The Year of the OX

What is exciting about heavy music today is the embracing of outside genres to mix together. Bands are discovering that they can be heavy without sounding like Pantera and others are discovering that by adding the traditional metal sound to their other influences they create a new genre-bending version of what they were before. He Whose Ox is Gored is born out of that new breed, where bands embrace their heaviness with sounds from prog and ambient music, creating something new and original.

That’s not to say He Whose Ox is Gored is the most original thing you’ll ever hear. Bands like ISIS and Cave In are clearly their forbearers, and on tracks like “Crusade” or “Zelatype” from The Camel, The Lion and The Child, you get the feeling that they listened to ISIS’ legendary Panopticon release like it had the word of God in it. Drums bang away underneath almost dreamy guitar parts that in turn give way to big soundscapes and then onto full heavy metal riffs that could make the dead headbang in their graves.

But where it gets exciting is on tracks such as “Alpha”; for the majority of the track it’s almost completely clean – a keyboard line goes throughout the track keeping a droniness to it. This is in stark contrast to the last quarter of the song which is extremely heavy, with one riff to guide us through to the end. It’s this sense of dynamic that truly showcases their versatility as a band.

“Weighted by Guilt, Crushed into Diamonds,” the album’s closing number, is by far the best song on the album. Which is saying a lot since every song on this album is great and each can certainly be pointed to as claiming that title. What makes this almost ten-minute opus the best is how well they are able to craft such a long idea together. It flows together not in the usual verse-chorus-verse format, but rather in sections or movements like in classical music, focusing in on creating soundscapes that flow from the whisper to the scream and back again. Again, making use of their grasp of dynamics.

If it wasn’t for the amazing releases this year this album would find itself on our best list– but consider this your warning. He Whose Ox is Gored is coming and The Camel, The Lion and The Child is them sounding their trumpets, ushering in the year of the ox.