Bohren & Der Club Of Gore is a band that has always sat outside of any distinct genre. Clearly influenced by both jazz and doom metal the band have always played in away that evokes both without fully giving into either side of their coin. Although they have reached closer towards jazz over the past few years when they replaced their longtime guitarist with Saxophonist. At the same time that this could have hurt their sound and made them almost more observant to genre ideals it has seemed to make them more observant as to how they can play their own style with different instrumentation.
Being on the Ipecac label almost seems too perfect for the band as there is no band on Ipecac that fits into a particular genre. One can only assume that with Mike Patton's watchful eye has helped to make the band coalesce into something stronger, darker, and much less obvious. So with this their seventh album the band seem more focused giving the listener merely 3 songs with which to help define the current Bohren sound.
The first of these songs "Zombies Never Die (Blues)" relies on slow booming toms and atmospheres built upon keys and slight alternate percussive instruments before slowly letting the sax take the lead. Even with the sax in the lead the sound doesn't entirely suit jazz although there is certainly a bit of blues within the choice of notes. The other instruments never seem to perk up which helps give the song a different feel. Right when one would normally think that the drums would start to skitter along and create a more jazzy feel to the song it stays in it's place allowing the atmosphere to continue to build.
The middle song is a cover of the band Warlock. While I can't honestly say i know too much about Warlock I can only assume the members would have never imagined that their song would turn into what Bohren and guest vocalist Mike Patton do with it. As the band once again keeps the foot barely on the gas creeping along at a snails pace Mr. Patton comes in with his instantly recognizable voice. This allows the band to almost rework the original without getting too far off base. instead of relying on the 80's style over the top guitar parts they seem to build slightly newer creations with the saxophone parts. This is what I imagine a cover should be something that sounds similar but adds to the original without ever mimicking.
The band have never been ones to follow and certainly haven't begun to do so now. Instead the band follow their given style and create towering structures. Each piece sounds fully realized and expertly played. While it can be hard to describe what the band does within the context of a genre it doesn't seem entirely necessary to use such terminology. Simply put this is a great record.
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