Review Summary: An epic ode to the criminal in all of us.
Dark Watcher is a unique, three-piece black metal band hailing from the wasteland of Missouri and dealing with subject matter that isn't typical of the genre that they play. Instead of focusing on Satan and corpse paint, these guys write music about the American wild west. Yes, you heard that right. Dark Watcher like to make their brand of black metal a cinematic, spaghetti western-inspired adventure instead of just 40 minutes of the same riff. You guys know that black metal is my favorite genre and I personally love the monotonous hypnoticism presented in a genre like this, but sometimes it's nice to see a band take an alternate route to get their results.
The Law of Bone and Sinew is the debut LP from these guys and it is one hell of an atmospheric, yet still riff driven, journey. The thing that is most evident, and most out of the black metal realm, is the country and americana influences. As far as I know, Wayfarer is the only other band to mix the two polar opposite styles together, and to be honest, I don't know how it isn't just a tad more popular. The twang in the tremolo picking gives it an extremely picturesque feeling, like you're watching Clint Eastwood about to blow someone away with his magnum. While Wayfarer has a more romantic and gothic feeling to them, Dark Watcher opt for the more intense approach while still maintaining the movie-like feeling of the album's flow.
The opener, ‘The Trial of the Davis Kid’, sets the stage wonderfully with an intro that sounds like a jukebox playing in a 1920s saloon before ominous footsteps are heard and a haunting acoustic starts playing. Around 3 minutes in, the pace picks up and a twangy americana riff turns into a full, raw black metal assault with sharp tremolo picking, furious blast beats and throat-shredding zombie shrieks that sound like they came straight from the icy 90's Norwegian scene. The track is a spicy tale of a man on the run from law enforcement after committing murder. This album is a clinic on how to create Western-themed black metal.
As opposed to Wayfarer, Dark Watcher has a violence about them that every black metal band should strive for. The first 4 and a half minutes of ‘The Dakota War of 1862’ sounds like a literal chainsaw of chunky riffage and the blasting of the snare is addicting before transitioning into a dry, desolate-sounding acoustic section that gives the vibe of the lawbreaker roaming around trying to evade law enforcement. The final track, ‘The Spirit of Black Hand Brandon’, is an ode to one of Sputnik's own fallen warriors, Brandon Nurick. A beautiful, rustic harmonica plays for around 3 minutes before the best riff on the album soars triumphantly over the mid-paced, rhythmic drumming. It's an all-instrumental track that feels, fittingly, like a farewell to a close buddy.
The Law of Bone and Sinew is an album that is clearly made and filled with a lot of emotion, the stories of these characters relating to people that the band knows in real life. The dreariness is constant, but there's also something beautiful in the chaos. The country/americana influences bring a new dimension to black metal and they don't sound out of place in the slightest. The heavy emotional investment, the atmospheres throughout, and the fantastic riffs and drumming make this album a ripping good time for any black metal fan. You won't find a more unique and well-put together album in the genre this year.
