Review: Thou - Magus
Release Date: August 31st
Label: Sacred Bones Records
Album Link:
To be honest, beside a few exceptions, I have had a lapse in interest in new Metal music in the last couple months. YOB sparked my interest when I reviewed it, and even that is more Rock oriented than my usual Metal listening habits. Not that I've actively turned away from it, in fact I've been going back to older Progressive Rock albums and also exploring different genres which I like, mainly Classical this past August. However I knew that I would have to listen to Thou's Magus when I included "The Changeling Prince" on the track roundup a couple months ago.
Sludge Metal is named for it's production quality and pace usually, it's always very muddy and thick. Often listening to bands like Indian, Neurosis, and Electric Wizard will leave one feeling like they've walked through a very oppressive pool of molasses. Because I don't particularly enjoy this genre, I have never explored further and I would say Neurosis is one of the only bands I passably enjoy within the genre. Thou have certainly changed my opinion on Magus, though still very thick and unwelcoming, the album has sprinkles of serenity and peace laced through it which break up the intense nature of the music.
During the leadup to Magus, Thou released three EPs filled with original material reflecting a different facet of their sound, all three together building a runtime of nearly two hours. If this isn't impressive, Magus itself an 85 minute runtime. Listening to the kind of music Thou are best at for that long can get exhausting, so I am only going to be talking about Magus here.
Magus shines in it's best moments, and can kind of drag in it's lesser moments. That is the problem with making an 85 minute album that is for the most part, relentless. There are artists like Elysian Blaze who can create a double album longer than 2 hours and make it not feel boring ever. The key is keeping the sound diverse, and though Thou do make good music, they do not provide enough breathing room to fully absorb everything the album has to offer. Elysian Blaze are an Australian band who as mentioned above, have multiple releases longer than your typical album. That band has an ability to create a longer song with multiple movements and peaks and valleys, which makes a longer listening experience more varied and exciting. Thou have a problem here on Magus where their longer songs can sound rather more simple.
I am going to rant for a moment...I do think there is a sort of "golden standard" when it comes to album lengths, which I will be the first to admit is inconsistent. A high energy and non-stop Metal album seems to work best at around 30-35 minutes, and more complex and diverse sounding music thrives better in the 45-60 minute time. I think if your album is going to be any shorter or longer than that, you should either have a good reason to not label it an EP or have a reason for it to be so long. Rappers largely have a problem with filling their albums with too much, the more songs the more likely more are to chart and bring in money, I understand that but it still affects the integrity of an album most of the time. Anyway, back to Magus.
The grand majority of the album is a blend of two sounds, sludgy Doom metal, and Post metal similar to Neurosis or ISIS. Post metal, though the name sounds odd is really just a metalicized version of Post-Rock. Vocalist Bryan Funck has a very uncharacteristically Black Metal approach to his vocals and it definitely does put Thou in their own sound category. The guitars, bass, and drums sort of blend together in this very rhythmic trudge most of the time. There are interesting moments of clean guitars weaved in through the album amidst the chaos, but the album mostly relies on it's sludge roots.
Though I may sound critical of the album and I do find it relatively boring, the music is good. Thou are great at crafting a unique song structure for each of the songs on this album, and though they are all alike in sound they are identifiable between one another. Highlights for me include "The Changeling Prince" which I find to be the best song on the album and included it in my monthly roundup a couple of months ago, and "Supremacy". "Supremacy" is the last song on the album and it caps it off on a very high note, the aforementioned acoustic inclusions in the songs appear mostly hear, and it makes me really wish there was more on the rest of the album.
Magus has high notes, and "meh"notes and the high notes really make me wonder how great the album could have been had it delivered more on those.
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