Personally I like the fact that the AotW somewhat forces you to listen to stuff you otherwise wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole. And since none of you bothered with this even after me raving about it at least 3 times, I can now force you to listen to it. Some probably expected some obscure old school death metal from a country no-one had even heard of, but there are other threads/groups for that shit.
Onto the music. Banjos are mostly associated with happy jangly music, but these guys do something completely different. They create a haunting atmosphere and combined with the deeply religious lyrics, I must say they leave an impression on me which only a handful of other albums can match.
The vocals are also very special. Like them or not, you'll definitely have an opinion on them. I think this is what the widows that were hired to cry at a funeral in ancient Greece must have sounded like. It is essential to learn to appreciate them in order to like this album.
A lot of people complain that it drags a bit near the end, but I don't agree. The more upbeat banjo driven songs between the more "doomy" songs succeed in keeping my attention.
So I hope you will approach this with an open mind and enjoy this quite unique piece of music.
[Explode Computer]
A band hailing from New Mexico. They play a blend of stoner rock fused with 'western music', thrash, psychedelic, etc.
