Richmond's Windhand have just released their Relapse debut and fans of doom and gloom will rejoice, but this album might speak to fans outside the genre as well. I catch whiffs of shoegaze, and there are a few drone sections that might appeal to fans of that genre, the masochists.
Soma kicks off with the track "Orchard", and sets the heavy/haunting tone of the album. "Woodbine" contains a chorus that will move even the most stoic of metal heads. If you see Windhand live I bet you'll catch a few in the audience moving their lips when this one plays. "Feral Bones" is as thick a a Sequoia trunk. "Evergreen" is a haunted tune that is carried by acoustic guitar and Dorthia's vocals. If you're with me this far, the other tunes will please you just as much. There's only two of them, but they clock in just under 45 minutes.
The album is brilliant, there are layers to be uncovered, deep visceral feelings to be felt through the sonic stimulation of the tunes. You'll get lost in these riffs, find yourself transcending this plane, but then a solo will pop up and bring you back down to Earth. The album is haunting, heavy, and excellent.
The cover, as you can see above, is a pic of a desolate shack in the middle of some foreboding woods, and after listening to the album, I'm convinced that this shack is their recording studio. Not because the music sounds lo-fi or isn't well produced, it's not that at all, it's that the emotion and vibe couldn't have been captured in some studio next to a 7 Eleven.
And the compulsory who meets who record review comparison? Pallbearer meets Acid King? Why not.
I bet Windhand is on Bigfoot's Ipod.
