Review Vault – Eagle Owl Attack, Trippy Wicked, Deadhorse

Eagle Owl Attack – Into The Fold EP / Sleep The Winter 7″
EOA is an Edinburgh, Scotland based collective which offers a set of lullabies/waltzes for for a decaying world with those two records. If music could be associated with times of the season, then their work is definitely that of fall and winter and all the hues/colors associated with them.
“Into The Fold” is a collection of 4 tracks – 2 of which are on a slower/quieter side of the things (title track and closer “No Conjuction”) and two slightly different tracks – soundtrack-ish/cinematic instrumental “Eat Hats” and mid-tempo “Morpheus”.  “Sleep” (just as the title suggests) consists of two tracks, both of which are on a sleepier side of the spectrum (and, unfortunately, both of them are somewhat boring).
The great thing about EOA and their music is that they manage to combine the dark/ominous/murky and the introspective moods  and keep them together in a song. And if those two records are any indication, they definitely found a voice of their own.
Favorites: Into The Fold, Eat Hats
Further Points of Interest: Official Site / MySpace
Trippy Wicked & The Cosmic Children Of The Night – Movin On
TW describe themselves as “experimental sludge blues band” but to these ears there’s nothing sludgy or experimental about them. They don’t sound anything like Crowbar or Eyehategod (although there’s definitely a heavy Sabbath-y groove running through much of the band’s music) and  there are no weird electronic sounds or instrumentals to be found on the record (still, definition of “experimental” / “sludgy” may vary from one to another, so the band might have their own ideas on those things).
Instead, what’s on display here is a vocalist who sounds at times like a crossover between Ozzy and Chris Cornell and the rest of the band that plays heavy grooves/riffs a-la Sabbath or Kyuss. For the first couple of tracks, the band sticks to heavy/fried/crunchy electric blues (“Movin On” / “Sea Shanty” / “Fire”), then tries their hand at slower/simpler things (“Southern” / “Echoes”), before going back to heavier sound again (“Innocence” / “Not What You Know”) and try their hand at sleaze rockers (“Clothes On The Floor”) and southern rockers (“The Water” – complete with whistling!). The album closes with another Sabbath-y track – 7+-minute “Because of You”. a heavy love ballad of sorts.
Not everything on “Movin On” works (slower tracks like “Southern” / “Echoes” / “Because Of You” don’t sound terribly convincing), but the band does a very good job on some of the faster songs . Good/memorable moments on “Moving On”, however, are few, far and in between, mostly due to the fact that the band is still searching for a right approach/voice.
It’s important to remember that this is a young band  and hopefully by the next record they will emerge with more cohesive sound. They already got the power and now its a matter of sorting out whether they want to be sleaze rockers, southern rockers or a heavy metal / stoner band.
Favorites: Innocence / Not What You Know / The Water
Further Points of Interest: Official Site / Encyclopedia Metalium
Deadhorse – We Can Create Our Own World
For those of you with a good memory/long-time metalheads – this band have nothing do with metal band of the same name from Texas that released few albums in the late 80s / early 90s….
This Deadhorse hails from Pennsylvania and creates epic instrumental music in the vein of Mogwai or Explosions In The Sky. 7 slightly melancholic tracks on “World” are epic both in length and size – most of them are 5+ minutes long and feature roaring guitars, pianos and dramatic build-ups that in the end lead not so much songs, but to giant buildings/pyramids of sound.
It’s well-done, if not a particularly distinctive record with songs that are tad too lengthy. Still, if you can’t stand vocals and like epic-sounding rock/post-rock bands, then this could be a good choice.
Further Points of Interest: Music Is Amazing / The Sirens Sound / Post Rock Xchange