This album starts off with “The Last Form of Loving”, and immediately, The Body is just so good, no, GREAT at building this hellish atmosphere. Between the scuzzy production and this beautiful, yet ominous instrumental, there’s a LOT going on. There’s a super post-apocalyptic feel to this, you can just imagine a camera rolling across some hellish wasteland with this playing. Not to mention, The Body is so good at teasing some big explosion. Which, we really don’t get here. But, we do get these heavenly vocals like we have in the past. And it’s really disturbing, especially alongside the usual trickery from The Body. This may not be the most exciting intro, but it uses in the sound of this album wonderfully. Then we have “Can Carry No Weight”, which in a way reminds me strangely of the music of GAS, the way we have this house beat seemingly coming from a different dimension entirely. But of course, this is much more hellish and horrible sounding. The choir vocals make this one incredibly unsettling, and of course, we get the usual shrieks that The Body are known for. And yes, after all these years they still come off as entirely inhuman. And once again, we get these very beautiful lead vocals that almost sound like something from the Metal Gear Solid series at this point. It’s a truly indescribable track, like much of the Body’s work. But man is it ever intense. Then we have “Partly Alive”, which is just as intense, but a little more straightforward. But, uh, what the hell is going on with these vocals? This is far from the usual shrieks I expect, which always seem to be just the right amount of ridiculous. But here we get some generic Metal vocals that I don’t enjoy nearly as much. Eventually, the usual shrieks do work their way in, but it’s a little too late for me. I do like how ridiculously intense this one is instrumentally, even though it’s a little cheesy and sounds like it should be played during a movie trailer. Now, I also know the material here isn’t exactly new, and for the most part, the fact that they were able to make a new recording entirely of older material is actually incredible. But this one in general just doesn’t work for me at all. I do like some of the sound effects that pop in, and that pulsating beat, not to mention this one is completely hellish by its finale. But I just wish it didn’t take so long to get rolling. On the other hand, “The West Has Failed” is by far the noisiest and most straightforward track yet. This is all noise, but it quickly descends into the usual madness. We get this thick, pulsating beat, and some of The Body’s most pained shrieks yet. This is honestly where I like to hear them though when they’re at their most fearless and experimental. This one is crushing, but that industrial beat as simple as it is, makes this one so much more inviting and easy to swallow. This actually reminds me a LOT of what we were hearing from that Body/Full of Hell collaboration from late last year. And that vocal sample is literally just enough to give this one that feeling that you have no idea where this album is going anymore.
This album pummels on with “Nothing Stirs”, which is unsettling with just how little is happening. It’s quiet, with this much smaller beat and more ambient sounds than anything. And I have to say, it’s the most patient tune of the bunch, and most rewarding. This track will have you at the absolute edge of your seat. By the time the vocals shriek their way in, that tiny beat isn’t so tiny anymore. We get some more of these beautiful vocals that flow in. But I love how as this album has rolled on, those vocals have become more and more sinister. They aren’t a tiny speck of light anymore, shimmering through this pitch black. On the other hand, we have everything else about this instrumental which is building with these crashing drums and epic strings. The result is pretty ridiculous, and exactly what the earlier “Partly Alive” was going for so much and failed at. It’s beautiful, but it’s also wildly experimental and exactly where I want to hear The Body. Then we have “Off Script”, which doesn’t waste any time wither with some very industrial sounds and some sludgy performance for the ages. It’s gritty, rigid, and sounds like something The Body would strive with. To me though, it’s a little too rigid and stiff. These drums sound practically robotic, and for the first 2 minutes not much happens. The thing is, The Body is a wildly experimental group, and when they’re on, they’re producing some of the wildest Metal in the world. But they also tend to get themselves into these slums where you just want them to push their sound further and further. I do like some of the more animalistic screams we get towards the middle, but it’s just not enough. But with “An Urn” The Body are right back to their noisiest and most experimental. But at least this one has a little oomph to it. I love the off-kilter funk we get in these drums, which is broken up by The Body’s trademark shrieks. Then this one turns into a march almost, towards what I have no idea. But at the very least, this is the wild, experimental music that I can’t hear anywhere else. And those twinkling guitars in the background are such an awesome touch. I literally feel like this is a completely blackened Pop tune of sorts that the Body just ruined, and I love it. Then we get some of those same female vocals that were once beautiful, but by this point have become grizzly and terrifying. “An Urn” is absolutely wild, and while it’s not the most memorable track of the album, it’s a blast, and exactly what I crave from The Body. This album continues to pummel in the right direction with “Blessed, Alone”. Here, we get noise, noise, some heavenly vocals, and a little more noise. But here, it works incredibly, and it puts me in a state where I feel like I’m working with an artist that will truly subject me to anything. This of course, quickly becomes a straight up ballad that’s actually stunning. Of course it turns on a dime with the arrival of these very abrasive guitars. But that’s the kind of album this is. It can go from beautiful to ugly, sometimes in seconds. It’s a gift that The Body have, and this is absolutely where I want to hear them. This one is everything The Body are known for, wrapped up nicely. It’ll have you in tears, and then have you running for your life.
Then we have “Sickly Heart of Sand” which has this very low-key beat which I actually really have a hard time putting my finger on. More than anything though this is all about that big, beautiful atmosphere. We get these scratchy, almost blackened Garage Rock guitars over it all, which is something in itself. There are exciting beats, glitchy production, this album sure has a lot of twists and turns. Then it turns into another straight hellish banger for the ages. AN intense beat, tortured cries for help, an inescapable atmosphere, and some of the more direct riffs here. It’s explosive, and almost always muddy as hell. Like here, it all becomes this sort of Experimental Metal soup, with each element constantly bashing into one another. But it’s exciting as hell, and exactly where I want to hear these guys. Then we have the finale, “Ten Times A Day, Every Day, A Stranger”, which is honestly underwhelming for me. It starts off with a very unsettling intro. It’s grizzly, noisy, and once again has me on the edge of my seat. You have to give The Body that, they are always so good at making you expect the unexpected. But while I do like the unsettling vocals floating out of reach, like I said I’m underwhelmed. We certainly get a very unsettling and twisted voiceover, and all of the usual Body elements are here. But I’m not into this, especially after all of the truly wild experimentation we’ve gotten here.
Rating: 7.6/10
Give A Listen To: “Can Carry No Weight”, “The West Has Failed”, “Nothing Stirs”, “Blessed, Alone”.
Least Favorite Track: “Off Script”
Genre: Experimental Metal / Sludge Metal / Industrial
Overall Thoughts: This is easily one of the more truly experimental and wild works that The Body have worked with in quite some time, especially on their own. Most of this album is the Extreme duo at their most grizzly, working in truly horrifying shrieks and inescapable atmospheres. We also get some industrial beats and some actually beautiful moments as well. If you're into their early work that combined elements of Choir vocals and Lush vocals, up against the grizzliest metal you'll hear all year, this is something you're going to want to check out. But when this album gets into one of it's more boring slumps, it gets pretty bad. I'm all for being patient, but on a track or two here, it leads to nothing. But still, if you're into Experimental Metal give this a shot.
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