EMMA RUTH RUNDLE & THOU’S COLLABORATIVE EP THE HELM OF SORROW OUT TODAY VIA SACRED BONESJOIN REDDIT AMA TODAY @ 8PM GMT HERE
Thou and Emma Ruth Rundle (appearing courtesy of Sargent House) today release The Helm of Sorrow, a companion EP to last year’s widely acclaimed collaborative album May Our Chambers Be Full, which landed on countless album of the year lists.
The four songs that make up The Helm of Sorrow are included in the diehard edition of May Our Chambers Be Full and are available from today as a standalone EP,in addition to digital retailers via Sacred Bones as part of the label’s Alliance Series. Ordering options here.
LISTEN & SHARE THE HELM OF SORROW EPBANDCAMP, SPOTIFY, APPLE.
The Helm of Sorrow Track Listing:
1 – Orphan Limbs
2 – Crone Dance
3 – Recurrence
4 – Hollywood
While their solo material seems on its face to be quite disparate, both prolific groups have spent their lauded careers lurking at the outer boundaries of heavy scenes, each having more in common with DIY punk and its spiritual successor, grunge. The debut straddles a similar, very fine line both musically and thematically. While Emma’s standard fare is a blend of post-rock-infused folk music, and Thou is typically known for its downtuned, doomy sludge, the conjoining of the two artists has created a record more in the vein of the early ’90s Seattle sound and later ’90s episodes of Alternative Nation, while still retaining much of the artists’ core identities.
The visual art accompanying this work was created in collaboration with preeminent New Orleans photographer Craig Mulcahy. The faceless, genderless models are meant to emphasize this pervasive state of ambiguity and emotional vacillation, the images falling somewhere between modern high fashion and classical Renaissance.
Praise for The Helm Of Sorrow EP
“seemingly one of the best metal ‘collab’ records I’ve ever heard. ERR’s doom and etherealness mixed with the sludge ‘riffage’ of Thou makes for an experimental trip that’s both incredibly emotive and thoughtfully extreme.” – FORBES
“As a companion piece to May Our Chambers Be Full, this EP is an envy-inducing look and the quality this pairing can produce. Most impressively though, it’s a record that stands on its own and one that will make you yearn for more from this collaboration going forward.” – 9/10 DISTORTED SOUND
“A blend of Sludge, Grunge, and Shoegaze serves as a stylistic backdrop for the dynamic synthesis and occasional clashes between Rundle’s harrowing restraint and Thou’s distorted violence.” – 8/10 GHOST CULT
“‘The Helm Of Sorrow’ shows a darker, more versatile look into this incredible meeting of minds.“ – BIRTHDAY CAKE FOR BREAKFAST
“an impressive suite of songs.” – BACKSEATMAFIA
“exemplary stuff in its ability to blend gauzy melancholy and oppressive tonal weight.” – 4* BUZZ
Thou: Web, Instagram, Bandcamp, Spotify, iTunes
Emma Ruth Rundle: Web, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple
