New Orleans’ mysterious, ultra-sludgy metal band Thou and brooding Louisville experimental folk artist Emma Ruth Rundle are two of the most respected names in dark, heavy music. With Thou experimenting more and more with melody on their most recent releases, including 2018’s exceptional Magus, which came in at 30 on our best albums of list that year, it makes sense to team up with Rundle. She’s no slouch, having released one of the best albums in her increasingly-populated but ever-nebulous genre of dark, metal and post-rock inspired singer-songwriters with On Dark Horses. That album also landed in our top 50 of 2018, coming in at number 7.

The new album is called May Our Chambers Be Full and it’s going to be released on October 30 via Sacred Bones, the ever-reliable purveyors of dissonance and experimentation. In addition to announcing the new album, they’ve also released a new song from the album. Unsurprisingly, the song is worthy of repeat listens, though surprisingly it’s only a little under four minutes long. The seven musicians between Thou and Rundle create hard-edged song that weighs much heavier upon the pair’s metal influences than the folksier side of the equation. There are some straight-up thrash metal inspired riffs in this song, including pinched harmonics that are very prominently featured in the mix.

Rundle still has her chance to take the spotlight, with her second appearance in the song holding particular weight. Her vocal delivery is emotional and enchanting over the exhilerating double bass drum building the instrumentation to its crescendo. It all comes together for the conclusion, with Bryan Funck of Thou screaming alongside Rundle’s clean, ultra melodic vocals. The song has some very interesting origins.

“When I first wrote the main two riffs (the first one being an homage to A Perfect Circle’s ‘Sleeping Beauty’),” said Thou guitarist Andy Gibbs. “I didn’t know if it would fit with the vibe we were pursuing because it didn’t sound ‘Thou-y’ enough nor did it sound like something Emma would normally put on a record. Ultimately, I realized how important that trait is; this record is all about exploring territory we wouldn’t usually explore with our own records.”

May Our Chambers Be Full Track List

1. “Killing Floor”
2. “Monolith”
3. “Out of Existence”
4. “Ancestral Recall”
5. “Magickal Cost”
6. “Into Being”
7. “The Valley”

Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat