Band:	Thou
Album:	Blessings Of The Highest Order
Style:	Doom metal, Sludge metal
Release date:	June 05, 2020
A review by:	RaduP

01. Aneurysm [Nirvana cover]
02. Dive [Nirvana cover]
03. Stain [Nirvana cover]
04. Sifting [Nirvana cover]
05. Blew [Nirvana cover]
06. Floyd The Barber [Nirvana cover]
07. School [Nirvana cover]
08. Milk It [Nirvana cover]
09. Scentless Apprentice [Nirvana cover]
10. I Hate Myself And I Want To Die [Nirvana cover]
11. Territorial Pissings [Nirvana cover]
12. Endless Nameless [Nirvana cover]
13. Even In His Youth [Nirvana cover]
14. In Bloom [Nirvana cover]
15. Something In The Way [Nirvana cover]
16. My Girl [Nirvana cover]

What a better gift can 2020 give us than both Thou and Post Malone doing Nirvana tributes, and neither of them covering "Smells Like Teen Spirit"?

Our editor-in-chief doesn't let me interview Post Malone, let alone add him to our database, so you'll have to stick to that fundraising Nirvana covers livestream set that I linked. He performed in a dress, just to channel Kurt Cobain better. But enough about that, we can talk about Thou instead, who have also covered famed clothing brand Nirvana at different points throughout their career. They participated on all three Robotic Empire Nirvana tributes, the Bleach one, the Nevermind one, and the In Utero one; having performed secret cover sets, and so on. Thou clearly appreciate Nirvana probably especially for their tremendous contribution to metal: killing glam metal. Even though they actually spawned post-grunge too, but the benefits far outweigh the downsides. Nirvana does get a bit of a bad rep, being the most famous one of the big four of Grunge, without necessarily being better than either Soundgarden or Alice In Chains (but all of them easily being better than Pearl Jam), and for how much they've become a sort of meaningless icon of rebellion that got distilled as a clothing brand (to some less classy heights too) and as that "Smells Like Team Spirit" video on MTV. That's not really the band's fault, But one listen to Bleach should dispel all of that, and it will be clear that it was part of the same melting pot of sounds that eventually gave birth to sludge metal as well.

Released without any sort of warning, Blessing Of The Highest Order compiles all the different Nirvana covers that Thou have released over the years, some more obscure than others, but without any clear indication that any of them were recorded specifically for this. Other than a few moments where there is clearly some live sound, it isn't really that obvious that these weren't recorded in the same session, or at least not obvious enough to affect the listening experience. And even when it does feel as such, the familiarity of the songs helps ease any feelings of disjoint that might come from that. Even if the choices aren't too obvious, "School", "In Bloom" and "Something In The Way" should be familiar enough for any casual Nirvana listener.

And even if enough of the Nirvana material that was covered is noisy and heavy, it's still far from how noisy and heavy Thou twist them to be. Slowing the pace, distorting the guitars, turning up the bass, and replacing Kurt's comparatively sultrier vocals with Bryan Funck's raspy shrieks. There are a few clean vocals sections, particularly the entirety of "In Bloom", but for the most part, everything is drowned in distorted doom. And as much as I talked about familiarity in the previous paragraph, I can't say that that really helps as much when the songs are mutilated and twisted as much as they are at times, so they sit in between that aforementioned familiarity and a huge amount of Thou's touch.

As much as I wish they also covered "Negative Creep" and "Paper Cuts", this is still probably the best case you'd find of a band covering Nirvana. At least Blessings Of The Highest Order can wash away all memories of this.