Review by Vinny for Thou - Summit (2010)

Despite a seemingly bottomless pit of a discography, I haven’t listened to all that many Thou releases in my time.  It is possibly the case that Summit is my first listen through a full length release from them in fact.  Subconsciously at least, I do tend to be wary of bands who constantly release material, acknowledging that whilst the tipping point may vary from band to band, eventually quality eventually is lost at the expense of quantity.  I would not say there is any issue with the quality of the material on Summit however, despite it taking me a few listens to grasp some of what is going on within the five tracks on offer.

I find that this is a release that has successful moments or key elements for me that I enjoy more than others.  For example, the fuzzy droning guitar on ‘By Endurance We Conquer’ is a real treat.  There are also instruments on Summit that I was not expecting the inclusion of.  ‘Grissecon’ starts of like a KEN Mode track with a slow picked intro, but there’s definitely a piano introduced once the track starts proper (which if my memory serves me correctly, was a feature on the last KEN Mode album I heard).  Credit is due to Thou for being able to combine the harsher elements of sludge with a keen ear for melody.  Whilst comparisons can be made to some of my sludge metal favourites such as Primitive Man or Coffinworm, these droning elements, the off-kilter instrument choices and the melodic plod that sits behind the music sets Thou apart from the crowd.

Considering the shortest track is over eight minutes long, disregarding the instrumental that closes the album, there is no sense of Thou kicking their heels during these lengthy offerings.  The band show a high level of patience in their builds to tracks and are unafraid to stick with a level once they find the ceiling of where they want a track to operate from in the main.  The enduring misery of ‘Prometheus’ needs no pace beyond a lurching stagger to make its point for the most part (again, there’s a violin or cello somewhere in the background here too).  A special mention goes to the drummer on this track for making interesting patterns, runs and fills without becoming a distraction from the crushing nature of the song.  The depths of despair that are explored on this track are underlined by tortured guitar melodies that drone across the track brilliantly.

It will no doubt take further listens before I can say that I connect totally with Summit.  There are lingering doubts in my mind that the mixed instrumentation adds a little too much of an “artsy” element to the sound that is necessary for the messaging but at the same time a little off-putting to a sludge fan like myself.  As a starter for ten though, Summit has been a good introduction to Thou and marks a good foundational point for me to explore the discography further in the coming months.  Notwithstanding that I will be selective in my future choices with such a vast quantity of releases to choose from.  The guard it still up in that sense, protecting the chin.