band, but it feels like unnatural ground for them as John's vocals lack variation this time around (no background shouts either) not to mention the guitars play what seems like the same handful of riffs throughout both sides of this LP and there's only one mid/up tempo section.
I like it, but I think I expected something more. Bleed comes off very underwhelming in comparison to last year's best album. Further from that, if this ep was from another band I can't say I'd give it too much attention. What I said about uncertain ground really comes out in the second track "Observer" as it's about 7 minutes of the same refrain broken up by some crashing noises that remind me of the beginning of Dopesick (maybe that's the point?) and slight shifts. It's an attempt at being heavy that falls flat.
Overall I'd say it's worth the purchase if you're a big Weekend Nachos fan, if you're on the fence then I'd save your money for when they visit your town or their next offering which will hopefully be a bit more developed.
p.s. Oh, and Maryland Death was awesome. Here's a late and quick summery.
The Good:Gorguts, Aspyhx, Impaled, Capitalist Casualties, Portal, Converge, Malignancy, Magrudergrind, DRI, PLF (the whole prefest was awesome).
The Bad: Entombed played a lot of dad rock, I think only two tracks from Left Hand Path, not to mention only one guitar. Trap Them/Sodom/Stormcrow and others didn't make it. Expencive beer/food, things I wanted sold out too quickly, some bands must have forgotten their merch (Gridlink I'm looking at you). Waitan, boring on cd and somehow more boring live. Missed most of Obituary to see Converge, I was too far back and they were a bit underwhelming.
The great: Coffins, then after show with Coffins and Massgrave playing till sunrise. Incantation, Wolfbrigade, Repulsion (awesome pit, lots of cuts and brusies from that one alone), From Ashes Rise,Gridlink, Eyehategod (although the setlist was a bit lacking) Autopsy!! and I'm sure there's something else I'm forgetting. Being told Jeff couldn't make it for Possessed, then hearing Sadistic Intent playing Burning in Hell and seeing ol' Jeff wheelin' around- awesome. Jesus Crost we're a great surprise, and super nice guys too. Awesome way to blow 200bucks, hopefully I can go next year.
Thou, the prolific sludge fivesome from Baton Rogue L.A. has turned some heads as of late. 15 releases since their inception in 2007 and numerous presses from people's basements to big wigs like Southern Lord, Thou are just getting started. 2010 promises to deliver the long awaited Summit which will be the band's third full length. Bryan, the band's voice, was kind enough to share some words with the CJ crew in between recording their new album, playing around their stomping grounds, and preparing for a North Eastern tour that's got a lot of fans giddy as a school girl.
CJ:Let's get a brief history of Thou, previous incarnations, interesting backgrounds, etc.
B:The band was around for about two years before I joined. Back then, they had more of a post-rock, Isis / Pelican sound with sparse Acid Bath style vocals. I joined sometime after Tyrant was written and took over full vocal duties.
We're all from pretty typical working class backgrounds, and we're all deeply rooted in the DIY punk scene. We've had a few bands before Thou with and without each other. Everyone in the band generally has a few side bands happening, Mitch being the worst with four or five other bands. I met Andy through this amazing hardcore band he was in called We Need to Talk; in fact, the first Thou tour was one I had booked and was driving for WNTT, and they sort of conned me into joining the band, so Thou could hijack it.
CJ:From the depth of the lyrics, as well as the various quotes throughout your works you guys are obviously well read. How much do you find what you read, or watch (The Shooter excerpt is ace), play a role in your music? Have you ever read Manfred? There's a great quote with thou, at the end; just a heads up for more liner notes, haha.
B:We all read a lot. The other guys, especially Andy (who I believe is just a hair and a breath short of an English BA), all send me ideas, and I have a pile of notes that I use to generate themes and lyrics. I might pull a word or phrase from something and then write a whole song about it. Or we might have songs here and there that are basically mangled pieces of text from various places. For instance, I pulled a lot of stuff from the Bonnot Gang for "Hooves" and there are a few hidden quotes in some of the Tyrant LP lyrics from classic gothic horror novels like Dracula and Frankenstein.
I don't know how intelligent we seem now that you've outed us on that Shooter sample! Hahaha. Although to be honest, I didn't see that movie until a couple of years after we used it on "Smoke Pigs." Our old roadie Thomas Mudge had thrown that at us, and we went with it. He's also responsible for coining the whole "Smoke Pigs. Actualize it." and "Talk to Cops.." ideas and probably a slew of other stuff. He's our ghost writer and the almost singer for Barghest.
I haven't read much Byron, but I'll have to check out the Manfred poem. Who wouldn't be turned on by a guy defying religion to his dying breath? We generally stay away with being too cheeky with our quotes, though I couldn't help using that "thou" quote from We on the Kingdoms collection. It was just too good to pass up.
CJ:You're working on a new album I hear, how far along are you with it and can we get any info on it in regards to what to expect, release date, changes from previous works, release format, etc.
B:We just finished the recording of Summit at the Living Room Studio in Algiers, Louisiana. An old friend of mine Chris George built and runs the space with another great guy by the name of Daniel Majorie. It's basically an old church converted into a recording studio. It's pretty amazing! James Whitten, who recorded the all the non-full length songs up to now, acted as recording engineer and did an amazing job. We love James.
We're working on the mix and layout now, and we're shooting to have the record out this summer for our tour in June with Moloch. Southern Lord will be releasing the LP, Gilead Media will be doing the CD, and Broadcloak will be doing a short run of cassettes.
Thematically, this LP is a bit of a departure from our general misanthropic disposition. If folks can read between the lines a bit, they'll hopefully be able to see this as a very positive, life-affirming record: the imminent triumph of anarchists and other fringe revolutionaries over the repressive prison of civilization.
CJ:What are you listening to at the moment? Anything in particular really drive you in your own creation?
B:Fell Voices and Kowloon Walled City from the Bay Area in California; Skagos from Vancouver, Canada; Coffinworm from Indianapolis, Indiana; and Black Breath from Seattle, Washington; Mourne from Boston, Massachusetts.
The first three are probably the only ones having much of an influence on the music, since the rest of the guys who do the actual composing are more familiar with them. Lyrically, I draw more from hardcore bands like Catharsis, His Hero is Gone, Earth Crisis, etc.
CJ:A continuation of the previous question, what kind of music outside of metal do you listen to, does it play a role in your music?
B:Right now, I'm hooked on Kid Cudi's Man on the Moon LP. I can't get enough of it. I also just grabbed the newest Mos Def record which is as solid as you'd expect.
As far as musical influences outside of metal, everyone in the band is pretty heavily into Pearl Jam and Fiona Apple. And there are three of us, myself included, who really like the Shins. I think that stylistically, we share a lot more with bands like Soundgarden and Alice in Chains than we do with Eyehategod or Crowbar. And we pretty much all like Nirvana, probably my number one band ever.
And I'm a huge Smiths fan--as you can see by some of the lines we bite!--but I'm pretty much the only one in the band who likes them, aside from our roadie and merch wizard Derek.
I just grabbed a pile of unreleased material from this old vegan straightedge band Culture. Chip who does the x Stuck in the Past x blog thankfully posted it. (Great blog, by the way for anyone who likes 90s hardcore.)
CJ:NOLA's a crucial and well known facet in the metal community and from your site I see there's quite a well organized scene in NOLA as well Baton Rogue, what's it like? B:I think there's a lot of hype because of bands like Eyehategod (who are great!) or Soilent Green or Crowbar or whatever. But it's really the same as anywhere else in the world. I don't know if I would call New Orleans or Baton Rouge "well organized." It's more like controlled chaos that people who have some organizational skills have to float around in.
CJ:While your basis might be sludge, I hear significant influence from black metal, throughout the band's sound. Your vocals, which I am a huge fan of, work perfectly, yet aren't too common in sludge, and some of the riffs, atmosphere and even recent incorporation of blast beats seems to show a nod or two towards black metal. Specifically I'm thinking about the Leech split and the recent split with Salome. Personally I love this, is this conscious? It comes off very natural and I was just curious about the process, reminds me a bit of Fleshpress.
B: It's funny that you should bring up that Leech material because it was written before the Peasant stuff and with a lot of time separating it. But, yeah, we're pretty much all into black metal in some way. We're friends with bands like Leech, Fell Voices, Skagos, Altar of Plagues, Wolves in the Throne Room--and huge fans of their work--so that stuff is definitely starting to creep into our sound a bit. We've talked a little about writing an entire black metal record in the future, though it would more or less be our take on the genre, so it'll definitely be a bit off from the usual fare, I think. Matthew and Terry are also in a straight up, raw black metal band called Barghest, who I think are incredible. So there can sometimes be some crossover in what they do in that band and what makes it into some of our songs.
But other than the idea of doing that one record, we haven't consciously decided to write songs that are in that genre. For the most part, Andy or Matthew will have a few riffs, or the skeleton of a song, and we'll just go from there. If a part comes out sounding more black metal than is usual for us, it's just the logical development of the part.
And my vocals are what they are. I come from more of a hardcore background. I don't have any professional training or anything. They've just always been like that. Before Thou, I was in a couple of bands that were more punk or more 90s emo, Ebullition style, and the vocals were just as "black metal."
CJ: How important is a band's image, and all the various accessories that accompany the music to you? B:We don't really have a band image. None of us really wear the punk rock or metal uniforms or whatever. And if we did, I would hope that our poor fashion sense wouldn't dictate our writing. We're not trying to fit into a particular scene or even appeal to anyone.
There may be a certain aesthetic that we try and maintain with the record artwork, but that's always dictated by the themes or emotions we're trying to express with the music, rather than a certain look for that look's sake.
CJ:You guys have racked up numerous splits now, what's the process like? Do you seek out bands? You have a knack for playing with some kickass bands.
B:We've just been really lucky so far to be approached by so many people whose music we liked. At this point we're not seeking out any more bands to do splits with. We have a few things in mind that might be on the back-burner for the next couple of years, since our main focus will be on writing the next two full lengths.
CJ:Well thanks a lot for your time and can't wait to check out new material from you guys and eventually see you on the stage. Any last words?
B:You're probably more likely to see us in front of the stage. That thing's just there for you to use to jump over us into a pile of your friends.
Thanks for the interview.
-Bryan More information here. And thanks again to the guys at Thou, great stuff-keep your eyes peeled!
NOLA's most hardworking band Thou put out their fifth release of the year with The Degradation Of Human Life. Here we see Thou's swampy gloom coupled with Mohoram Atta (a new band for me) who does an excellent brand of His Hero is Gone/Cursed hardcore with a touch of black metal. As with all Thou releases expect only the utmost quality here. Beautiful matte jacket with more of the excellent imagery you'd expect from them along with a matching innersleeve.
Things start off with a bang as Thou surges at a midpaced punk beat. Production's pretty much the usual jig, heavily distorted guitars, thundering drums and the voracious vocals clear and audible; if anything the overall production sounds a bit thinner, while the guitars sound a bit heavier, if that makes any sense. Thou plays much more traditional sludge with this, although as noted "Don't Vote" is pretty up tempo and even has some double bass work. Competently executed and well done, Thou maintains a level of quality many bands pray for, but if there's a fault to be had it lies in the lack of variation as this release depicts Thou staying safely within the parameters of sludge and it lacks the post rock touch that has always been the icing on the cake for them. Although my complaints are pretty moot as "Shorties With MP 40's, The Personal Is The Political" jumps from slow, to sludge slow and really peaks around the end displaying a powerful and great song. There's even a Minor Threat cover (Screaming at a Wall) which is excellent and the band rightfully proclaims in the liner notes "Punk lives." As we all know, metal bands embracing punk is a favorite of mine so this was great to hear. Also, on a side note I love Thou's lyrics and beyond that I love their imagery and politics. My favorite thing has to be the Black September fold out "Speak to cops the only way they understand" and has an M16: excellent.
While Thou pours a lot out on their side, Mohoram Atta fire back with the same caliber. As mentioned earlier, Mohoram Atta's a new band to me, but they play a pretty dismal and heavy brand of melodic hardcore a'la His Hero is Gone. The tonality and the production is very reminiscent of mid 90's Norwegian black metal and creates a powerful atmosphere, something I had always wished HHIG would've done more effectively. The last track sounds like Darkthrone covering newer Envy (Jpn) and it's easily my favorite part of this split. Oppressive and dark, the track fades out and signals a powerful emotive effort from the band and makes me zone out in enjoyment. Employing blast beats, a variety of vocals (including mass shouts), sludgy to black metal like riffs throughout their sound, Mohoram Atta display a plethora of skill. Defiantly a band to look out for Mohoram Atta's brand of dark melodic hardcore is right up my alley as there's slow sludgy parts, heavy midpaced head nodders, d-beats set to razorfast riffing and melodic black metal like riffing that makes me all giddy like a girl scout.
Official Site Label: Peasant Magik Released: 2009 Release Type: 3 cassettes lmt. 300 Genre: Sludge
My excitement aside, this release offers a handful for collectors, enthusiasts, and even the casual listener. Packaged inside a small jet black box (roughly 4x4x4in.) you get three cassettes, each with a thick plastic like paper covered with beautiful grey/black artwork, a pin, a sticker, a patch, a vial of pine needles/cones, a small booklet with lyrics and pictures all on a bed of moss; quite the package, no?
The music contained in this beautiful little package is all of Thou's work from 2007-2008, not including their first two demos. You get two full lengths (Tyrant & Peasant), The Retaliation of the Immutable Force of Nature EP, To Carry a Stone EP ,We Pass Like Night, From Land to Land(split with Leech), Thrive & Decay (split with Black September), and Malfeasance-Retribution EP. There's a lot to take in, but it's all excellent. You can really appreciate a band when they don't have a single bad song.
Having heard most of this stuff on vinyl/mp3 I can say it sounds excellent here. I heard the Peasant album in my friend's car in mp3 format and we both commented how overproduced and weak it sounded, not here; the tape sounds excellent and carries that filthy heavy sludge sound that's damn near perfect.
So as far as the music's concerned I'll break it down by singular release.
Tyrant Being the first release I heard by Thou I was an instant fan. Songs like "Tyrant" and "Fucking Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean" are stellar highlights (listen to that buildup around 6minutes in "Tyrant" holy hell that's awesome). With the previously mentioned songs we see vibrant sludge mixed with beautiful post metal sections (soaring guitars, build ups, huge sound). The more Eyehategod like sections are excellent mid-paced crashes of heavy riffs and monstrous drums all accompanied by venomously powerful vocals. In terms of the vocals, they sound much more like black metal vocals than anything else, yet they're still decipherable. Thou excel at what they do because they seemingly manage to mix that ugly, filthy, drug ridden vibe that we associate with sludge and mix it with the celestial sound that comes to mind with bands like Pelican and Caspian. Easily one of the best sludge releases I've ever heard.
Thrive & Decay An excellent release in it's own right, as Black September plays an awesome brand of death metal akin to older Bolt Thrower, but here it's just Thou (as with the other split material included). The song from this release has a great movie clip at the beginning and the song carries out in a similar violent manner. Much more like Eyehategod (I hate to keep comparing, but it's true). Awesome song title as well, "Smoke Pigs."
We Pass Like Night, From Land to Land Four Songs here, previously from the split with Leech. Things start softly with a calming acoustic intro which leads to the spacey and serene "Here I Stand, Head In Hand" which explodes into a brilliant cascade of emotive force, embodying itself in thick walls of distortion ravenous vocals and seeping bass. A much more atmospheric a offering from Thou. Much like the first track, "The Defeatist's Lament" ends with waves of distortion and clean guitars, as well as those ethereal female vocals present on "Here I Stand..." A very "whole" feeling ep, more like a mini album.
Malfeasance-Retribution The two songs from the ep are phenomenal as we'd expect. Here they're sandwiched in between the Black September split and the Leech split. You gotta love the song titles, "The Severed Genitals of Every Rapist Hang Bleeding From These Trees" (although on the actual ep it's "bleeding genitals..." I don't know if this is a typo on Peasant Magik's part or not). Powerful and driving, both songs are full of rich textures and drift from pounding sludge, to rhythmic changes, to harrowing atmospheric passages. A bit more sludgy, but brilliant nonetheless.
To Carry a Stone More of the same; first "They Stretch Out Their Hands" carries on a midpaced sludge affair until it breaks down to a harrowing slow section which it never seems to dig itself out of. "The Road of Many Names" begins with the ominous feedback we're all used to and dives in with a super thick and artillery heavy riff. The little haunting clean riff around the end really works well and is quite creepy. All in all I'd have to say this is thou's weakest work, but that's like saying "The Return" isn't as good "Under the Sign;" we're all winners.
Peasant "The Work Ethic Myth" kicks things off perfectly, as it's one of the best tracks on the album and depicts Thou's sound perfectly. Peasant, an album which I'm not as well versed with as Tyrant, is still magnificent but doesn't hold the same place that Tyrant does for me. Sections like 5:10 into "Belt Of fire To Guide Me Cloak Of Night To Hide Me" and the first real riff of "Burning Black Coals And Dark Memories" are great and make up the weight of quality for this album. Not as strong as Tyrant, but remarkable nonetheless.
The Retaliation of the Immutable Force of Nature Two songs again here. "What Blood Still Runs Through These Veins" crawls at a snail's pace yet carries a hippo's weight. The sound is giagantic and the guitars are as thicker than any football linebacker you can think of. They achieve a huge sound here and juxtapose the sludgy thickness with beautiful leads and powerful riffs. The track peters out to distortion and leads way to "Acceptance" which is one of my favorite songs. It's a post metal instrumental done better than any post metal band. The beautiful guitars weave back and forth in between lapses of reverb and accompanying drums. It all builds to a monumental crescendo with some of the most enthralling guitarwork I've ever heard around the six minute mark which luckily continues until around ten minutes. The progression and delivery is simply breath taking and proves that Thou are an exceptional band.
Beyond the excellent music, Thou create wonderful lyrics and have an absolutely magnificent image in their artwork and merchandise. Little epigraphs here and there on various releases depict a well read and versed band, as well as establish the morose atmosphere of the band. With all the releases I own of the band, each one was well worth the money as they all come with something special and have great artwork, Kingdoms is no different. The quote on the first page of the booklet,
"She used the ancient, long-forgotten "thou"- the "thou" of the master to the slave. It entered into me slowly, sharply. Yes, I was a slave, and this, too, was necessary, was good."
Taken from Yevgeny Zamyatin's book We is a powerful epigraph to this impressive body of work. The boxset is only $20 and well worth it; I'm a very happy camper with this one. Go to Thou's webpage and you can listen to every song of theirs i think.
