Holy Things are For the Holy, the latest EP from Ontario grind/noise collective Column of Heaven, is about as subtle as a spoonful of steel wool. It’s a slow, painful bite and an alarming swallow. It travels throughout you, leaving scars and marks, and coming out unchanged; but fully changing you.
Whether or not that’s a worthwhile analogy, Holy Things Are For The Holy is a powerful EP that’s soaked in an atmosphere which showcases Column of Heaven’s affinity for tones outside the narrow realm of grindcore. 3 seconds over 12 minutes, Holy Things… bats you around with harsh metallic textures, pervasive growls, pulsating bass a’la Godflesh and equally percussive guitars which sometimes feel like their strewn out into the ether. The midsection of “Flesh Prison” is a gasp of lucidity amongst the harrowing clamor of everything else. These offsets, these juxtapositions of tonality, density, and aggression, make both sides of this EP intriguing the same way horror movie prey find basements and locked shacks interesting.
Ugly and harsh, Holy Things… shows little to none of the band’s grindcore/power violence roots, which isn’t a good or bad thing, but simply interesting. The band’s never been easy to define; hell, my favorite track from their demo could be said to just be an intro, but it’s powerful and enticing without a single drum beat or guitar riff. A point I’ll gladly hammer into the ground is how well this band creates atmosphere and instills mood, even when they’re presenting it in a different way. It’s like a painter doing just as well with a sculpture.
While both pressings of this 7″ sold out in a few days, it’s up on Iron Lung‘s bandcamp for only $3 or free streaming.
Taylor Geddes
November 29, 2013 at 8:20 pm
Copies still available at http://www.screamandwrithe.com