Review
Thou
Rhea Sylvia

Thou, in this particular rendition, throw down great song thud after thud, right on the table, while permeating a delicate scent through their carefully constructed EP, Rhea Sylvia. Each song is a steamy dish, smelling like Tool, Starkweather, and Isis mishmashed together. The vocals have a Maynardish-Alice In Chains chest voice, a Starkweather scream, and a shimmering lead guitar tone. It’s slovenly administration of songs average around 4 minutes long, remarkable since music so bone-crushingly slow tends to overextend in length, if not only to establish themes, and play around. It seems as if Thou wrote an eleven-minute song and chopped any unnecessary fat of the ends. So now we have the best 4 minutes of each song to import its effect directly and efficiently without making us wait: the expediency of a good artist.

I mean we had to work out way through layer upon layer of heavy music, slowly sculpting our tastes, sometimes accidentally making mistakes, until they pulled us up to Thou’s doorstep, and we feel honored to walk, hand in hand, through their garden of fused genres and styles. What’s appreciated is that they took the time to streamline their sound so we can enjoy them with great ease (for the trained ear). Also, their production is pleasant, and doesn’t tire me out even if I listen repeatedly (which I have).

What’s interesting in the song “Non-Entity is how it appears like an EP filler, yet doesn’t sacrifice any goodness, like most inbetweeners do. Instead it works its way subtly to "Deepest Sun", the EP’s shining gem. It has the melodic chorus of a Type O Negative song, the best aspects of a radio friendly pop song mixed with the best of heavy music. Only the more sophisticated can shed enough weight in order to fully appreciate this songs genius. You have to abandon all skepticism of melody—a skepticism so rife in metal—, singing to the free mind and reveal beneath the mistrust really good melody, harmony, perfect length leaving us wanting more, with a predictable structure to boot. It’s actually too bad the song is that short.

Thou’s welcomed use of clever melody supplants a well-needed heart into such bass heavy ‘hearty’ music. This technique fits like hand in glove, and the clean vocals throw a little extra cherry on top, sweetening the whole mixture.