Cower / Thou - War is the Force That Gives Us Meaning: A Two Part Analysis of Personal and Inter-Personal Conflict (2011)

Split, Vendetta Records
June 21st, 2011

Genre: Sludge/Hardcore/Doom Metal
Region: USA

I wish I was more attentive to Cower's side of this brilliant split record with Thou when I first heard it. I mean Thou's side is just more unquestionably awe-inspiring and malice-soaked doom metal so it's hard to tear one's attention away from their side of any split; even when paired with the likes of Hell and in this case Cower.

Between the two bands and their strong, proven approaches to the niches of sludgey hardcore and callous doom it goes without saying this split has excellent variety. This is not at the expense of spellbinding song weaving whether it be furious beauty or an unbearable darkness as Cower and Thou only cull their best for each release.

When matched with Thou one might assume the younger Cower may not be up to the task of balancing the monolithic tendencies of the Baton Rogue sludge beasts, but they easily hold their own. Their use of a varied of vocal styles, the strong bass foundation throughout each track, and the creative blend of genres ensures they can stand next to such towering doom pillars like Thou.

In fact I've grown to enjoy their contribution just a bit more than the second side.

Cower's side is titled "Act I: Burn The Banks" and starts with the track named after themselves, and the subject of giving up. It's heavy and between sludge and stoner rock at first, the speed is increased briefly to bring in the hardcore but after a silence the sludgy vibe returns as we barrel into "Clonorchis Sinensis. Rhythmic hardcore takes hold for a moment before the slow jog heaviness returns, it's compouded at various points through hoarse shouts and  splashing cymbals over a wicked breakdown.

"Cut Down" is only 27 seconds but not necessarily in the powerviolence mindset despite being fast — it's contrasted by the acoustic interlude direcly afterward which is melancholic and somber. It brings other elements into the collection sounds like a piano and digital modulation near the end. Later on "Vise Grip" takes a similar approach There's a concerted effort to return to devestaing sludgcore with "Sixty Years", a track that trudges at first but hits the boosters at the one minute mark and scorches shit with noisy, drum blasts and scraping riffs. The return to slugging with trilled bends and stomping riffs. Lots of big grooves in that last moment alone

This leads to "Torch" which is my second favorite on the split. It starts similar to "Sixty Years" blending stoner riffs and hardcore pacing but by the time we're into the middle of the track, delay and reverb effects engulf the sparkling tremolo riff left hanging. It becomes manipulated for about a minute creating very pretty textures befire

My favorite track by far is "Rainmaker", it sounds closest to their material on Mind Over Matter:  bouncy and terribly catchy, considerably moreso once the great bass solo hits (these guys can punch those things through at just the right moment it seems). Bursting from that to a upbeat climb and descent through multiple noise rock attitudes, they eventually setltle on something amazing. It's probably the most memorable moment on the record, simple too, coupled with the lyrics there's a longing for release pervading this song and it's heartfelt:

"So come my friends and let us share our last breath. Let me live under the sun and remember. It's only for fun. Just remember... The tides will go in. And the tides will go out, and the leaves will grow again. Every beginning has to end, and every ending brings new beginnings, don't forget to scream and shout. There is no end."

It ends on a slightly depressive series of fuzzed out notes, and bleeds into a bonus track I don't know much about; I suspect it's a cover. Cower have done well on this split and it was a great prelude to the full length last year.


Moving on to Thou's side titled "Act II: Big City" which was released as a single EP online and kicks in with a even more sluggish interpretation of a Cower song from their first record (Hatred Songs) — it's fuckin ugly. Nothing but feedback, vocals and singular tom strikes for the majority of the track.

Then we get to dig into newer material with "View of a Burning City", a clouded lament to the state and industry's siege on humanity (in classic Thou fashion) starting darkly melodic and discordant much like their Hell split — and then straight into what I recognize as the down-tuned beat in Eminem's "Guilty Conscience"... it's bizarre. The song progresses away from this into more recognizably torturous swaying through low guitars and black vocals and I immediately feel quite cozy here. No one does this better than Thou or at all like them.

"How Lonely the City Sits" continues the vitriolic assault found before it calling out bred mediocrity, urban stagnation and the alienation it brings. This one has a fucking gripping groove midway through that flows so smoothly as Brian shouts "THE DEAFENING, ENDLESS, COMPLETE ISOLATION!!!". Thou show again and again why they sit on the throne of doom. The last section of the track brings scratchy dissonance back briefly as it slowly fades in feedback.

Closing with "Milestone" the desperate struggle continues unabated. Sliding warbled downtuned slaughter for the first while, with a great use of pinched harmonics interspersed in the marching. It gets a little more claustrophobic for a few seconds for the change in pace, where Brian's vocals become increasingly haggard and deformed in his bleak recitations. Near the end the vocals turn to clean slow chants while a buried lead riff distorts and drowns, however it reverts to more slogging before the abrupt close.

An awesome split with two dedicated acts I love a lot. This is worth the cash if you can find a copy of the LP, even if you're just in it for Thou. The art is fantastic and high quality outside of the crumbling doom and sludge imprinted on the black record. I don't know of any big labels or distros who still have copies (some smaller ones like this maybe) but they might have a few while touring still (I got mine at the Gilead Media Festival)

You can grab Cower's side for free on their band camp and Thou make all of their material available on their official site.

DOWNLOAD (Zippyshare)
DOWNLOAD (Mediafire)
DOWNLOAD (Bandcamp)  <— Cower side only!
DOWNLOAD (Noladiy direct) <— Thou side only!

Cower - Mind Over Matter (2012)

Full Length, Howling Mine / Vendtta / Television Records
December 21st, 2012

Genre: Sludge/Hardcore
Region: USA


I've become obsessed with Cower over the past few months, this record in particular but even more their split with Thou (who's members really dig this as well). I'll be putting up the rest of their catalog eventually but Mind Over Matter deserves a little more time first. I said it pretty concisely in my list so lets see if I can mess it up here.

Cower are definitely flying under the radar despite their odd accessibility, putting out four records so far all of which are really good as I found out. This one is at the top with their split. Their grand, usually upbeat style of stoner-sludge hardcore is difficult to not enjoy and has mad staying power.

I think they're sometimes a four piece but usually a three piece, drummer Logan and bassist Jakob providing both clean and scratchy punk shouts. The important thing about the cleans is that they're melodic without becoming cheesy or overdone. That doesn't mean everyone will like tit of course. Tons of thick riffs sometimes filtered through tremolo and flang effects bringing a little stoner psychedelia into the mix but never oversaturating the riffs; it remains fuzzy and loud. Cower also offer a lot of aggressive punk energy that can quickly part the dope cloud and stir shit up nicely.

Mind Over Matter has a lot of variation even if you want to boil it down to just sludgecore. Listen to "Skylids" which is loud and anthem-like and also quiet and bluesy., it's ridiculously catchy from every angle and one of my favorites on this. "The Secret Garden" has similar qualities but it's arranged a little differently so as to make shit fresh, ending up with another hypnotizing song with a sick build from the beginning. Those bass lines are engrained into my mind.

Then check out something like "Fungus Summer": a pretty acoustic balad that turns into something much more once the drums and bass creep in. Even from "The Secret Garden" you leap into something much different directly afterwards. It changes over to a bouncy almost southern rock near the end before slipping into the pure hardcore "404" which only progresses into a more sludgy Converge section at the end. This is the mark for the next track "A Rocket Man's Reality" which falls right in line with the first two mentioned as it carries that Converge-twang for only a few quiet moments, yet again morphing into a swampy sway.

As on previous releases each song shows that Cower does these genres extremely well separately and fused, with passion and making them just internally enjoyable. Another example of this is in "The Lonely Road" which is a bit dark but clear cut hardcore while "Fifteen" sounds like something out of the fastcore punk '90's or maybe Touche Amore these days; high speed, frantic with a bit of a screamo vibe by the end without the vocal style. The final track might be my pick though. "Moving Day" is just so heavy and hypnotizing, from the scratchy punk intro to the  heavy rhythms and cadence of as he shouts along jerkily, it really couldn't get much better you'd think until the slow fade and build at the end.

Admittedly you might get a different impression from the first track "Cops" as it is deceptive for the first half of the song, more obtuse and angular hardcore then most of what Mind Over Matter sounds like; though these elements are certainly incorporated. The switch is made and like that the stoner-sludge influence takes over at the same pace. Its even more palpable from "Cowboys Pt. 2" (appropriately titled) onward. They do some of this mid song flips in other tracks like "Thieves of the Night" which becomes very melodic and chilled, grooves pulsing and vocals turning clean, as well as in "A Rocket Man's Reality".

Cower on each release have brought this accessibility to a manageable/tasteful level, as with the experimentation, so there's no way you can't enjoy it even if you're on a strict diet of kvlt. A sludgy Cave In is what I would describe it as except I'm getting far more consistency and enjoyment out of Cower than Cave In.

This doesn't have a physical release yet but considering the fact that all their previous records made it on to wax and cds you can bet this will, and probably from Television Records too. Possibly Howling Mine or Vendetta in Europe if I had to guess. For now it's up on bandcamp as a pay-what-you-want download along with the rest of their discography (which I will also be posting in the future) so please give these guys what you can if you like what you hear.




DOWNLOAD (Zippyshare)
DOWNLOAD (Mediafire)
DOWNLOAD (Bandcamp)

Sanakan’s 2012 Year End List

Late as fuck.

Before I get to my top 20 for 2012 I’m starting with an unnumbered underrated records list that accompanies my overall honorable mentions; an idea I lifted from Haxan over at Forever Cursed. A few of the records I would consider fitting for this list end up on my top 20 and as such I’ve just left them off this one.

I’m also closing this whole shitpile with a best live shows list which I thought could be fun. Since I’ve been to quite a few this past year. I'm only listing six since they stuck out the most. I would split this into two posts but why not cram it all into one wall of text.

If you don’t give a shit and want the main list scroll waaay down.