Horseback - Dead Ringers review
| Band: | Horseback |
| Album: | Dead Ringers |
| Style: | Ambient Drone, Post-Rock |
| Release date: | August 12, 2016 |
| A review by: | Auntie Sahar |
01. Modern Pull
02. Shape Of The One Thing
03. A Bolt From Blue
04. The Cord Itself
05. Lion Killer
06. In Another Time, In And Out Of Form
07. Larkspur
08. Descended From The Crown
On the morning of August 12, when I went on Bandcamp eager to listen to this new Horseback album in full, I saw a little blurb in the upper right corner that described it as music where "the distorted swagger of Neil Young's Crazy Horse sits at a table next to the haunted dronescapes of Sunn O)))." I burst out laughing then and there at how ridiculously silly this description sounded. But I would later regret it upon entering the realm of Horseback once more, and realizing just how accurate that label truly is.
One could best describe the sound of Horseback along along the lines of the description I mentioned from their Bandcamp. Their music is essentially what happens when bluesy Southern rock, with a bit of a psychedelic twist, combines with a dark, droney undercurrent. The way in which the band has combined these two main influences over the years has varied, with some albums being more droney and metallic, and others embracing the bluesy, psychedelic influence a lot more. Horseback have focused a lot more on the latter lately, and this trend continues with this year's Dead Ringers. The music here doesn't sound all that far off from an early, 70s era psychedelic rock album, albeit a tad darker and heavier, owing to the band's previous dabblings into the drone genre (see "The Cord Itself").
Horseback shifting more towards psychedelic rock than to drone appeared to begin with their previous album from 2014, Piedmont Apocrypha. But whereas that album seemed to embrace that aspect entirely and almost abandon their drone background, Dead Ringers thankfully focuses more on the psychedelia while also still managing to somehow maintain a dark, droney underbelly. Not exactly "dark" as in evil, but rather "dark" in a sad, melancholic sort of sense. Here Horseback wonderfully channel that old time, "I miss my woman" type of bluesy feel with the psychedelic dimension of their music, and when this combines with the music's subtle drone influence, it goes a long way towards making things more somber, meditative, and haunting in a way that the psychedelia perhaps couldn't do merely on its own ("Lion Killer" and "Larkspur" are excellent examples).
Having been somewhat disappointed with Horseback's last album, Dead Ringers almost feels as though it's the album that I had wished Piedmont Apocrypha was: one that does lean more towards the psychedelic feel of Horseback, but that retains the drone roots as well, combining them with the psychedelic core far more seamlessly. Bluesy, relaxing, and catchy, but also dark, mysterious, and otherworldy, Dead Ringers is a fantastic release by a band that consistently demonstrates they are anything but a one trick pony. A definite highlight of the year for the psychedelic department.
The dead are ringing your doorbell. Will ye answer?
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 8 |
| Songwriting: | 9 |
| Originality: | 8 |
| Production: | 8 |
Written by Auntie Sahar | 14.08.2016
Comments
Comments: 18
Visited by: 230 users
| Maratha Posts: 63  |
This is like having Southern comfort with plain water and shots of Tatra Tea in between intervals. Only to top it with some barbecued marshmallows for snacks. Superb review!
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5989  |
Written by Maratha on 14.08.2016 at 23:57 Haha, that's another "strange but accurate" way of describing it. Glad you're enjoying man 
---- 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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| Karlabos Posts: 5770  |
Just listened to three songs so far I quite don't hear drone or metal at all, just krautrock I'd say But anyway, damn... This is tasty indeed.
---- "Aah! The cat turned into a cat!" - Reimu Hakurei
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5989 |
Written by Karlabos on 15.08.2016 at 01:36 I don't really listen to much krautrock so I'm not exactly able to hear music from any band and pinpoint it like "yup, that's a krautrock influence right there." I'm still not all that sure about what exactly differentiates krautrock from just regular old psychedelic rock anyway, the two seem to have a lot in common and overlap a lot. As for drone, I definitely wouldn't call this a drone album. But the way certain parts are composed definitely is a bit drone-ish, and I think it's safe to say it's reflective of the band's past when they embraced that influence more
---- 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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| BloodTears ANA-thema Elite Posts: 11835  |
Wow, haven't listened to Horseback in a while. Well, since Half Blood and Piedmont Apocrypha. So, yeah, I think I'll like this 
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5989 |
Written by BloodTears on 15.08.2016 at 12:57 Most around here seem to hail The Invisible Mountain as their best, sooo... perhaps give that one a spin, if you haven't yet, and then see how this compares?
---- 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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| GT Coffee!! Staff Posts: 5101  |
Your review made me interested, so I gave it a listen through their Bandcamp. Not really my thing.
----  Dreams are made so we don't get bored when we sleep
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| Netzach Planewalker Posts: 1761  |
Great review, I was thinking of how to best describe this album but came up short every time. I like how the album is more lush and upbeat than the last one while still being full of the droning, pastoral elements that made Piedmont so good. I always thought of kraut like a combination of post-punk and electronic psychedelia, which seems like a valid descriptor for most of this album. "Shape", "Cord" and "Larkspur" are awesome. Still got no idea what to make of the final track.
---- My "blackened synth metal" solo project: maladomini.bandcamp.com. Whenever I write something funny, weird, or pretentious... I learned English by playing Baldur's Gate, okay?
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5989 |
Written by Netzach on 15.08.2016 at 18:32 Sounds like a good definition of krautrock from what little I've heard of it, although still, I do need to explore it a bit more. If you have any good recs, feel free to mention them. Also yes, that last track is kind of... eh. Not terrible, not mindblowing, just something I feel they could have shaved a lot of fat off of. It seems a bit odd just right there at the end as some massive, 16 minute droney track when everything else is just 5 - 8 minute upbeat krautmetal material.
---- 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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| Netzach Planewalker Posts: 1761 |
Written by Auntie Sahar on 15.08.2016 at 18:39 I'm not that into kraut either to be honest. There's just a certain sound that immediately makes me think of "kraut". Droning synths, lush instrumentation and a bit of a post-punk swagger (though if I recall correctly, kraut came before post-punk). Tangerine Dream's "Phaedra" and "Zeit" are great albums but a lot more ambient than this record. Also "Faust IV" by Faust which even starts with a track called "Krautrock". But these are all classic albums from the early 70's so I should probably also look into it a bit more. That last track is interesting in the "what were they thinking?" kind of way. It's like they composed a song and then stripped it bare of any recognizable elements. I'm not a big fan of the stoner rock vibe in the 6th track either but everything else is top notch. I don't even miss the metal in Horseback any more.
---- My "blackened synth metal" solo project: maladomini.bandcamp.com. Whenever I write something funny, weird, or pretentious... I learned English by playing Baldur's Gate, okay?
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| 3rdWorld China was a neat Posts: 4367  |
Why am I hearing about this band only now?
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5989 |
Written by Netzach on 15.08.2016 at 19:03 I heard of Tangerine Dream around the time that Wolves In The Throne Room did that full ambient album and some people were comparing it to their material. I had meant to check them out then because I was curious about the comparison but never got around to it for some reason. Guess now I have some more incentive to And I really don't miss the metal that much either. Although I'm not sure it was really there all that much to begin with, I think Horseback have always just been a heavy psych band of sorts. Thing is, in the past that psychedelic sound has been really metallic and droney, whereas recently it's shifted to more of a bluesy feel influenced by old school psychedelia and krautrock. I feel as though you can compare their shift in sound to the one Earth went through, it's a very similar transition
---- 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 3rdWorld on 15.08.2016 at 20:34 Dunno, but no time like the present to start listening 
---- 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 15.08.2016 at 23:12 Hehe yeah. Heard the first four tracks, sounds like Ulver playing a song-oriented psychedelic rock or something like that in my ears. Quality stuff. Very interested now to explore their back catalog.
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| Netzach Planewalker Posts: 1761 |
Written by 3rdWorld on 17.08.2016 at 16:50 Beware of growls 
---- My "blackened synth metal" solo project: maladomini.bandcamp.com. Whenever I write something funny, weird, or pretentious... I learned English by playing Baldur's Gate, okay?
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| 3rdWorld China was a neat Posts: 4367 |
Written by Netzach on 21.08.2016 at 08:57 All the more good then! This album seems to portray a completely different picture of them. Will be interesting to check how they have evolved from the past.
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| Netzach Planewalker Posts: 1761 |
Written by 3rdWorld on 21.08.2016 at 09:29 I'd recommend "The Invisible Mountain" then, if you need a place to start. Most people (me included) seem to agree that it's their best "metal" album.
---- My "blackened synth metal" solo project: maladomini.bandcamp.com. Whenever I write something funny, weird, or pretentious... I learned English by playing Baldur's Gate, okay?
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| 3rdWorld China was a neat Posts: 4367 |
Written by Netzach on 21.08.2016 at 16:33 Cheers! Sure will get on it asap.
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