A while back I wrote a band of the week piece about a band from Washington called He Whose Ox Is Gored. They have fast become a band that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed since I found out about them. Their influences of multiple genres have allowed them to experiment to zero in on just what their sound is. I coined them as doom-gaze for their love of doom metal and shoe gaze. Now they have just released their debut full length The Camel, The Lion, The Child. This album is epic by nature and pulls you in with each song. The band has really found their stride especially with songs like “Oathbreaker,” Crusade,” and “Cairo.” There is something aggressive and heavy to the songs, but on a deeper level. Lyrics are scarce yet meaningful, and the band lets the music do the talking, just like how Isis used to do. Another thing that I’ve noticed in the progression of He Whose Ox Is Gored, is that they have really adopted more melody into their songs. Rather than it being a wall of noise, there is a balance between the heaviness and the more delicate nature of some of the parts, especially with the keyboards. The album was mixed by Matt Bayles (Mastodon, Isis) and Randall Dunn (SunnO, Earth) and it really shows. This album is a great leap for this band, and it’s only the beginning of where they can go from here.

scale of 1-10: 9

https://www.facebook.com/hewhoseoxisgoredseattle

http://hwoig.com/

By: Brian Lacy