By: Dave Allan Guzda
Muscle & Marrow | website | facebook | bandcamp |
Released on May 27, 2016 via The Flenser
Muscle & Marrow. Have fun trying to pigeon hole them into a genre. I’ve seen them described as psychedelic doom metal, dark electronic rock and experimental post punk/dark wave and that is only a few. Muscle & Marrow are all those things at different moments during Love and they are revealed in interesting and innovative ways.
Love has plenty of colour within its many layers of sound. The duo of Kira Clark (guitar, vocals) and Keith McGraw (drums, samples) create a satisfying symphony with gentle passages one moment that suddenly plummet into tortured sonic darkness in the next. The music always has a lingering tension with its unsettled appetizing mess of instrumentation, sounds and of course the harrowing, soul scratching vocals of Kira Clark.
Clark doesn’t just sing on the album. Her voice is an instrument itself that is used to convey the ominous aforementioned tension and feeling that lurks deep in the layers of sound. The coughs, the gasps, the moans, the screams… the many vocalizations seem to be communicating as they finish each other’s sentences and add palpable emotion to the songs throughout the album. For example, the killer opening track ‘My Fear’ has Clark’s voice wash across the song like a dark gently wafting fog but as it arrives it ensnares you with waves of captivating, suffocating and stunning sound. What attracted me initially to the band was their use of typical rock instrumentation (acoustic drums and guitar) paired with heaps of atmospheric samples. This is Keith McGraw’s realm and his contribution largely molds Muscle and Marrow’s powerful energy. The crashing drums in ‘My Fear’ sound like a rampaging herd of horses and the simple electronic bass melody fits perfectly.
Understandably the band is often said to have doom metal influences. Songs like ‘Womb’ and ‘Bereft Body’ have that slow, plodding, ponderous musical gear often associated with doom metal. Even when moving along slowly, Muscle & Marrow add enough guitar jabs and tempo changes to keep things engaging. ‘Bereft Body’ is a curious effort of deception. The song starts off so simple and sunny, with a gentle drone, it is so tranquil. A little melody hums over Clark’s angelic vocals singing like a gentle spring breeze. It doesn’t last. Gradually the Marrow twist and distort the beauty. Sinister tones creep into the mix, the drums become menacing, it builds it into a noisy, tumultuous, drum flailing aural conflict. One is never certain what the next moment will bring when listening to Muscle & Marrow.
Similar to ‘Bereft Body’, ‘Light’ also builds from the ethereal to the turbulent. Kira’s vocals intertwine upon themselves like mating snakes, it creates some stunning effects. Kira has a spellbinding voice… but it is how the band layers her many different vocal tonalities that give Muscle and Marrow’s songs their stunning presence and atmosphere.
The lyrics throughout Love reveal some touching and authentic reflections. Anyone who has lost a parent can relate to the loss and empty feeling of absence; being bereft of body. The song ponders the loss of the person that shaped you “My mouth is my grandma/ My teeth are my grandma /My blood is my grandma“. Equally poignant are the cathartic words from ‘Light’ “and everyone I know is gone/ I stay right here /Everyone I love is gone / And I cannot move from here“.
This record will undoubtedly require a few listens to appreciate and fully absorb. Once you arrive however, the layers of emotion, fragility and aggression will make you appreciate what an exceptional, unique and deeply gratifying release this is. Love is an alluring album, seducing you with both delicate and stinging sound.
Feel my power. Female power. Fear my power.
