Two bands, 37 minutes. What could go wrong? Probably plenty depending on the size of the bands but here, it feels like everything has gone right (or maybe gone wrong in the right way.) POHL and Ogives Big Band have been working the same circuits over the past few years, with both showing the same disregard for genre conventions, so a split release had been in the cards for a while and now that it’s here, it shatters expectations as easily as it does any attempt to figure out exactly what’s going on.
Ogives Big Band take a more traditional approach to the format, offering up four tracks that showcase something old and something new, an extravaganza of noodly guitarwork, big riffs and even bigger hooks. ‘I’m Glad You Exist’ feels like a relic of a much-missed time, bringing the listener back twenty years to when metal was simultaneously at its most adventurous and accessible, while ‘The Patron Saint Of Lost Causes’ drags the pace back to a crawl, an arduous trudge through guttural sludge and passages of pained introspection. The strange fusion of metal, off-kilter hardcore and math rock that is ‘Dragging The Plates’ goes even further off the deep end but it’s final offering ‘Read Us The Book Of The Names Of The Dead’ that proves to be the most exciting cut. The energy is pure chaos, irresistible melodies cropping up only to be cut short and malformed into juddering beatdowns, jazzy excursions occasionally muscling their way in, and the whole thing is executed with a sneering alt-rock attitude that says that they don’t really care if you don’t get it, but if you do then you’re one of the cool ones.
For POHL’s part, the approach is a little more challenging. Their contribution is the vast ‘Flayed Lord Prayer’, a 17 minute-long epic tale of ritual sacrifice as relayed through the media of fuzzed-up stoner rock, hazy psychedelia and crackling atmospherics. Opening to the rumble of thunder and woozy drone, it takes a few minutes before the trio release the brakes and summon the full force of their sound, a rolling 5/4 riff that immediately seizes the listener by the gut, Will Pearce wailing like a belligerent Perry Farrell as they get progressively more fevered. A mid-song break leads into a searing saxophone solo, a white-hot inclusion seemingly coming from out of nowhere yet perfectly in keeping with the song’s lack of restraint and decorum. It’s soulful and savage, impossibly vast, and it feels like one of those compositions that could either be meticulously constructed or completely improvised but nothing in between, an uncompromising monolith of a song that fits right in with Ogives Big Band’s similarly full-on delivery.
There’s sometimes a feeling with split releases where you have to ask, “Who is this for? Is it just for the fans or is there something more universal that makes it worth seeking out?” Here, the answer is simple – it’s for everyone whose interests aligns with the players. Two very different bands, two very different approaches, but the goal is the same – play loud, be weird, and have fun. If that sounds like your kind of party too, this is absolutely worth your attention.
