Labels: Vinyl Rites
Review by: Alex Deller
For me personally, this was a bit of an odd prospect. The Body, I have a lot of time for: they’re a band ploughing a distinct and singular furrow, possessed of a true sense of sorrow and harrowing loss. Thou? They I can largely live without. Their plod has proven largely standard over the years, and ‘standard’ I can pretty skip at this point in my existence. The notion of these two collaborating, then, was a little worrying: would The Body carry the weight or would Thou be like stones in their pockets? Thankfully it’s a resounding success, though I’m tough enough to admit that the lines are so blurred that beyond the vocals it’s often hard to tell just who’s doing the heavy lifting. As you’d expect, it’s a fair old slugfest. Riffs are excavated like megalodon bones being chiselled out of desert soil while one voice gurgles and another shrieks inconsolably. Beneath the sheer heaviness lies the detail wherein the devil resides, and it’s in a wash of noise, a well-places discord or the stuttering drum pattern to be found during ‘In Meetings Hearts Beat Closer’ where things are neatly drawn together. The record closes on a Vic Chesnutt cover. It begins as a plaintive, bereft thing before world’s end drums and a scrawny guitar lead herald the volume and density you’d expect. It’s saying something to admit that it’s the most mournful thing on here, but that’s how things play out. It’s close enough to shattering, and a nigh-on perfect note to go out on.