Thou - Heathen

Thou

Heathen

13 March 2014

Vendetta

 

4 stars out of 5

 

 

First off, let me state that I’m not into metal. Yes, I listened to Helmet, Tool, and Deftones back in the day (like the rest of us ‘90s “alternative” university students), but if you are a true metal fan, you’ll respond right away with comments that none of those bands are truly metal. And, yes, I will very willingly admit that the first few Black Sabbath albums were fantastic. But I’m not a metal fan in general. In 2014, I’ve given several dozen new metal releases a whirl, and a few grabbed my attention (YOB, Triptykon, At the Gates, Godflesh…), but none really struck a power chord in my heart. Until this double LP of glacial-paced, mesolithic insanity. Thou’s brilliant fourth album Heathen is a triumph of doom, made all the more remarkable by the fact that the band hails not from Fennoscandia, but from Baton Fucking Rouge, Louisiana.

 

Composed of seven proper songs, four of which are over ten minutes long and the shortest of which clocks in at 5:32, connected by three shorter, gentler instrumental pieces, Heathen is a monster. There’s not a single moment of wankerish pyrotechnics—nay, these sludgemongers seem to have no egos at all. Every single note exists for the greater good, and that greater good, to be perfectly blunt, is pretty fucking great. “Into the Marshlands” is—if such a term may be used when describing doom metal—heart-crushingly beautiful. The opener, “Free Will,” is a manifesto of a metal band that doesn’t play the metal game: nearly fifteen minutes of concrete real-speak, without a single reference to ancient gods or any other typical clichés—vocalist Bryan Funck deals with real life pain and real life problems, and refreshingly so. Frequent guest vocalist Emily McWilliams’s clear, unassuming voice provides a counterpoint to Funck’s paint-stripping growl on “Immorality Dictates,” an epic that weaves together delicate, softer passages with speaker-blowing slow grinds.

 

In closing, I’m not a metal fan. But this. I love this. And I don’t see why you shouldn’t love it too, even if you’re not a metal fan.

 

reviewed by Richard Krueger