The year is 3089. The world looks something like that scene from Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure where society meditates on the most outstanding music of a singular artist. But instead of smoove Van Halen licks, it's The Body, the extreme doom-metal duo who, by this point, have downloaded their brains into cyborgs. Each day brings new boundary-defying jams and collaborations beyond our galaxy, with aliens who only communicate in high-pitched shrieks that imitate the band's Chip King.
Until then, another day, another record to announce: I have fought against it, But I can't any longer is the latest album to feature just The Body. For real though, this band releases music at a fast clip and puts in the work, making meaningful (and often terrifying) records with bands like Thou, Full of Hell and Vampillia. And when you step back from the vast discography, there's always a shift, if subtle, after those collaborative records — either pushing or pulling against whatever The Body just unearthed.
"Nothing Stirs" sees the band set weeping strings and swelling trombone to cavernous beats and droning feedback. This is the kind of decibel-clashing combination in which The Body excels, but is made even more exceptional by the presence of vocalist Kristin Hayter. As the sole singer and noise-maker behind Lingua Ignota, Hayter is a kindred spirit in extreme layers, and here gives "Nothing Stirs" its dramatic agency with an operatic voice that scales the sonic destruction and the rains down upon it screaming, "March on."
I have fought against it, But I can't any longer comes out May 11 via Thrill Jockey.
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