Cough/Windhand Split – Reflection of the Negative
Slow. Plodding. Grandiose. These are the best words available to describe Cough’s contribution to Reflection of the Negative, a Relapse Records showcase of high-caliber Southern-fried, room-filling Doom that evokes the image of an old man, arthritic and worn, painstakingly lifting one foot at a time in the stifling Virginia heat, ambling toward that miles-away mailbox for that fixed-income check. As bassist-vocalist Parker Chandler repeats his admonishment of ‘ritual suicide’, we sense the sorrow in that image’s life lived too long, we hear the dirge of a willing death to come. As listener, however, you will not want Cough’s heavy-laden lamentation to end, for this nearly 19-minute monster is stoner-riffic doom at its highest (heh), and when the wife and kids are asleep and you’re looking to ‘take the edge off’ by engaging music befit the meaningless of your own existence, rest easy with Cough as your linctus.
Parker Chandler also handles bass duties in Richmond, VA’s Windhand, the group taking the other side of this enthralling split, though Windhand’s vocals are hauntingly howled by Dorthia Cottrell. Her clean, melodic vocalizations are every bit as energetic as Chandler’s, albeit in a completely opposing way; for while melancholic Stoner/Doom remains Windhand’s musical hors d’ oeuvre of the day, her contribution has you on an aural highway is less bleak. Consider Cottrell’s voice an exit, a rest stop for Windhand’s weary participant: No reason to cry; you should feel satisfied. But when ‘Shepherd’s Crook’ ends in a quickly fading feedback-strewn wail, you know that the respite is only temporary, your quiet end comes still. So push play again to continue staring, unflinchingly, into your own ‘Reflection of the Negative’, and thank your god for great Doom. –Jim
Relapse Records
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