This first line lead singer Bryan Funck screams in “The Unnamed Path” exemplifies one of Thou’s main goals: to dwell in and utilize the power of suffocating sounds and emotions to come away feeling hopeful and empowered. For 24 minutes, Thou’s brand of sludge/drone/doom barely lets go; apparently To the Chaos Wizard Youth’s outright bludgeoning is meant to be a counterpart to 2010’s Summit’s experimentation and an outlet for new drummer Josh Nee to impress and win over hesitant fans (for said fans hear the last 1:44 of third track, “Helen Will Have Her Revenge on New Orleans”). Additionally, this EP demonstrates something the band perfected with “Another World is Inevitable” off last year’s said full length, Summit, which is, oddly enough, subtlety.

Now, hold on. No one in their right mind would describe Thou’s music as sounding subtle. In fact, …Chaos Wizard sees the Baton Rouge, LA band as forceful, direct and unhinged as ever, losing much of the post-rock tendencies found on early full-lengths Peasant and Tyrant and focusing on what might seem like bluntness and ferocity. One complaint, which might be a common response to the way Thou currently structures their songs, is that this new format is boring, that nothing changes. The same riff is repeating itself. Take a closer listen and you’ll notice that the tempos shift in much more subtle ways than before, as riffs lumber over and over they speed up and slow down, often aligning themselves with a tonal shift in the lyrics. When changes do ensue they feel more momentous than before, more earned.

For example, “The Unnamed Path” builds with guitars wailing, cymbals kissing and crashing all the while the drums take slow steps, carrying the song towards its righteous and unholy dirge. When they finally enter, Bryan’s vocals are as ghastly, vicious, vulnerable and impassioned as ever, spitting lyrics that announce triumph after triumph over political corruption, greed, indifference, and systemic violence against fellow human and earthly beings. Delivered this way, repeated and spat out over the top of such monstrous and crunchy riffs, I can’t help but feel that these triumphs are impending. Then, around the 5:40 mark we find a turn in the lyrical listing of triumphs to what I interpret as the grandest, a shift in consciousness toward “outward reflection.” Here the band cuts out, if only momentarily, as Bryan exclusively screams, announcing a diatribe from one voice to all others with as much force and conviction to possibly reach them all.

The three other songs on Chaos Wizard work in a similar fashion: build by repetition and subtle nuance until Bryan’s vocals have no choice but to boil over, bringing the rest of the band with him into ferocious but ultimately hopeful and uplifting territory. Thou inspires the type of productive anger manifested not by “the violent impotence of the masculine savage” but towards the restoration of “the unity of synchronicity,” which is both refreshing and inspiring in a community unwilling to reflect on the power and violence it so often inspires or is inspired by.

Though some fans might miss the older, post-rock tendencies, which allowed songs room to breathe in between the sludge, I welcome the newer, more suffocating approach. With this, Thou more successfully convinces its listeners that the collapse of much of the status quo just might be more beautiful (albeit terrifying too) than the destruction of our creative abilities to see outside it. The lyrics from “Helen…” most redolent of this welcomed collapse read, “Someday a real rain will come and wash all the scum off the streets,” reminding us of the creative duality of storms to both destroy and reanimate. For some this may evoke apocalyptic thoughts, somehow suggesting that the “world’s” survival requires human beings to voluntarily self-extinct, but Thou don’t seem all that invested in giving up on the capacity to radically adjust to what the world asks of us.

I love everything about this band; their simple name, their logo, their artwork (the new artwork even seems to match the artwork of Peasant), their crawling, sludgy, blackened doom, their lyrics, and the fact they are from Louisiana. With obvious nods to Eyehategod as well as current sludge acts like Cough, Highgate and Negative Reaction, and even some Autopsy, Thou are a simple, icky sludge act with little deviation from lengthy songs of oozing, feedback laden riffs straight from the depths of the Bayou. Even with a few tangents of hacking Southern ambience and bluesy sometimes post rock acoustic respites, Tyrant comes across as a festering, sore ridden and painful metal reminder of the post Katrina carnage that left the area a barren, scarred wasteland of human misery and refuse.

I heard this album after Peasant, and when you compare the two, Tyrant seems to be the better release. It has a bigger, fuller, nastier production as well as a slightly more unique ‘swampy’ feel, as opposed to pure droning sludge. The seven tracks, in their hour duration deliver tangible moments of skin picking paranoia mixed with some surprisingly introspective segues of malaised beauty. The end result often comes across as Goatsblood meets Isis having a voodoo ritual.

From the opening scrawl of the title track, to the aptly named, heaving “With a Cold, Life Extinguishing Elegance”, loping menace of “Fucking Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean”, rending and almost melodic doom of “I Was Ignored and Judged and Cast Down”, to the crawling filthy “Monstrance” and closing duo of the corrosively epic 13 minute “What Still Flows From These Veins” and surprisingly elegant 11-minute instrumental “Acceptance”, Thou are absolute masters of this style and in my opinion one of the best and nastiest sludge bands around. (On a side note for you vinyl nuts out there the album’s last two tracks are also both available from Gilead on a Blood Red Vinyl 12″ EP).

If you enjoyed Peasant, Tyrant is a must have as it is the superior release, though Peasant is awesome also. Tyrant just seems to have a bit more variety and ambience amid the gnarly, tooth gnashing sludgy throes.

Opening track “The Work Ethic Myth” had my hope up pretty high.  Its like a mix between Graves At Sea and Pelican.  The lilting, bittersweet melody is really effective.  However, without many turns in the songwritting and just being under 6 minutes, it does try my patience.  Second cut “An Age Imprisoned” introduces that bluesy stuff I was talking about. It’s actually kind of happy.  Reminds me of Jesu a little bit.  Unfortunately that riff only shows up twice in the entire 11 minutes of this track.  The closing 3 minutes are pretty cool, though. A droning, feedback ridden funeral dirge which makes you wonder if it’ll ever end (in a good way).

“Belt of Fire to Guid Me Cloak of Night to Hide Me” didn’t really strike me as anything too special.  Just some more heavy sludge riffing.  There is a nice slow down section in the middle that does well to add vartiation in the songwritting.   “Burning Black Coals And Dark Memories” marks a return of the post-rock influence.  The first half of this track is really quite wonderful.  After a soft, plodding opening, it explodes into a downpour of meloncholly.  Unfortunately, the second half is back to the same ol’ sludge as usual.  Last two tracks “They Stretch Out Their Hands” and “The Road of Many Names” are pretty much the same deal.  No frills, monotonous doom.  Though, the closing to “The Road…” is pretty sweet.  Shrill, staticy feedback rings out and fades as a solitary melody is played on a clean guitar, which also fades in time.  Thought that was a pretty haunting closer.

If you’re just looking for sludgy doom, then look no further.  These guys deliver.  But if you’re looking for something more, don’t bother.  Peasant comes really close to being something special, if they’d only have gone the extra mile.  More blues and MUCH more post-rock influence could have made this a stand out album.  Like a Jambalaya without enough spice, it really doesn’t stand out.  Just the same old sludge, unfortunately (wow, I’ve said that word a lot in this review).