(Drone, Doom, Stoner, Experimental) Horseback - The Gorgon Tongue - 2011, FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

If Horseback’s records seem heavy – as in, heavier even than most of their droning metal contemporaries – there is a reason for that. Jenks Miller – the sole member of Horseback, finds inspiration from the heaviest subject matter of them all – the apocalypse. And on Half Blood, the band’s fourth full-length and first new release for Relapse, Miller explains that “the apocalyptic violence is a metaphor for the change achieved by new knowledge. It is the raw invigoration of the Self.”
“The raw invigoration of the Self” might also be a fair jumping off point to discuss the grim, swirling cacophony that Jenks Miller has almost single-handedly created (with the occasional help of a studio drummer) on Horseback’s studio recordings since the release of the debut album Impale Golden Horn on Burly Time in 2007, later to be reissued by Relapse.
Shaking, buzzing, and constantly moving, Horseback’s music tends to exist in its own strange world, where the distorted swagger of Neil Young’s Crazy Horse sits at a table next to the haunted dronescapes of Sunn O))). As Pitchfork Media describes it, their sound encompasses “Metal ugliness and heartland beauty, post-rock at its most spartan and hard rock at its most out-there.”
Horseback’s live appearances, although rare, have also grown to be highly acclaimed; an enormous, full-band embodiment of the singular sequestered Horseback sound from the recordings. Horseback has performed at Utech Records Music Festival, Boomslang Festival, and Hopscotch Music Festival 2011 and has done shows with acts as diverse as The Atlas Moth, Hull, and Noveller.
Horseback’s prior releases include 2009’s epic The Invisible Mountain, released on Utech Records and later reissued via Relapse Records, and 2010’s cassette-only Forbidden Planet album released through Brave Mysteries, which was also rereleased by Relapse on The Gorgon Tongue: Impale Gorden Horn/Forbidden Planet compilation. Additionally, Horseback has released splits with artists such as Pyramids, Locrian, and Voltigeurs.
Half Blood, released in late spring 2012, marks something of a critical breakthrough for Horseback, an album that NPR calls “a celebration of light through darkness” and is bringing the band’s slithering howl to its largest audience yet.
Metal Hammer writes that “With Half Blood, the band has taken their formula of looping hipgnosis, doomed-out drone and scathing black metal vocals and clarified the delivery.” It is evident that, even if some of some elements of Horseback’s sound have been clarified, there is still much mystery lurking in the deep, hazy Americana that their albums envelope. Horseback is the rare band whose music becomes a journey in and of itself; their albums are living things, growing and shifting with each listen. And at the pace at which Miller is working, with just four albums, he has already developed a powerful identity for himself and has secured a crushing, immaculate legacy.

It’s difficult to discern whether a band is going for a money-grab with a re-release, or if they are trying to help new fans explore their older records. Horseback received considerable critical acclaim with their previous LP, Invisible Mountain. However, each Horseback record has managed to be its own beast, with different genres, and in some cases, a different lineup. With The Gorgon Tongue, Horseback brings together Jenks Miller’s first solo release Impale Golden Horn with the very-limited-cassette-only Forbidden Planet.
Fans expecting to hear the trippy psychedelic sounds from Invisible Mountain are going to be somewhat disappointed. That album’s bookend, “Hatecloud Dissolving into Nothing,” mixed the sounds of drone with soundscapes that would not be out of place on a Boards of Canada record, which is the only musical reference echoing any aspect of these two EP’s. You won’t find much resemblance of “songs” per se, but rather, “movements.”
The four tracks that make up Impale Golden Horn are some of the most uplifting drone this side of Kranky Records. Fans of artists like Surface of Eceon, Aix Em Klemm, and Labradford will find plenty of ear candy in the tracks noted. There are lightly distorted guitars flowing upon waves and waves of sound, building to the skies only as a skyscraper would. But the decidedly major key compositions coupled with piano, synthesizers, and softly sung vocals would paint a very distinct portrait of the band, one that would not be thought as the predecessor to the Invisible Mountain record.
Each of the four tracks has a unique flavor. “Finale” rolls in with distorted guitars, swelling in and out of the picture, carrying the movement slowly forward at glacial speeds. House of Low Culture fans will greatly enjoy this piece. “The Golden Horn” has distorted guitars as well, but the piano and tremolo’d synth are at the forefront of this composition. The piano eventually fades into the swelling synth and controlled feedback.
“Laughing Celestial Architect” sounds much like a funeral dirge, akin to maybe something of Radiohead’s “Motion Picture Soundtrack” from Kid A. Those distorted guitars now sound like a rich organ or harmonium, and the feedback gives the unique overtone scripture that only those instruments can provide. This is the first track that features any percussion. It’s absolutely fascinating, and one that should be listened to upon first awakening in the early morning twilight. This track has a lot in common with Surface of Eceon’s best moments. “Blood Fountain” closes out the EP with some very pretty delayed guitars, soft vocals, and some swelling arpeggiated synth. If not for the ending controlled chaos, this would be a wonderful song to fall asleep to. And even then, you may be able to. The vocals disappear, and you hear mainly piano, the main guitar melody, and some feedback. The drums arrive in free-time, making you wonder if Damon Che Fitzgerald of Don Caballero decided to step in to play the skins, but it’s buried far enough in the mix that it never gets overwhelming.
“A Veil of Maya (The Lamb Takes the Lion)” starts the second E.P., Forbidden Planet. Decidedly different, you’d wonder if you accidentally had a Boris or SunnO))) record on. The tone is assuredly darker, and if you couldn’t feel it immediately, you’ll notice it right around the 50 second mark, as the black metal growls and noise permeate your eardrums. As it eventually fades into the more soundscape-based “A High Ashen Breeze (Part I),” you can see its relationship with Impale Golden Horn, but definitely the polar opposite mood-wise. As we segue into “A High Ashen Breeze (Part II),” this may begin to wear on you a bit. If you are a black metal and noise fan, I’m sure your interest will be held, but if you’re listening to this all in one sitting, you may start to grow weary with the squalls and screams.
The continuation of these themes are explored in “Alabaster Shithouse” [with less of the soundscape and more of the main guitar melody in the foreground], and “A High Ashen Breeze (Part III).” It’s not until you get to the last track, “Introducing Blind Angels,” that you finally hear some variance. It gives the feeling that you are in limbo with Dante and Virgil after experiencing the evil demons of the world. It’s with the relaxing bit of that passage that the listener may be torn. Would “Introducing Blind Angels” have the same profound impact had you not sat through the previous few tracks? Tough to say, but the sameness assault of the majority of Forbidden Planet after hearing such variety on Impale Golden Horn make this combination of EP’s a peculiar one.
Horseback are one of those bands that will reinvent themselves from album to album, pulling the best elements from each incarnation to move forward. Many fans will appreciate the juxtaposed EPs, but for the most part, perhaps Horseback should’ve reissued the EP’s separately. The fact that Impale and Forbidden Planet are bundled together may have fans yearning to skip one of the EPs and go right to the other. But all in all, this is not a bad introduction to this band if you haven’t jumped on-board yet, and there’s plenty of promise of things to come.