Warrior Pope - Anchorite (2017)
With their debut album a couple of
years ago, Warrior Pope delivered one big track to serve as the whole
of the LP, a mammoth they steered through experimentation on a doom
foundation. With this new release, the band has opted to split their
efforts into four tracks, and with that reworking of the structuring
comes a wider range of styles drawn into the making of the music.
The doom is still there, and strong, but there's also touches of
desert rock, prog, post-rock, and psychedelic, all woven together in
ways that neatly avoid feeling forced or heavy-handed.
And the development of those chords and
riffs? Damn tasty. The group has quite a way with building tension
and subtle layers while grinding down on a heavy progression,
allowing their instruments to do all the singing and howling. The
title track almost feels like an album unto itself, between the
~17-minute duration and the labyrinth of twists it follows. But by
surrounding it with distinctly separate (and excellent) songs,
Warrior Pope have side-stepped that semi-problem from their first
album, where the waves of song growing through their changes made it
difficult to recall the original forms or particular passages with
clarity. Here, they take a trek that's easier to trace, without
compromising the depth of the songs. And it is good. Hell, it's
pretty damn great.
The biggest strike against it would be
the clip-off endings for the songs. They reach satisfying endings,
but then cut the track before the tones finish trailing off,
generating a little amp pop in the speakers. It's not a big fault,
since it fits somewhat with the organic atmosphere, but as the one
thing I'd pick out against them, it does stand out. On the whole,
it's hard not to recommend; the album is epic without being
ostentatious, experimental without losing its way, and the savagery
the music sometimes generates makes for a great contrast with their
song-writing techniques. Keep your fingers crossed for this one
getting physical release.
~ Gabriel
For Fans Of; Bell Witch, Broughton's
Rules, Dead Hand, Reptensol, Venus Sleeps
~
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