PeeP on PoP- True Widow

True Widow- As High As The Highest Heavens And From The Center To The Circumference Of The Earth (Kemado Records- 2011)
~by Gabe McBride

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It falls somewhere between a guilty pleasure and deep, dark secret, but I used to be a little bit of a metalhead. A very specific, particular kind of metalhead, which I suppose makes it a little more bearable to talk about now that my tastes are a little more *sniff* discerning. I was a Melvins freak, I saw them half a dozen times in the space of a few years, and sought out anything I could get my hands on by them, including side projects and bootlegs. I spent an afternoon in Joe Preston’s apartment recording an hours-long interview with him for a fanzine called “Cranky Messiah”, which I made maybe 25 of and never kept a copy for myself. Joe Preston was super nice, talked for hours about his dream job of playing in the Melvins (on one album, Lysol and also making one solo album, a la KISS, before being kicked, like so many bass players before him, unceremoniously out of the band). He even talked a little about his new project, Thrones, who are still a going concern to this day. So, as I was saying, I was a gloom and doom sludge-drone fan, and still think back on those more innocent days with some fondness, and True Widow do a good job of straddling that time and this one, with a sound not too far removed from my hesher past and my shoegaze-loving present.

True Widow are on Kemado Records, home to contemporary metallurgists like The Sword and Xasthur, but also to indie rockers The Soft Pack. It’s a good fit, as True Widow could easily play metal clubs and indie bars without much of a problem. The album gets a long way on attitude and atmosphere and is filled top to bottom with lilting dirge-rock tunes that simultaneously thud, buzz, and soar. AHatHHaftCttCotE is a mixed bag for me. It’s a fine record when put in the context of my headbanger past, but is a little “one note” too, as you can count on airy vocals, heavy (HEAVY) guitar and bass, and slower than molasses in February time signatures on all the songs aside from acoustic blues break ‘Interlude’. I enjoy the band for what they are, with a lot of nostalgia and admiration, even if that ain’t me no more.

For Fans of: Lower Dens, Earth