Thou - Magus

Thou are a Louisiana based Sludge Metal and Doom Metal band, who in the past 10 years have been quite busy.  Now, a lot of times I feel like with Metal bands it sometimes takes an album or two to get their sound rolling.  On the other hand, Thou with their 2007 debut "Tyrant" simply knew what they were doing.  This was a crushing and noisy album, filled with brilliant imagery and vicious vocals.  But at the same time, there was almost a human feel to this album.  There were some quiet moments here that seemed to me to be painfully sad and in touch with the human side of this band.  And honestly, it really made Thou stick out to me.  Thou returned in 2008 with "Peasant", an even stronger and more striking album.  The band started to bring in some more Drone elements and seemed to push themselves to be heavier constantly.  Tracks like "An Age Imprisoned" were just so freakin' HEAVY, while tracks like "Burning Black Coals and Dark Memories" were strangely emotional, and continued to give Thou an almost human side to them. But with 2010's "Summit", I felt like Thou's usual formula was coming to a slow halt.  This was their most abrasive and Drone Metal influenced yet, which on paper sounds awesome.  But Thou here seemed so much less human, and to me, this just sounded like a whole mess of other bands in these genres.  But Thou came back in 2014 with easily their strongest and most experimental yet, "Heathen".  This album was still grimy, with a personal side to it that you couldn't ignore.  But Thou was dealing with longer tracks than ever, which I'm usually not too wild about.  But Thou just seemed like they were so comfortable with this, that they were so on top of their game.  There were moving interludes, crushing Metal epics, and some of the most vicious vocals they had brought to the table in years.  So Thou are back with a vengeance, alongside some of their most colorful and adventurous singles in years!  I'm excited as hell, let's chat.

This album starts off with “Inward”, and I mean, did anyone else not expect for this album to not start off with one very dreary, long, sludgy note?  Because I sure did?  But it quickly breaks up nicely into a slow groove and some harsh vocals from Bryan Funck.  All around, I feel like in a lot of ways Thou just keep on getting better.  Shoutouts to them, because they’ve really hopped on some better production over the years, but it ends up making their style just come off more epic and larger-than-life.  As an intro, this track absolutely rules.  The very slow pace obviously isn’t for everyone.  As a matter of fact, if this is your first rodeo, I really wouldn’t suggest starting here.  But I just love how grim and in your face this is.  But as in the past, some of these guitars are just so emotional at the end of the day and human.  It just adds a little extra feeling to this that makes Thou stand out further from their contemporaries.  And I love the second movement of this track that starts around the 4-minute mark, with this crunchy and strangely catchy riff.  But among this very vast atmosphere and give the 10-minute length, there is just so much to love here.  And sonically, this really is one of the best sounding Metal albums I’ve heard all year.  And the last minute or so is just so somber and tortured, I’m blown away honestly.  Now, in an era where I’ve bashed a lot of interludes, I think “My Brother Caliban” is actually pretty cool.  After that emotional ending, this one brings us back to a very gritty feel.  There are some distant screams, some industrial percussion, and a hulking atmosphere.  It really does progress this album nicely.  “Transcending Dualities” is even more chugging, more sluggish and more massive.   This track is absolutely pummeling, and with all of these very long songs, you have to be patient with them.  Bryan here sounds so much more aggressive and monstrous and sounds completely inhuman compared to some of the moments on the opening track.  But while this album is very VERY good, this may just be my least favorite of the bunch.  It’s immaculately produced and heavy as hell.  But I don’t get that epic feel from this one, even though this clocks in at over 8-minutes.  And worst of all, I don’t get a lot of the same personality shining through.  But “The Changeling Prince” changes that and immediately oozes with so much more personality.  There’s just such a sorrow to some of these tracks, it’s wild.  But don’t let that make you believe that these tracks go easy on you.  They don’t, and they still pack a massive gut-punch and are some of the bluesiest Metal riffs you’ll hear all year.  But here is this very real sorrow behind it all.  And it all comes off just so crushing while remaining very vast and cinematic.  And honestly, it’s great.  I love the bluesy guitars and the hulking riff, and yea this is certainly a track you need to be patient with.  But man, it’s worth it.

On the other hand, “Sovereign Self” may just be the most somber and chilling track here.  I love just how minimal this one starts off, with these twinkling guitars and whispered vocals.  Which of course, transition into this very crushing, massive riff.  I feel like as this album goes on, you have to be more and more patient, which isn’t a bad thing.  It’s explosive, and it’s just so incredibly grim.  And Bryan in moments like this has become completely inhuman with these vicious vocals.  There are some really epic instrumentals, like these rigid drums and wailing guitars floating through the background.  But with each passing second, it’s strangely beautiful.  And the attention to detail here is spot on.  Thou also continue to nail it with these interludes.  With “Divine Will”, I love the pounding, ridiculous drums as well as the very haunting chanting.  It’s just so blasphemous and does only great things for the atmosphere.  On the other hand, I don’t even know where to start with “In the Kingdom of Meaning”.  Instantly this one gives me the chills.  This track is just so murky and ghoulish.  Those bluesy guitars have become so haunting.  Even when things pick up, this track just has a layer of darkness that I can’t shake.  And why do I feel like now, we’re having to be more patient than ever with these tracks?  But it’s just so worth it because any possible shift we get gives me the absolute chills.  Whether it be those distant guitars that sound just so blackened or some of the more upfront vocals which include some of Bryan’s best vocals here.  It’s absolutely brilliant.  Not to mention, some of these female vocals towards the end of the track are an absolutely amazing touch, I honestly wish we got more of those. 
Now, for a much more crunchy and guitar-heavy track, “Elimination Rhetoric” is the way to go.  It still has all the grittiness and Bryan still sounds like a damn monster.  But the instrumental is just so vast and epic.  Like, there is a sort o grandness to this that I feel like is inspired by Black Metal in a way.  But it’s not bad at all, it gives this a very majestic feel.  I love the looming guitars in the distance that are almost mystical in parts.  It’s winding, epic and just so damn crushing.  And that guitar solo that raps this one up is absolutely passionate as hell.  And the absolutely pummeling interludes continue with “The Law Which Compels”, which may just be the most diabolical yet.  This is absolutely horrifying and just so grimy.  It’s all just feedback and drones, as well as wailing instrumentals seemingly being tortured miles away.  But it’s all just so damn good.  Not only that, it makes it known that you can’t let your guard down with Thou, not even for a minute.  This album ends off with “Supremacy”, which doesn't waste a single second whatsoever coming crashing down on you.  In an album that’s just been so patience-testing, this one instantly makes you shake in fear.  It’s the band at their most up-front and at their closest to their Sludge Metal roots.  And yea, it’s an alright ending, but probably not my favorite track here.  It does have a wonderfully vast atmosphere that just gets bigger by the minute, not to mention the attention to detail here is stunning.  Those distant, emotional guitars are just so intriguing.  At the end of the day, “Supremacy” just seems to be sheer chaos.  One chugging riff after another, with all of these wild breakdowns going on behind it.  But for me, this one also does ditch some of the mystery of Thou, which is a little disappointed.  But for a much more straightforward tune here, this is still a hell of a Metal jam.

Rating: 8.5/10

Give A Listen To: “Inward”, “The Changeling Prince”, “In the Kingdom of Meaning” "Elimination Rhetoric”

Least Favorite Track: “Transcending Dualities”

Genre: Doom Metal / Sludge Metal

Overall Thoughts:  Thou returns after a slew of very solid EP’s this year, with their longest and in a lot of ways their most demanding album to date.  The material on this album is often dense and requires just so much patience.  But more often than not, it leads to some of the most immaculate and well thought out Metal you’ll hear this year.  It’s gritty and harsh, but it’s also cinematic and well thought out.   It’s all out chaos with a grandness to it that I can’t help but eat up.