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[Album Review] Wolves Like Us ‘Black Soul Choir’

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On Black Soul Choir, the new album from Norwegian rockers Wolves Like Us, the final song is called “Thanatos Wins Again”, a brooding yet rather beautiful track that is almost saturated in thick, almost fuzzy distortion. Singer/guitarist Larsh alternates between hauntingly speaking the lyrics and roaring forth while the music hypnotically swirls and rumbles beneath.

Thanatos, the Greek god of non-violent death, might very well be the perfect deity that the band could have used as part of their own mythos. While undoubtedly heavy and rough around the edges, there is never a time when I felt their music has been inaccessible. Rather, it’s the complete opposite. They introduce this style of music, their so-called “Dark Rock”, and it never feels abrasive. Rather, it wraps its melancholic arms around you, embracing you, pulling you gently into an album that is as exciting as it is rewarding.

Opening with “Days Of Ignorance”, which clocks in at just under a minute and 30 seconds, the album begins with a frenzied burst of energy. It gives a brief moment to allow the listener to catch their breath before diving into the thrilling “Three Poisons”. “I Don’t Need To Be Forgiven” is one of the longer tracks on the album, allowing the band the take their time and demonstrate all the qualities that make them such a formidable band.

Special attention needs to be given to “Lovescared”, a gentle, sublime track that shows the softer side of the band. It also demonstrates just how strong vocalist Larsh can be, especially when it comes to his vocal harmonies. Another track that takes its time and is a perfect example of the unique instrumental tones (seriously, the guitars and bass sound so lush) is “We Were Blood”, which features a tremendous climax build up.

What’s so great about this band is that they obviously communicate incredibly well as a band. They know when certain instruments need to hold back for the betterment of the song. No one shows off unnecessarily, allowing the sum to do the talking versus the parts.

Something about the atmosphere of this album makes me want to listen to it while walking through a dark forest or while sitting on some Irish hillside with steel gray clouds looming overhead. It has a mysteriously alluring aura, one that just refused to let me go. I started this album and, before I knew what had happened, I had listened to it several times in a row without noticing. Each spin brought something new, something unheard.

The Final Word: I absolutely adored Wolves Like Us‘ debut album, Late Love. Since that came out I have been eagerly awaiting a second album and Black Soul Choir lived up to my expectations. It’s a fantastic album from a band who hopefully have a long, incredible career ahead of them.


Managing editor/music guy/social media fella of Bloody-Disgusting

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‘Lost Themes IV: Noir’ – John Carpenter Announces New Album & Releases New Music Video!

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Lost Themes IV
(l-r) Cody Carpenter, John Carpenter, Daniel Davies - Photo Credit: Sophie Gransard

John Carpenter has been teasing big news for a couple weeks now and all has been revealed this morning. Carpenter is back with Lost Themes IV: Noir from Sacred Bones Records!

Lost Themes IV: Noir is the latest installment in a series that sees Carpenter releasing new music for John Carpenter movies that don’t actually exist. The first Lost Themes was released in 2015, followed by Lost Themes II in 2016 and Lost Themes III: Alive After Death in 2021.

John Carpenter called the first Lost Themes album “a soundtrack for the movies in your mind.”

From John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies, Lost Themes IV: Noir is set for release on May 3 via Sacred Bones Records. The album pays tribute to Noir cinema!

In conjunction with the announcement, they’ve shared a music video for the album’s first single, “My Name Is Death”, a miniature noir film directed by Ambar Navarro, starring Natalie Mering (Weyes Blood), Staz Lindes (The Paranoyds) and Misha Lindes (SadGirl). “Noir is a uniquely American genre born in post-war cinema,” states Carpenter. “ We grew up loving Noir and were influenced by it for this new album. The video celebrates this style and our new song, My Name is Death.”

Sacred Bones previews, “The scene-setting new single marks new territory for Carpenter and his cohorts, propelled by a driving post-punk bassline that is embellished by washes of atmospheric synth, pulsing drum machine, and, at the song’s climax, a smoldering guitar solo.”

“Sandy [King, John’s wife and producer] had given John a book for Christmas, of pictures from noir films, all stills from that era,” Davies says of the lightbulb moment for Lost Themes IV. “I was looking through it, and I thought, ‘I like that imagery, and what those titles make me think of. What if we loosely based it around that? What if the titles were of some of John’s favorite noir films?’ Some of the music is heavy guitar riffs, which is not in old noir films. But somehow, it’s connected in an emotional way.”

Sacred Bones notes, “Like the film genre they were influenced by, what makes the songs on Lost Themes IV ‘noirish’ is sometimes slippery and hard to define, and not merely reducible to a collection of tropes. The scores for the great American noir pictures were largely orchestral, while the Carpenters and Davies work off a sturdy synth-and-guitar backbone. The noir quality, then, is something you understand instinctively when you hear it.”

“It’s been a decade since John Carpenter recorded the material that became the initial Lost Themes, his debut album of non-film music and the opening salvo in one of Hollywood’s great second acts,” the label explains. “Those vibrant, synth-driven songs, made in collaboration with his son Cody Carpenter and godson Daniel Davies, kickstarted a musical renaissance for the pioneering composer and director. In the years since, Carpenter, Carpenter, and Davies have released close to a dozen musical projects, including a growing library of studio albums and the scores for David Gordon Green’s trilogy of Halloween reboots. It helped that they grew up in a musical environment. Daniel’s dad is The Kinks’ Dave Davies, and he would pop by the L.A. studio – the same one the Lost Themes records are made in today – to jam, or to perform at wrap parties for John’s films. That innate free-flowing chemistry helps Lost Themes IV: Noir run like a well-oiled machine—the 1951 Jaguar XK120 Roadster from Kiss Me Deadly, perhaps, or the 1958 Plymouth Fury from John’s own Christine. It’s a chemistry that’s helped power one of the most productive stretches of John’s creative life, and Noir proves that it’s nowhere near done yielding brilliant results.”

Here’s the full Lost Themes IV: Noir track list:

1. My Name is Death
2. Machine Fear
3. Last Rites
4. The Burning Door
5. He Walks By Night
6. Beyond The Gallows
7. Kiss The Blood Off My Fingers
8. Guillotine
9. The Demon’s Shadow
10. Shadows Have A Thousand Eyes

The following physical variants will be available:

  • Sacred Bones Exclusive Red on Clear Splatter vinyl w/ Screen Printed 7” bonus track “Black Cathedral”, a Silver Foil Stamped Jacket and poster.
  • Sacred Bones Society Exclusive on Black and White Splatter on Clear w/ Screen Printed 7” bonus track “Black Cathedral”, a Silver Foil Stamped Jacket and poster.
  • All retail Transparent Red, with a Gold Foil Stamped Jacket and poster.
  • Indie Exclusive Tan and Black Marble, w/ Screen Printed 7” bonus track “Black Cathedral”, a Gold Foil Stamped Jacket and poster.
  • Rough Trade Exclusive Oxblood Red and Black Splatter, w/ Screen Printed 7” bonus track “Black Cathedral”, a Gold Foil Stamped Jacket and poster.
  • Shout Exclusive Black and Clear cloudy, w/ Screen Printed 7” bonus track “Black Cathedral”, a Gold Foil Stamped Jacket and poster.
  • Black LP, with a Gold Foil Stamped Jacket and poster.
  • CD
  • Tape

You can pre-save Lost Themes IV: Noir right now!

Lost Themes IV Noir

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