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Baton Rouge’s Thou were hands down the most hotly tipped band for me this year. I’m astonished by how many people in different quarters recommended them to me. Interestingly, no one told me why Thou were good. (In this increasingly democratic information age, distressingly few people articulate why they like or dislike things. Everything is “this sucks/rules.”)
The Work Ethic MythBurning Black Coals and Dark Memories
Most reviews of Peasant (Autopsy Kitchen, 2008) will probably focus on its “crushing” sludge/doom. But though Thou can bring the hammer, that’s the least interesting thing about them. “Crushing” isn’t hard to attain now – Les Paul, Sunn amp, big beard, big strings, tune down, play slow. Thou have a certain something, though, beyond that formula: delicacy. The Godflesh-esque jangles in “The Work Ethic Myth,” the lovely intro to “Burning Black Coals and Dark Memories” – these wrap bludgeoning in hooded mourning.
The raspy vocals sound borrowed from the nearest black metal band, but they say interesting things. “We have paved the roads that have led to our own oppression / Fear of the unknown, of rejection, has put brutes and villains in power” (in “The Work Ethic Myth”) succinctly sums up post-9/11 America. The song ends with a literal kicker: “We are the accomplice class: footstools for our masters, spineless bastards all.” Devastating woodcut-style art pours out the political subtext in arterial reds, whites, and blacks.
Thou are a work in progress – their “crushing” parts aren’t crushing yet (production is somewhat to blame; last year’s Tyrant (reissue forthcoming on Southern Lord) hits harder), and the vocalist needs more range. But they have that extra something. They’re strong on concepts and visuals. How great Thou art, in due time.
- Buy -
The End
Autopsy Kitchen
Vinyl forthcoming on Level Plane
- October tour dates -
13 Nara – Richmond, VA
14 The Black Lodge – Wilkes-Barre, PA
15 Knitting Factory – New York, NY w/Sunn O)))
16 First Unitarian Church – Philadelphia, PA w/Sunn O))), Earth
17 Girl Cave – Washington, DC
18 ABC No Rio – New York, NY [matinee, w/Resistant Culture]
18 Supreme Trading – Brooklyn, NY [night]
24 Fletcher’s House – New Orleans, LA
Here will come the angry beardy internet men after you for saying that essentially, playing this sort of ‘crushing’ sludge thing is very easy (with the benefit of a good production) and that thematics and aesthetics are much more difficult to apply to a cohesive whole! Their whole scene! It crumbles!
I am happy to read these things. In this style of music I had from quite a while ago singled out “Ocean” (not The Ocean from Germany) with their LP “Here Where Nothing Grows” and eagerly awaited their followup, but sadly the two splits they have done since didn’t feel like it. That’s what Thou remind me of, just with faceless vocals.
Also it is interesting for me when bands stand in the middle point between sludge and slow traditional doom, like Asunder or even these dudes to a degree. It seems that the bastardized middle is more potent than either original extreme nowdays.
Nice. I had just read about this disc this morning before I left for work and it seemed curious. Sure enough, this sounds pretty damn good. Certainly one of the better releases from Autopsy Kitchen. I’ll have to look into this for sure…
The hordes have pestered you about this because we’re so blown away! That is also what leaves us at a loss of descriptive words. And also why we bug you and your handle on that English thing to capture stuff and y’know and ya. Thanks!
For something slightly more specific, get a hold of Smoke Pigs, a tune not on either LP, but on their website, etc. Without guilt, I love this tune as uniquely blacked-breakdown-doom.
helm – Any genre that’s defined can be reduced to a set of conventions. The key, as in any artistic context, is transcending/working with conventions. I have no interest in seeing any musical scene crumble (in metal, anyway).
andrewaversion – agreed, this is my favorite release from autopsy kitchen in a while also.
post-felix – Smoke Pigs is indeed smokin’. (That bridge section is sick.) Thanks for the kind words, and for the first of many Thou tips!
Totally agree with Cosmo about the X-Factor that this band possesses. I was lucky enough to catch them at a tiny venue in L.A. this July and can confirm that they are eerily good live. Way tighter than a doom-leaning band ought to be, especially one so young, and there’s this odd sense of suspended ferocity (what Cosmo called “delicacy” I think) — as if they knew they were in possession of something powerful but didn’t want to unleash it for fear of what might happen. Singer went apeshit, eyes buggin’ out and all. He accidentally hit one of the guitarists whose mouth started bleeding. It all felt honest.
Very good band – demo versions of most of their music is available at their website.
Give ‘em a “google” and download some free stuff.