The Body - All The Waters Of The Earth Turn To Blood review
| Band: | The Body |
| Album: | All The Waters Of The Earth Turn To Blood |
| Style: | Sludge metal |
| Release date: | May 03, 2010 |
| A review by: | Auntie Sahar |
01. A Body
02. A Curse
03. Empty Hearth
04. Even The Saints Knew Their Hour Of Failure And Loss
05. Song Of Sarin, The Brave
06. Ruiner
07. Lathspell I Name You
When I first discovered The Body, there was something about this album's cover that instinctively drew me toward the band and their music. A black and white photograph of two figures in a desolate-looking area, holding sticks, and with strange acorn-looking things on their heads. It spoke to that inherent human fear of the unknown, things that we know aren't necessarily dangerous, but that we are nonetheless partially afraid of because we can't entirely figure them out. It seemed to be beckoning me, devilishly so. "Come and listen," it was saying. "You're terrified, but you know you want to."
The Body are a peculiar blackened sludge duo from the U.S., and I must stress great emphasis on the fifth word of this sentence. All The Waters Of The Earth Turn To Blood, their second full length, is far, far from our common understanding of the style in terms of bile soaked bands like Coffinworm and Dragged Into Sunlight tearing into us with anthems of misanthropy. Instead, with this album The Body drag us, slowly and suspensefully, through a labyrinth of surprises, established right away with the opening track "A Body," which builds up a hypnotizing, otherworldly choir for a good 7 minutes before even giving way to any metal at all.
Things only get more unusual from there, and the sense of unexpectedness, that you don't know what's going to happen, but that no matter what does, it'll most likely be interesting, is part of what makes this album so alluring. With Chip King on vocal duty, bursting out depraved shrieks that conjure thoughts of Xasthur's Scott Conner, The Body conduct a circus of experimentation that runs the gamut from choir (they actually collaborated with a female one known as the Assembly Of Light), throat singing ("Empty Hearth"), industrial music ("Lathspell I Name You"), and probably even more influences that are in there but just too subtle to pinpoint. And yet the music always finds its way to eventually come back to the sludge core, proving that The Body are capable of sticking to their home planet, but also capable of allowing many, many other moons to revolve around it, so to speak.
If there is one album in this growing trend of blackened sludge metal that represents the strongest desire within it for pushing the envelope, All The Waters Of The Earth Turn To Blood is quite likely it. Eerie and mysterious, but in a surprisingly catchy way that makes you keep coming back to it, with this album The Body solidify their status as the proverbial "black sheep" within their stylistic family. This album has grown on me a lot since I first heard it, and is without question one of (if not) the albums I'm most happy to have unearthed last year. I cannot sing its praise enough.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 9 |
| Songwriting: | 9 |
| Originality: | 10 |
| Production: | 9 |
Written by Auntie Sahar | 17.01.2015
Comments
Comments: 20
Visited by: 101 users
| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18374  |
Quote: Fuck no dude, those creepy looking dudes are not carrying sticks, but RIFLES [check a big picture here). I would totally think that shit is dangerous.  Great review... I still need to properly check their discography. Their set at Roadburn was extremely hypnotizing and the shrieks were an experience on their own to hear live in the middle of all the chaos and ambient moments.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5989  |
Written by X-Ray Rod on 17.01.2015 at 16:06 Shit, now I feel silly for not having noticed that before  And don't rub it in man, my biggest Roadburn regret is not having bothered to check these guys out before the fest. I'm sure I missed some truly great stuff 
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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| mz Posts: 4824  |
I checked this a while ago and was not that impressed. Need to try it again.
---- Giving my ears a rest from music.
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| Uldreth Posts: 1150 |
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| !J.O.O.E.! Account deleted |
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5989 |
Written by Uldreth on 18.01.2015 at 14:13 Not a fan?
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5989 |
Written by [user id=4365] on 18.01.2015 at 14:14 As usual, seems like this is one of those "Che loves it, others are kind of iffy" type of albums
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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| !J.O.O.E.! Account deleted |
!J.O.O.E.!
Account deleted Written by Auntie Sahar on 18.01.2015 at 15:36 I haven't discounted it yet. This has always been one of those noodle-scratchers I've meant to revisit. Something about it definitely intrigued me!
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5989 |
Written by [user id=4365] on 18.01.2015 at 15:42 It's definitely not for everyone, for sure. You know me though, I like weird shit, and this is pretty out there considering all the established conventions of the style. I actually think calling it Avantgarde sludge would be a little more accurate than "blackened sludge," but that's debatable.
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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| Uldreth Posts: 1150 |
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| Karlabos Posts: 5736  |
If apothecary says it's peculiar then it must be =] Gonna check this next
---- "Aah! The cat turned into a cat!" - Reimu Hakurei
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5989 |
Written by Uldreth on 18.01.2015 at 17:20 Hmmm, interesting. King's vocals here are indeed more high pitched than is average for the style, so I can definitely see how that'd rub some people the wrong way.
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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| Uldreth Posts: 1150 |
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5989 |
Written by Uldreth on 18.01.2015 at 17:34 I haven't gotten on that one yet, I should do that. That's the collab with Thou, right?
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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| Uldreth Posts: 1150 |
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5989 |
Written by Uldreth on 18.01.2015 at 18:15 Yup, and they're doing another one together this year it appears. To my pirate ship, I go 
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5989 |
Written by Karlabos on 18.01.2015 at 17:25 Stealing this for my forum signature
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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| 3rdWorld China was a neat Posts: 4367  |
Written by Auntie Sahar on 18.01.2015 at 17:50 I Shall Die Here is their collab with The Haxan Cloak, a British electronica/Dark ambient producer. And it is brilliant btw, one of my fav releases from last year though the vox can be a bit weird at first. Their collab with Thou is called Released From Love.
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5989 |
Written by 3rdWorld on 19.01.2015 at 20:38 Ah, thanks for the clarification, I should probably check that out then going off the fact that I loved their work the choir here.
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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| Uldreth Posts: 1150 |
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