ALBUM REVIEW: Umbilical – Thou

If there’s one thing Umbilical teaches you, it’s that THOU are disgusted by their continuing existence. If there’s another, it’s that their first full-length release since 2018’s Magus is arguably their masterpiece. Oh, the irony: one of heavy metal’s most politically-minded acts denounces themselves, pens a self-criticising ode to their own failures, and does away with the cavernous chamber music they’ve made their home in an attempt to cut off a corner of fans they simply do not want and end up creating an album that’ll arguably be spoke about by generations to come.

Opener Narcissist’s Prayer sows the seeds for the album’s mental gymnastics: feedback-induced instrumentals dovetail into distortion-soaked riffs, drum fills designed to bench press your body into the ground blitz your eardrums, and vocalist Bryan Funck screams out with the seething rage of a 17th-century witch hunter. In spite of carefully concocting their own audio obliteration of your senses, THOU have simultaneously developed parasitic earworms that make home in your mind, the unrelenting repetitiveness of “can you hear the cry” and “it’s time to die” leaving you straining your vocal chords one sing-along at a time.

Umbilical is a lot like watching children struggle to grasp basic concepts: square pegs in round holes, if you will — only THOU somehow make it make sense, and then some. Singles I Feel Nothing When You Cry and Unbidden Guest suggest that THOU find sheer joy in injecting Roundhouse-sized choruses into song structures designed to destroy the view-blocking pillars of The Underworld. Tyler Coburn’s dexterous drumming will deftly tear through flesh on either of these tracks, whilst Funck’s feverishly furious vocals are enough to leave you dousing yourself in diesel and setting yourself alight. 

This is just one side of Umbilical’s coin. In an attempt to distance themselves from the music they’ve made their bed in — like their collaborative releases with EMMA RUTH RUNDLE — THOU revisit the tomb of 2014’s Heathen, letting Umbilical sink into fully-fledged death-doom dirges designed to drag you down to the depths of your inner consciousness, with chugging riffs, bleeding basslines, and sputtering drums that splatter your insides against a wall. If that’s the type of music (like this writer) that you derive pleasure from, then look no further than I Return As Chained And Bound To You.

Elsewhere, House Of Ideas is the sound of a breakdown bleeding out into your eardrums; like being lured into the spider’s lair to be eaten alive, the drums drill into your consciousness with more force than Darth Vader’s death grip whilst the Iowa–esque, feedback-laden riffs add a subtle groove that’ll kick your ass. 

For an album made out of self-critiquing exercises and a creative standstill, it’s hard to find any holes on Umbilical. In pushing the reset button on everything THOU have ever stood for or believed in, both sonically and thematically, they’ve stumbled on a late-career masterpiece which will be spoken about long after they lay themselves to rest.

Rating: 10/10

Umbilical is set for release on May 31st via Sacred Bones.

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