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Album Review: True Widow - Circumambulation


A  self-described "stonegaze" act from Dallas, TX, True Widow bear a stony gaze indeed on the cosmically dark collection of shadow songs that is their third album. Released on the heavy metal label Relapse, the record certainly feels boulder-heavy though its weight comes more from its sheer gloominess, its crunchy, steady assault, than from any traditionally metal qualities. Far from metal in texture, each track is carefully coated with psychedelic paint, albeit paint that comes only in colors ranging from gray to black.

 Alternating lead vocals between guitarist Dan Phillips and bassist Nicole Estill provides some variety on the uniformly bleak Circumambulation. Estill is particularly haunting on "Four Teeth," the lightness of her voice floating over the song's funereal thrust. The record is at its best, however, when Phillips and Estill combine forces. On "HW:R," the two nearly reach True Widow's approximation of pop, finding actual hooks within the clouded waters of their amplified swamp.

 As murky and dour as Circumambulation may be, it does achieve tonal perfection. The sound of the album is oppressive but evokes a definite emotional state. Whether casual listeners will choose to delve into this state, however, will depend on personal constitution. Circumambulation does not merely walk around the ears as its name suggests; it puts the clamp on them and turns the crank slowly.

Grade: B




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