WYLLT: BLACK MATH HORSEMAN’S DECEPTIVELY STRONG DEBUT
Thursday, May 7th, 2009 at 10:45am by Sammy O'Hagar
A close read of Black Math Horseman’s name will ultimately lead to disappointment: “Black” denotes black metal, but sadly, there is none; “Math” signifies shifting time signatures and jerky rhythms, but band’s album is fairly light on that front; and “Horseman” could hearken back to black metal yet again, or perhaps Amon Amarth-style romp through kick-ass melodic death metal. But, alas, the parts of Black Math Horseman’s name certainly don’t add up to the assumed whole; in fact, their name is up there with Massive Attack and Lamb of God in terms of misleading band monikers. But this doesn’t mean Black Math Horseman suck. Though different – on top of their bizarre name – from your average brand of spacey post-metal, Wyllt, the band’s debut, has a lot packed into what seems to be a measly package: a short running time with relatively brief songs, a lot of atmosphere and, upon first listen, not a lot of hooks. But they stuff a lot beneath the surface, and after Wyllt reveals itself, there’s a considerable amount of substance that will burrow its way into you. Though maybe not in the way you think, Black Math Horseman are hard to dismiss.
Though nuance isn’t necessarily a hallmark to the general umbrella of a genre that birthed “Christraping Black Metal,” “Entrails Ripped from a Virgin’s Cunt,” and anything in the Anal Cunt catalog, Wyllt has it in spades. The first few listens may not yield anything of note, with the band feeling around the same peaks and valleys that post-metal is so well known for (though in not as dramatic a fashion as most of their peers). But the last two songs pack all the accessible riffs alongside what Black Math Horseman had been meandering around, leaving one to wonder what in the hell had just happened, and whether or not they had been paying attention. And returning to Wyllt will reveal what can be so easily missed: though lacking the enormous terraced dynamics of Isis or Cult of Luna, the band slowly build and retract sparse riffs that manage to stick to you. The last two songs, perhaps the force that drew you back, only become more effective after noticing the inner workings and interesting interplay that had been going on all along.
The band’s playing is nothing to sneeze at, either. The sinewy guitar lines recall Pelican or even a sad Fugazi, the drums are subtle but inventive, and bassist/vocalist Sera Timms sounds like Jarboe getting voice lessons from Grace Slick after downing a bottle of Tylenol PM in the back of a church (all of which is bolstered by former Kyuss/Obsessed bassist Scott Reeder’s reverb-drenched production). The band playing off of each other’s stengths manage to make Wyllt an album of lush arrangements that stops short of sounding bloated or melodramatic. And much like Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood, the ending will make you go back and rethink the parts that you may have found trying or slow-moving initially, perhaps viewing them in a whole new light. There Will Be Blood had only a few violent scenes in it, and very little literal blood to speak of. Black Math Horseman don’t unleash the complex viking metal record some may have been expecting, but what emerges in the meantime isn’t so bad either.
(3 1/2 out of 5 horns)
-SO
Lovelovelove this record. To me it’s got more in common with dark psychedelic bands like Black Mountain or The Warlocks than post-metal. I’m lucky to be able to see ‘em live regularly in Los Angeles.
it needs to be stated that Scott Reeder of Kyuss fame did a killer job with recording this record!
The There Will Be Blood reference sold me. Gotta check this band out.
can we PLEASE get rid of the terms ‘post rock’ and ‘post metal’
it’s contradictory. how can a subgenre of rock be beyond rock, and how can a subgenre of metal be beyond metal? it’s logistically impossible. if something is truly so amazing as to be post-genre, it deserves it’s own, brand new genre name. if not, then it’s not it’s just unjustifiably pretentious to use the post- prefix.
BrandonMetal, if that is your real name, please allow me to retort:
I agree and disagree with your request. I agree in the fact that the terms are a little contradictory: how can something be something if it’s beyond it? It would, in theory, be something else altogether. But if I may make an argument in defense of the “post-rock” term, post-rock, to me, is a real thing that deserves the “post-” handle: it’s clearly in opposition to the defining pillars of rock and roll, what with epic song structures in lieu of verses, choruses and verses; indecipherable vocals without hooks or melodies, often sung (or spoken) in a less-than-masculine fashion; and a lack of proficency at their instruments (not to say post-rock musicians are bad players, but they’re rarely the sort of calibur of musicians that prog rock is known for). They do have a tether, albeit a small one, back to rock, in that a) post-rock usually relies on guitars, bass, and drums for its compositional core and b) it’s not quite out there to the point where it leaves popular music to become minimalism or some other type of contemporary classical music. While of course there’s a broad range of composers and musicians that operate outside the verse-chorus-verse/catchy melodies/kick-ass guitar solo variety of rock and roll but are still very much a part of the rock world, post-rock feels of a different breed, and a breed that thinks far outside of that paradigm. So while, yeah, in theory post-rock is a condtradictory term, it does make a point.
However, post-metal is a little more bullshit. Metal is something a little more narrowly defined than rock and roll, in that, in my and many others’ opinions, metal has to be heavy in order to be metal (hence its original moniker), as opposed to rock, which can be heavy or not. In order for something to be “post-metal”, it would have to arguably lack that heaviness–or be beyond heaviness, if you will– and thus making it no longer metal. All post-metal does is go through different means in order to attain heaviness as opposed to eschewing the whole thing altogether. If we had begun referring to bands playing faster or slower or overall differently from bands like Sabbath, Deep Purple, and the like as “post-metal,” arguably, it’d be just as accurate. So while I think “post-rock” is a valid and arguably necessary term, I think “post-metal” is a bit more bullshit and lazy, in that it’s applied to some bands that utilize post-rock’s twinkly guitars and free-floating, crescendo-heavy song structures and not a conscious move to “move past” metal.
Unfortunately Brandon (I can call you Brandon, right?), as a writer, the term “post-metal” is a commonly used term that evokes a certain style of metal– the kind popularized by Neurosis, Isis, Cult of Luna, scarier Mogwai, and so forth– that I found Black Math Horseman to be playing (just my opinion, Mr. Rosenbloom. You have a solid point as well). Though I have heard other terms– “metalgaze” being the one I personally preferred (though certainly didn’t make up) before post-metal came to be its accepted term– “post-metal” is the one used by many, and has been around long enough where, despite my reservations about the term, if I want people to know what Black Math Horsemen sound like, this will have to be a term I use. Like grunge– a term no self-respecting band in that scene would have self-applied– post-metal, like it or not, is what this thing has been called. Unfortunately, a bunch of lazy writers over the last decade couldn’t think of a better term to describe bands that were combining post-rock and atmospheric sludge/doom. Though, that being said, when there comes a time where I have to use the phrase “post-atmospheric sludge/doom”, I’ll probably be right there with you in terms of outrage.
This band is fuckin’ awesome, whatever you call it. ;)
Good review, even better retort.
This band is fucking incredible. Definately my favorite of all I have heard. Seeing them play all over Los Angeles for a few bucks here or there makes me feel incredibly lucky to live here. All member are incredibly talented and the music is incredibly forboding with explosive power and unrelenting wrath. The music builds and builds with powerful and clean dynamics, plateauing with dark menacing accuracy. It’s vorpal blade goes snicker-snack. Seras voice Conveys seduction and destruction all at once, and in it you feel her soul open and explosively slaughter all that stands in it’s way. The Black Math Horseman IS coming for you. And it won’t be pretty.