Loincloth: Psalm of the Morbid Whore

Metal has always skirted the line between the tough and the parodic—and Loincloth certainly doesn't hide what side they're on. The name alone conjures memories of Manowar at their worst but the point isn't to tackle Manowar but to remind all of us just how tongue-in-cheek this all is. gently mock things generally. The cover art, though slightly more subtle, also suggests the band's playful side. Goat skulls are nearly as common as loincloths and this band has both. Similar jabs at heavy metal pretense come through the song titles. Some of them evoke Celtic Frost (a band favorite) but others are just attempts to get a laugh and to suggest how quickly heavy metal's tropes transform into cliché.

Despite all their jabbing, Loincloth isn't merely going for laughs. The music on this album is frequently dense, always complex, and never dull. Rather than show off how fast they can play, the guys in Loincloth give us a balancing act, the kind that blends shifting time signatures, rhythms, and motifs. The music frequently stops and starts in ways that will capture some listeners off guard. It blends together nicely enough but there are times it's hard to tell when one song stopped and another started.

I enjoyed this album overall but I also found it incomplete. Loincloth has certainly mastered the weight and heft of extreme metal jamming, but the tracks could benefit either from expansion or at least some repetition of key ideas. I can understand a desire to challenge the listener by avoiding familiar progressions and patterns, but some of the musical ideas needed room to grow. I also found that some tracks were difficult to distinguish from others. For me, the best songs were on the album's second half. I suppose that could be because I was used to what the band was doing by then. In any event, I really liked "Sigil Ov Five Horns," "Let the Snakes Decide" and "Ibex (To Burn in Hell is to Refine)." Interested listeners may also want to check out "Pentecost Dissident" or one or two others.

If you're looking for something challenging, dense, and rewarding, this is an entertaining and heavy release. It is also the band's last release.

Track Listing:
1. Necro Fucking Satanae
2. Poroths
3. Clausa Vulgate
4. Morbid Whore
5. Pentacost Dissident
6. Bestial Infernal
7. Sigil Ov Five Horns
8. Let the Snakes Decide
9. Ibex (To Burn in Hell is to Refine)

Added: November 3rd 2017
Reviewer: Carl Sederholm
Score:
Related Link: Band Facebook Page
Hits: 1179
Language: english

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