BIG|BRAVE
Nature Morte (Thrill Jockey)
Hard to believe now, but Big|Brave began life as a minimalist folk act before transmogrifying into righteous amp-wreckers at once savage and sublime. There are faint traces of those roots in the forlorn, undistorted strumming of the coda to My Hope Renders Me A Fool and the watery chords of closer The Ten Of Swords.
But Nature Morte – like its predecessors Ardor (2017), A Gaze Among Them (2019) and Vital (2021) – cements the trio’s status as sonic titans who take distorted drones, howling feedback and thunderous, slow-motion drums and fuse them with the politicised fury of associates and fellow Montrealers Godspeed You! Black Emperor.
This record is so heavy it could sink an oil tanker, kicks off with arguably their most brutal track to date (Carvers, Farriers And Knaves) and is packed with explosive power, not least at the climax of A Parable Of The Trusting – yet it also retains their innate sense of space and dynamics, and sees Robin Wattie’s pained, defiant vocals pushed further forwards. Extreme metal doesn’t get much better than this.
words BEN WOOLHEAD
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