Horseback’s career path has been as unusual as the music itself. 2010 game changer The Invisible Mountain was followed up almost silently by a cassette release of full length Forbidden Planet that December. In the meantime, Horseback signed with Relapse Records, released a split with Voltigeurs , a collaboration LP with Locrian, and an LP + CD with Pyramids. Relapse reissued Forbidden Planet on cd along with the first Horseback album, the drone masterpiece Impale Golden Horn. Fans of the band have been anticipating Half Blood since mastermind Jenks Miller first mentioned it in an interview, and now its release is imminent. Horseback (aka Jenks Miller), however, couldn’t resist releasing a bit more material into the world with the On The Eclipse 7 inch. Because of this unconventional release schedule, Half Blood feels like the first proper full length since Invisible Mountain, even though it’s LP number four. Half Blood is an amalgamation of the previous three records and also steers Horseback into new and exciting territory. Read the rest of the review after the jump!
The first two songs on Half Blood feel like a return back to The Invisible Mountain. The driving bass, electric piano and solid drums are highly reminiscent of the groundbreaking Kraut Rock infused Americana of Mountain. Jenks’ voice crackles through the speakers raspy and gutteral. Miller has perfected his parched growl into a sound unique among anyone else attempting this style of vocal. Ahriman, the first single from Half Blood is very similar to a song like Tyrant Symmetry from Mountain. This Then things take a turn with Inheritance (The Changeling), an example of Miller’s finely crafted drone that sounds like it would be perfectly at home on Impale Golden Horn. The track opens with field recordings and chimes and eventually gives way to lush layers of e bow and keyboard. What separates this song from anything on Imaple is the light Indian sounding piano melody. The Indian influence is appropriate as the following song, Arjuna, is named after a legendary Hindu warrior. This song is directly in contrast to Inheritance as it showcases Miller’s most scathing vocal work on the whole record. Arjuna is also a vocal highlight in that it includes “clean” vocals.
My personal favorite song on the record is Hermetic Gifts, the free-floating atmospheric track that is the first in the “Hallucigenia” trilogy that closes out the album. Millers growl gurgles out of the caverns created by layer upon layer of treated guitar. Hallucigenia II and III sound like nothing else Horseback have released thus far, and you’ll have to buy the record to hear what I mean.
Half Blood is an album that gets more rewarding with every listen. Miller has hidden plenty of noises and outher aural gems for listeners to discover upon repeat listens, and this is a record that you will want to come back to time and time again. It’s a milestone for Jenks Miller, after all his experimenting and collaborating he has come back with a full length that is a genuine adventure, and a record that tells a story from start to finish. I always look forward to new Horseback material, and after hearing Half Blood I know the music will only continue to grow and change, and that experimentation is met with reward.
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