| |
|  |
 | Tracklist:
1. Engines In The City
2. Blood Flight
3. Portrait Of The Young Girl As An Artist
4. How Gentle
5. A Silver Fox
6. Golden Locks
7. This Is A Thirst
8. Milk Of Marrow
9. Black Morning / Viscera
| Ranking: #148 for 2011 | |
|
On 37 Lists
|
| Summary: And up we went, blood and I, spread over the city. |
4 of 5 thought this review was well written
How can something so unreal be so visceral? Viscera is an album about lust, but it's also about travel. While the themes presented here aren't entirely new, Hval takes this journey in a completely poetic way, every phrase destructive, every refrain potent. It's the work of somebody that allows you to peak into their id - the view is dark and often disturbing. Perhaps the vocal melodies are to blame; after all, her voice all but encompasses every inch of the record, as if a ghost leading the meta-physical body through all the transformations to the soul that take place in the frozen lake of Cocytus.
Further delves reveal Viscera to be tight for how drawn out and expansive these songs are. A sign of great songwriting; these folk(?) tunes are stretches out and tinkered with until the entire machine just collapses (the Cranberries-esque rock-out outro of "The Portrait Of A Young Girl As An Artist"). Hval plays with unconventional structures (like the completely linear and meandering but always engaging "This Is A Thirst") though her songs have waves of memorable moments. Viscera, even through its massive force, is paced beautifully thanks to Hval's dizzying variety of phrasing and melodies. She goes everywhere on the album; up, down, in and out, quiet and piercing. Whether her virtuosity is alluding to the movement and travel themes I'm not sure. Either way, Viscera is all Hval's own.
But it's Hval's lyrics that create the illusion that this is the most profound listening experience since the turn of the new decade. After all, it's not everyday a female artist revels in her own primal sexuality quite like this. Hval spans these 9 gorgeous tracks literally turning herself inside out. As the stunning closing track "Black Morning/Viscera" puts it: "and upside down, I felt my organs falling out. Through my throat, one by one.". So gripping. So visceral.
|
| Recent reviews by this author | | | |
neg
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
Listening to this right now brahhhhh
Digging: Autechre - Amber | | | Album Rating: 4.5
Yes! Thanks for writing this, you did a great job with it. I like how you mentioned how all-encompassing her vocals are - there are many points during the album where I stop myself and think: "uh...where is the music?". But her vocals are so emotionally resonant and revealing that I frankly don't care.
Digging: Animal Collective - Honeycomb/Gotham Digging: Animal Collective - Honeycomb/Gotham | | |
someone's read the Divine Comedy.
Digging: Love American - Disquiet Digging: Love American - Disquiet
| | |
Going to be honest with you Sam, that opening paragraph doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, especially this:
"Perhaps the vocal melodies are to blame; after all, her voice all but encompasses every inch of the record, as if a ghost leading the meta-physical body through all the transformations to the soul that take place in the frozen lake of Cocytus."
Maybe if you added 'were' after 'as if ghost,' but even still it's a little...awkward.
Another example of awkward wording is this:
"Further delves reveal Viscera to be tight for how drawn out and expansive these songs are."
I'm glad that you wrote this though, because people should be listening to this right now. I might take a crack at reviewing it after I finish working on a few other things.
Digging: Between the Buried and Me - Colors Digging: Between the Buried and Me - Colors
| | |
nope
Digging: Mount Eerie - Clear Moon Digging: Mount Eerie - Clear Moon
| | |
so what is it
Digging: Candlemass - Psalms For The Dead Digging: Candlemass - Psalms For The Dead
| | |
Dream pop.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
dream folk
it's pretty good
Digging: - Digging: - | | |
Love this. It's really, really gorgeous.
Digging: Perfume Genius - Put Your Back N 2 It
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
Ok you were right this is great.
Blood Flight and Black Morning are so awesome.
| | |
RIYL ????
Digging: Simian Mobile Disco - Unpatterns Digging: Simian Mobile Disco - Unpatterns
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
dude psyko what happened to the 4/5 :[
i bumped it down you wanna fight about it?
don't get me wrong this is great though
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
Recommended if you like: Grouper, Trespassers William, Mount Eerie.
| | |
22 comments no pos votes. SO DICK
Digging: Botanist - I: The Suicide Tree / II: A Rose From the Dead Digging: Botanist - I: The Suicide Tree / II: A Rose From the Dead
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
I negged.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
i pos'd out of guilt. i dunno i found it a bit dull in parts but i'm gonna listen again
| | |
I enjoy the perverse nature of calling an album Viscera. And then you listen, and it's absolutely transcendent stuff.
| | |
Not yet Chambered im procrastinaTING.
| | | Album Rating: 5
Nice little precursor to my monolith (coming soon)
| | | |
|
|
Stumble
Digg
Twitter
Del.icio.us
