(By Pat ‘Riot’ Whitaker, Senior Writer/Journalist, RiffRelevant.com)
It is with great excitement that bring you my insights on the début full-length from Baltimore’s THOUGHT EATER, “Bones In The Fire“.
The album, which arrives from Grimoire Records on May 18th, is the follow-up to the 2016 studio introduction to the band, the ‘Vortex 6′ split with Iron Jawed Guru. Since I covered that release way back when, I and many others have eagerly awaited a proper full-length from THOUGHT EATER. Here we are!
The trio at the core of this band – Darin Tambascio (12 string bass), Douglas Griffith (guitar), and Bobby Murray (drums) – craft some incredible instrumental progressive doom / post-rock. The threesome’s talent and creativity is rendered with the grand exhibit of these six songs, each one rife with intricate, solid playing that will thoroughly impress you.
The fluidity of this music is quickly established with the opening song, the first of the two-part title track, “Bones In The Fire (Part 1)“. The finesse of the song, although heavy and emitting some dark overtones, sets the bar high right from the start.
Second song, “Pantomimic Dances“, makes an immediate impression with a “Nothingface” era Voivod-ian feel to it. The sensation of untethered liberation from the spiraling, spinning feel from within the music is something to be experienced. The drumming here, bordering on blast beats at times, is stellar, while the addition of subtle synth inserts and strings only enhance this song’s overall appeal.
Speaking of strings, a definite plus that makes its presence known repeatedly throughout these songs is Tambascio’s 12-string bass. I will be the first to admit that I am not a techie or a equipment savvy guy in the least, but I know there’s something remarkable happening here with that instrument and Darin’s manning of it.
The progressive-fueled escapism of songs like the powerhouse pair “Speak Through Dreams” and “Bones In The Fire (Part 2)“, or the beautifully tranquil “Umwelt”, is just simply phenomenal. The latter, the album ending “Umwelt“, is quite an emotional high point for the record.
Another one of my favorites is perhaps the darkest and heaviest hitter happening here, “Covenant“. The fuzz-dense horror movie soundtrack-like vibe of this song, augmented by the elements of soupy sludge and tempo shifts, make it a hard to forget number indeed.
I invite you to delve into both installments of the title track, “Bones In The Fire (Part 1)” and “(Part 2)” in this streaming embed. You can also hear the song “Covenant” over at No Clean Singing HERE.
“Bones In The Fire” was recorded by Noel Mueller in November of 2017 and January of 2018. It was also mixed and mastered by Noel Mueller, and features artwork by Andrew Notsch and will be released via Grimoire Records on May 18th, but take heed… There is NO physical release planned at this time.
“Bones In The Fire” will be available world-wide as a digital download from Grimoire Records – and will be available on Spotify, iTunes, and Amazon – along with direct download through Bandcamp HERE.
On a related note, THOUGHT EATER will join GLOOP, MYOPIC and GENEVIEVE for the Grimoire Records Matinee show at The Depot in Baltimore, MD. on Sunday, June 17 [INFO].
