Louisiana sludge overlords Thou are always working; a couple of months ago, they helped soundtrack the video game NORCO. Thou are often amazing on their own, but they sometimes do their best work with collaborators. In 2020 and 2021, for instance, Thou got together with Emma Ruth Rundle to release the collaborative album May Our Chambers Be Full and the EP The Helm Of Sorrow, and that shit was incredible. Today, Thou have released another collaborative opus, and it came with precious little advance warning.
Earlier this month, Thou contributed a cover of Zola Jesus’ “Night” to Sacred Bones’ 15th-anniversary compilation. They didn’t record that cover alone; they made it with their friend Emma Ruth Rundle and with Mizmor, the one-man doom-drone project from Portland. Today, Thou and Mizmor are playing a collaborative set at the Roadburn Festival in the Netherlands — the same fest that brought them together with Rundle in the first place. And today, Thou and Mizmor have released a new collaborative album called Myopia.
The Bandcamp description for Myopia claims that Thou and Mizmor wrote and recorded the LP “in secret.” I’m on my first listen now, and it’s long; multiple tracks cross the 10-minute barrier. Based on what I’ve heard so far, it’s also awesome. Thou and Mizmor aren’t that too far-removed from one another; Mizmor has named Thou as a key influence. But Thou don’t often zone out like this, and it’s cool to hear them really stretching into infinity. Stream the album below.
Myopia is out now on Gilead Media.
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