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Oxbow: An evil heat

16/02/11 || Khlysty

When the Lord decided to do a little weeding out in the archives of GD, he went the whole hawg and deleted ONE FUCK OF A LOT of older reviews. One of those –and one of my favorite pieces of writing- was Col Dubh’s review of Oxbow’s “An Evil Heat”. If I remember correctly, Col used a personal –and quite disturbing- experience to describe the overall feel of this scary and dark-beyond-darkness record by a band which only tentatively can be considered as “metal”. See, Oxbow is a beast all of its own, mining for inspiration such diverse genres as da blooz, noise rock, jazz and, of course, metal, to create what human degeneracy might sound like, if turned into music.

Even though I cannot approach Col’s intense review, I decided to write my own version for “An Evil Heat” for two reasons: one, I think that it’s one of the most important “heavy” records of the past decade and two, because a few years back I had the chance of seeing Oxbow live and have a small chat with their main man, Eugene Robinson after the show, a chat which revealed to me a guy who’s the total opposite of his stage persona, but, at the same time, totally compatible with that persona. See, live, Robinson looks and acts like a hopped-up boxer, one hair away of losing it completely and doing unspeakable acts, while off stage he’s an amicable and eloquent guy, even though there’s a constant undercurrent of barely-controlled violence emanating from him.

And that’s exactly what Oxbow sounds like: a band which can easily fly from surprisingly detailed and soulful music to bursts of aggression that make most brootal metal bands sound like the wimps that they really are. Oxbow’s music is a lurching, lumbering beast, full of scary turns and dynamics, one moment going for near-silence, the other firing away extreme whip cracks of dissonance, while Robinson moves all over the place, screaming, pleading, wheezing, crying, shouting and generally acting as demented as possible, telling fragmentary stories of human degradation, violence, sex that you don’t wanna know ‘bout, substance abuse, psychological terror and everything evil that lurks inside the synapses of even the commonest human brain.

Musically speaking, what Oxbow remind me the most of is the great AmRep roster of noise bands, but pumped-up with an elephant-killing dose of steroids. The trio of musicians who offer Robinson the canvas on which he screams/whines his stories are extremely talented and tight as a band, everyone complementing each other and, as a whole, creating a nightmarish maelstrom of noise and melody. Sudden speedings-up and decelerations of tempo, bursts of feedback and an organic and as-in-your-face-as-humanly-possible production job add considerably to the craziness, although repeated listens of the record reveal that there’s a method to Oxbow’s madness, a vice-like calculated control over the music, even during its most trainwreck-like moments.

Look, I won’t say that “An Evil Heat” is a record that will satisfy each and every metalhead. The eclectic influences the band draws from and the chaotic feel that permeates the music can be serious deal-breakers and the fact that this is not metal per se can easily dissuade someone from really getting into it. But for the discerning aficionado, “An Evil Heat” can easily become the musical equivalent of a lifetime of debauchery of the most uncontrolled kind. Sample with care and you won’t be disappointed.

8,5

Information
Released: 2002
Label: Neurot Recordings
Website: www.theoxbow.com
Band
Eugene Robinson: vocals
Niko Wenner: guitar, keyboards
Dan Adams: bass, keyboards
Greg Davis: drums, percussion

Tracklist
01. The Snake &…
02. …The Stick
03. S bar X
04. Stallkicker
05. Sweetheart
06. Sawmill
07. Skin
08. Sorry
09. Shine (Glimmer)

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