Review: Warrior Pope - The Voices Said Empty, Hollow And Thud

Well, that was an interesting month!! Back now.....many thanks for your patience.

To the music. During the hiatus I was contacted by Oli from Bristol band Warrior Pope and he put forward an enticing case for the band..."Mostly draw comparisons to Pink Floyd and Tool...... I was thinking more Khanate, Neurosis and Caricatures". To someone who loves guitars and noise and feedback this was too tempting to put on the backburner!

'The Voices Said Empty, Hollow And Thud' comprises of one 35 minute track, but that one track mixes and matches styles and approaches to leave the listener a bit unsteady, but, as I mentioned earlier, there is something for everyone who likes noisy, guitar-driven music. The bands Facebook page describes them as 'drone doom, amplifier worship' and I can't really think of any more apt phrase. There are elements of post-rock (not your fey Sigur Ros or arty Godspeed! YBE varieties..this is heavy), more than a dash of post-metal (which I know is a phrase that can divide opinion), a generous portion of doom and plenty of feedback. Just to add to the heady brew there is some machine-gun drumming straight from a black metal opus, and, at the 20 minute mark, the track breaks down to a dub section (well, dub played by Sunn O))) ).

What I really liked about 'The Voices Said Empty, Hollow And Thud' is the precision and the 'less is more' ethos: the feedback works because it is used sparingly and so more powerful when it hits, the drones are not there for effect but for THEIR effect....they fit the structure perfectly. When it gets heavy, it gets really heavy... ear-pummelling heavy. I know this is not the normal fare for this blog, but something resonated with me and has quickly become my dog-walking tune of choice. For those that like comparisons, well, Khanate is the obvious, but the aforementioned Neurosis, Russian Circles, Pelican, Sunn O))) and even a bit of Gnaw all can be heard. Like Oli I can't really see the Floyd comparison, but we all hear through different ears I guess. One thing I do know is that these guys must make one helluva racket live!

The album is available from the band's bandcamp page here...it's on a 'name your price' basis, but as the band state : "We want to do a hard copy release, not sure of format, I'm gonna use the 'Pay what you want' system to figure what people want to buy, paying £2 for the download of the album is a vote for a CD release, £3 is a vote for vinyl"... so go spend some hard earned!