i had been wanting to partake in a joyful romp through a wolf eyes recording for some time, and the acclaimed dread seemed an appropriate place to start as any.
good golly, these michiganders are mean. the album starts with "burn your house down," a track so ludicrously titled that it would not seem out of place on the latest nu-metal or horror rap masterpiece. miraculously, i was largely convinced of the arsonistic intentions of the "band" after hearing the brutal track, in which the title is torturously screamed over a building avalanche of whitehouse-meets-throbbing gristle death squeal. following this are two long (over ten-minute) tracks that begin with minimal clicks, pops, and hums and build into churning apocalyptic dirges. the fourth track returns to the focused assault of "burn your house down" with readily-discernible lyrics.
it is hard to say which of these two compositional styles is more accessible, but let's just say that this won't be the album you put on to seduce a charming acquaintence. in fact, this kind of bile only really works when one listens to it alone--you won't see crowds of fist-pumping fratboys singing along at the next wolf eyes show. a final track is silent until about 15-minutes in, then unleashes some of the most dissonant material on the entire record. by this point, most listeners will (understandably) be ready for a break, which just means wolf eyes are doing their job.(