Thou - Umbilical

Angry Metal Guy

When I first came on as a writer here, I had all kinds of ideas about what bands I’d be reviewing before the reality of seniority fully hit me in the solar plexus. I wanted to review Pallbearer. I got there, but I had to wait until they…uh…weren’t that good anymore and other, more senior writers moved on. I wanted to review Panopticon. Still waiting on that one. Same with YOB. I wanted to review Inter Arma, and Grymm surprisingly took pity on a n00b, so I’m forever grateful for that. Today I get to check off another goal. When Akerblogger left these halls, I loudly proclaimed dibs on any future Thou records before his body was even cold out the door, but then he was pretty inconsiderate for hanging on as long as he did. Thou, prolific as they are, have yet to release anything I don’t at least like, and usually love. Now that my moment to review them has finally come, will eighth full-length¹ Umbilical be all I hoped for?

When Umbilical was announced, Thou hinted that this release would shift their sound from the sludge/doom they’re known for toward overt hardcore punk. That certainly plays out in frothing-at-the-mouth cuts like “Emotional Terrorist,” and “I Feel Nothing When You Cry.” That said, don’t expect a D-beat here. At their most up-tempo, these Louisiana boys sound a fair bit like Zao, which isn’t a bad thing in the least. If you’re a huge fan of their slow stuff, don’t worry. “Lonely Vigil” and the excellent closer “Siege Perilous” are vintage Thou, with disgustingly heavy doom grooves that forcefully separate you from any hope or happiness. In late album cuts “The Promise” and “Panic Stricken, I Flee,” Umbilical also finds room for the grunge song structures and riffs that have been creeping to the forefront of the band’s sound since Rhea Sylvia and May Our Chambers Be Full.

Umbilical by Thou

Like their chimerical American metal brethren Inter Arma, it doesn’t matter how many influences the band stuff into one album. They are all unified in sound under the banner of Thou. Bryan Funck’s acid-bit vocals are unmistakable and apparently unchangeable after 20 throat-shredding years. Also unchangeable? Thou’s ability to craft the most metallic-sounding guitar tone out there. As the standard bearer for…hell, as the entire sum of the second generation of Louisiana sludge, the sound they’ve forged isn’t the kind of sloppy muck you may associate with the term. It’s certainly thick, but it has a quality like two enormous steel I-beams violently striking each other. Album opener “Narcissist’s Prayer” starts with a chugging guitar line, but as soon as the central riff hits, it’s like a series of mini bomb blasts. That feeling of shell shock doesn’t let up for 48 minutes.

There are killer songs all across Umbilical, but the crowning achievement here is “House of Ideas.” After the whip-cracking intro, the hardcore riffs hit with enough torque to pull a hill up a mountain. From there, things settle into a nasty groove that in turn gives way to an absolutely sick guitar line for the fadeout. Just below this high point are cuts like “Narcissist’s Prayer,” which sets the tone of the album with the repeated refrain of “It’s time to die, so die,” the miserably lurching “Lonely Vigil” and the seemingly lost Heathen cut “Siege Perilous.” Meanwhile, “Promise” is the band’s best “grunge” song they’ve written and could have been a 90s alt-radio hit with less distortion and different vocals. If I had one nit to pick with the record, it’s that things drag a bit between “Unbidden Guest” and “I Return as Chained to You,” but Dolph lists the latter as one of his highlights, so take that with a grain of salt.

I never had much doubt that if I ever got my hands on a Thou review, they’d deliver for me. Still, it’s nice to see them in such fine form just before their 20th anniversary as a band. Umbilical is a different beast than their classic Heathen or their top-notch collaborative albums, but it’s Thou through and through, and that’s a great thing.

Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Sacred Bones Records
Websites: thou.bandcamp.com | instagram.com/thou_band_official
Releases Worldwide: May 31st, 2024

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Pitchfork

Read Patrick Lyons’ review of the album.

The Guardian 0

(Sacred Bones)
Huge riffs, guttural vocals and fearsome intent create a formidable wall of sound in the US band’s maximalist, in-your-face sixth album