Our Brother The Native: Sacred Psalms

When the words "expanding upon their previous sound" are mentioned anywhere on the run-up to a band's forthcoming album, there's always a sense of dread attached to it and with a band like Our Brother The Native, it could potentially mean the death of their previous rich sound. 

All doubts can be cast aside though, as Sacred Psalms is nothing short of awe-inspiring.

By "expanding on their previous sound", what OBTN meant was restraining their occasional doom-laden tangents and deciding to follow melody a little more closely. Again, that could've been a recipe for disaster but you'll be glad to know that they've managed it almost flawlessly.  

Child Banter is a chaotic burst of jangling guitars and high-pitched squeals. The rhythm is one of the most discordant on the record but it's held together by their ability to focus on their maelstrom instead of letting it take over. The sound of the apocalypse has never sounded so exciting.

There's no definition for their sound and though it borrows elements from a fair few genres - post-rock being the most prominent aspect - it's still a unique experience that defies the typical mannerisms of music structure and arrangement. Smothered screams smear the background of Behold as wonderfully cacophonous percussion stomp their way across the foreground. Repeated lyrics slot incongruently into the rhythm, adding a frantic sense of melody; its darkly captivating and disturbs as much as it immerses. 

Awaken howls and yearns with melancholic squeals and sorrowful vocals that penetrate deeply though the hazy, solemn atmosphere. The band are all about mood and quality, building progressively upon a simple structure and riding it out until the end. Drums rise up through the murky waters like great peaks in a dark lake as shattering cymbals split the air and xylophones tinkle in the background.

Though the record is a fantastic display of the bands artistry, there is a sense that if you haven't heard their previous material then you wont necessarily 'get' this album as much as hardened fans of the band will. It's not the best of introductions if you're a newcomer, lets just put it that way. There's moments of relentless noise dotted throughout and it can quickly change into drastically dampened and reserved melancholia, wracked with emotion and guilt so to call it a difficult listen would be a severe understatement.

Often relentless but never over-doing itself, Sacred Psalms builds on everything before and smoothes over a few edges while it's at it. It's devastating and delicate whilst remaining uncertain and introvert, letting chords walk free on an airy breeze but always overshadowing the scene with looming, ever darkening clouds. Contrary to that is the absolute shit-storm they often decide to create - just check out Well Bred's dying moments - and are so damn good at.

It's nearly impossible to provide an accurate description for what they do or how they do it - but they do "it" ridiculously well and that's a philosophy good enough for us.