(((((OPENmind/SATURATEDbrain))))): BLOODPHEASANT

Sunday, 22 November 2015

BLOODPHEASANT

Band: BLOODPHEASANT

Genres: Punk / Rock / Post-Rock / Post-Hardcore / Post-Metal / Alternative / Doom / Grunge / Sludge
Related artists: ?.
Country: Providence, Rhode Island USA
Years Active: 2011-present
Song: "Our Homes and Their Adornments"
Album: "Traum"
Year: 2014
For fans of: Alice In Chains, Black Mountain, Sinking Steps Rising Eyes, Queens Of The Stone Age and Cat Power.

Label(s): Tor Johnson Records
This post's artist is from the November 2015 Mix. This is track #7.

You can download: the November Mix#11 right here or get the new December 2015 Mix#12 here.

Let's be honest, BLOODPHEASANT have certainly carved their own sound. If Cat Power fried her style of sad pop music in southern chicken (think Alice In Chains) and threw in a lot of post-hardcore with the occasional screams you might have an idea of what BLOODPHEASANT sounds like. I heard the band name before the band and it almost put me off, but after jamming "The Drought" all of my silly preconceived notions regarding the band evaporated like the morning dew on a farm field. This band is truly a unique entity. My best description is would be eerie, southern sludge rock mixed with post-hardcore with two vocalists, the primary tackling most duties with a calming and beautiful singing voice while the backup male vocals vary from complimentary singing to demonic screams.

From 2011 the band had been developing their sound that was finally unleashed on 2014's 'Traum' LP. The album begins with the instrumental song "A Bird and its Wings" which sets an excellent tone for the album, not heavy per say, but certainly brooding and dark with a touch of southern flare. The fantastic "Our Homes and their Adornments" meanders for a few minutes before whisking up my favourite vocal melodies that begin at 2:30. As stated earlier "The Drought" is another keeper, sounding like Johnny Cash and Queens Of The Stone Age, they hit their absolute stride after three minutes with a chorus/closing of, "I fear not but the demons inside of our hearts when the ground settles." That might be the highlight of the album with a ridiculously epic build that begins the explosion just before 4:20.

The longest song on the record comes next and is probably the closest thing that the band would have to a radio single. "Annette" begins dreamy, trippy and with wavering/echoing vocals with more great lyrics, "Remember father, we watched the sun drop out of the sky. Remember when we felt the world lurch forward. Remember father, we watched the world end, we watched it start again." The next song in this stretch of amazingness is "Wyola" which is by far the heaviest song on the album. It doesn't begin as such, but the bass and other instrumentals build until 2:15 when the dual screaming comes in. That's some heavy ass shit. Finishing off the really good stuff is "Failure", which has been floating around since 2011 and again, employs fantastic sludge rock instrumentals over soaring clean vocals until three minutes in when the guitars get all chuggy and breakdowny...nice! The final three songs, "I Am the One Who Knocks", "Farewell, Viking" and "Fell Short" are all decent but don't have the bite of the earlier tracks but "Farewell, Viking" comes pretty close.

In summary, after an astounding six song beginning the final three tracks lose some steam. I think if the album was ordered in a different way this would alleviate my issue with the close of 'Traum'. I'm really pumped to hear the bands new material. If you have the chance to see them live get on that. I did, reviewed it and posted videos here.

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DISCOGRAPHY

2011 - "Failure" digital demo single (stream/donate/download here)

2013 - Live at AS220 digitalEP (stream/donate/download here)

2014 - Traum cd/12"LP (stream/donate/download here)

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(2014) BLOODPHEASANT - "The Drought" (from 'Traum')