#thebody — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #thebody, aggregated by home.social.
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Stand By Me: The All-Time Classic Coming-of-Age Drama 🚂
On this very day 40 years ago, Stand By Me launched in American cinemas. Directed by Rob Reiner and starring River Phoenix and various other young actors, it’s a movie that only ever seems to get better with age.
Set in Castle Rock of Oregon in 1959, it follows the lives of four boys as they head out on an adventure to discover a reported dead body. Many experiences be had after that and it’s a joy to watch.
Celebrating the Classic That is… Stand By Me
Okay, this was adapted from Stephen King’s 1982 novella The Body. That’s from his collection of four stories in Different Seasons, which also contained the legendary Rita Heyworth and Shawshank Redemption.
The start of Stand By Me is set in 1985 when novelist Gordon “Gordie” Lachance spots a newspaper article. It confirms the death of his best friend from childhood. A certain Chris Chambers.
The big irony in all of this is the one character from the story who has an early death is the one depicted by River Phoenix. Watching this 40 years later feels odd, given his fate. Phoenix died in October 1993 due to a drug overdose at age 23.
In the film, we cut back to a hot summer in 1959.
There we meet the young friends Gordie (Wil Wheaton), Chris (Phoenix), Teddy (Corey Feldman), and Vern (Jerry O’Connell). They hear news from one of their older brothers that the missing body has been found in a wooded area near some train tracks.
In one of those daft adventurous moments kids have, they decide it’ll be cool to go and find the body before the police get there. Before they set off, they run into local town bully John “Ace” Merrill (a young Kiefer Sutherland), who antagonises them.
The lads then set off on their adventure and, in classic coming-of-age fashion, have various character building stuff and things happen along the way. All told out with some fantastic performances from the young cast, a great script, and a real sense of charm from Rob Reiner’s direction.
That’s very noticeable in the pie eating contest (“barf-o-rama”) scene where the kids tell each other stories around a campfire.
Much of the film was shot in Brownsville of Oregon (on the very far-left of America). For the above scene, a local bakery supplied all the pies and filling to replicate the puking (a mixture of curd and cottage cheese). The quantity of vomit has since been identified on a mathematical scale. Per person:
- As much as five gallons (19 litres)
- As little as 1⁄16 US gallon (0.24 litres)
It’s our favourite scene from the film and captures that mischievous sense of… er… mischief kids have when they’re kids.
The film captures very well the sense of adolescence. Those long summer days you’d spend with certain friends of your youth, convinced you’d likely know each other for the next 40+ years.
It all seems very important in the moment but, of course, you get older, change as people, and move on with your lives. In essence, for us at least, that’s what Stand By Me is about. The moment before life changes for good.
40 big old years, then! If you’ve not watched Stand By Me for a while then, well, make today that opportunity to revisit it. Give it a rent online with streaming, buy the Blu-ray/DVD, or dust off your old VHS tape copy.
It’s a very impressive film and we think appeals to anyone no matter your age. Even if you’re 50+ now and not seen it before, you’ll find in this glorious tale all the joys of youth before that big old step into the adult world.
The Production of Stand By Me
The film had an $8 million budget and went on to make $52 million at the global box office. Since its launch it’s rapidly gained status as a classic of cinema, revelling as it does in youthful nostalgia and the like.
At the time, it wasn’t a huge hit or anything. It got a couple of Oscar nominations, with positive contemporary reviews back in 1986, but some film critics 40 years ago were actually a bit snotty about Stand By Me. However, Stephen King loved the film and that’s a bonus (he famously hates the Stanley Kubrick Shining adaptation from 1980).
King actually considers it the best movie adaptation from any of his books, along with Shawshank Redemption (1994).
However, the production almost didn’t happen at all. Days before filming was set to begin, Columbia Pictures bought out the holding rights studio and planned to cancel the project. It was saved be a co-owner of the bought out studio (Embassy) personally paying $7.5 million to Rob Reiner so he could complete the film.
Columbia Pictures also changed the name of the film from The Body to Stand By Me which, frankly, was the right decision. It’s a much better name.
As for the shoot, most of it took place in Brownsville of Oregon between June and August of 1985.
The kids are seen smoking often in the film, but director Rob Reiner insisted the cigarettes contain cabbage leaves rather than tobacco. A nice little detail to remember there about who Reiner was as a person, following his sad passing in December 2025.
To commemorate the 40th anniversary, it received a limited cinematic re-release in March 2026. There’s also an annual Stand By Me Day in Brownsville of Oregon where residents head to the filming location to see some of the locations.
There was a very big turnout for the 40th anniversary event this year, held on July 25th, with fans making pilgrimages from around the world to the sleepy little town.
We kind of get the feeling, in another 40 years, fans will probably still do the same thing. Well, why not? It’s a damn good film and worthy of rewatching for each new generation.
#Cinema #comingOfAge #Films #History #Lifestyle #Movies #Nostalgia #RiverPhoenix #RobReiner #StandByMe #StephenKing #TheBody -
Stand By Me: The All-Time Classic Coming-of-Age Drama 🚂
On this very day 40 years ago, Stand By Me launched in American cinemas. Directed by Rob Reiner and starring River Phoenix and various other young actors, it’s a movie that only ever seems to get better with age.
Set in Castle Rock of Oregon in 1959, it follows the lives of four boys as they head out on an adventure to discover a reported dead body. Many experiences be had after that and it’s a joy to watch.
Celebrating the Classic That is… Stand By Me
Okay, this was adapted from Stephen King’s 1982 novella The Body. That’s from his collection of four stories in Different Seasons, which also contained the legendary Rita Heyworth and Shawshank Redemption.
The start of Stand By Me is set in 1985 when novelist Gordon “Gordie” Lachance spots a newspaper article. It confirms the death of his best friend from childhood. A certain Chris Chambers.
The big irony in all of this is the one character from the story who has an early death is the one depicted by River Phoenix. Watching this 40 years later feels odd, given his fate. Phoenix died in October 1993 due to a drug overdose at age 23.
In the film, we cut back to a hot summer in 1959.
There we meet the young friends Gordie (Wil Wheaton), Chris (Phoenix), Teddy (Corey Feldman), and Vern (Jerry O’Connell). They hear news from one of their older brothers that the missing body has been found in a wooded area near some train tracks.
In one of those daft adventurous moments kids have, they decide it’ll be cool to go and find the body before the police get there. Before they set off, they run into local town bully John “Ace” Merrill (a young Kiefer Sutherland), who antagonises them.
The lads then set off on their adventure and, in classic coming-of-age fashion, have various character building stuff and things happen along the way. All told out with some fantastic performances from the young cast, a great script, and a real sense of charm from Rob Reiner’s direction.
That’s very noticeable in the pie eating contest (“barf-o-rama”) scene where the kids tell each other stories around a campfire.
Much of the film was shot in Brownsville of Oregon (on the very far-left of America). For the above scene, a local bakery supplied all the pies and filling to replicate the puking (a mixture of curd and cottage cheese). The quantity of vomit has since been identified on a mathematical scale. Per person:
- As much as five gallons (19 litres)
- As little as 1⁄16 US gallon (0.24 litres)
It’s our favourite scene from the film and captures that mischievous sense of… er… mischief kids have when they’re kids.
The film captures very well the sense of adolescence. Those long summer days you’d spend with certain friends of your youth, convinced you’d likely know each other for the next 40+ years.
It all seems very important in the moment but, of course, you get older, change as people, and move on with your lives. In essence, for us at least, that’s what Stand By Me is about. The moment before life changes for good.
40 big old years, then! If you’ve not watched Stand By Me for a while then, well, make today that opportunity to revisit it. Give it a rent online with streaming, buy the Blu-ray/DVD, or dust off your old VHS tape copy.
It’s a very impressive film and we think appeals to anyone no matter your age. Even if you’re 50+ now and not seen it before, you’ll find in this glorious tale all the joys of youth before that big old step into the adult world.
The Production of Stand By Me
The film had an $8 million budget and went on to make $52 million at the global box office. Since its launch it’s rapidly gained status as a classic of cinema, revelling as it does in youthful nostalgia and the like.
At the time, it wasn’t a huge hit or anything. It got a couple of Oscar nominations, with positive contemporary reviews back in 1986, but some film critics 40 years ago were actually a bit snotty about Stand By Me. However, Stephen King loved the film and that’s a bonus (he famously hates the Stanley Kubrick Shining adaptation from 1980).
King actually considers it the best movie adaptation from any of his books, along with Shawshank Redemption (1994).
However, the production almost didn’t happen at all. Days before filming was set to begin, Columbia Pictures bought out the holding rights studio and planned to cancel the project. It was saved be a co-owner of the bought out studio (Embassy) personally paying $7.5 million to Rob Reiner so he could complete the film.
Columbia Pictures also changed the name of the film from The Body to Stand By Me which, frankly, was the right decision. It’s a much better name.
As for the shoot, most of it took place in Brownsville of Oregon between June and August of 1985.
The kids are seen smoking often in the film, but director Rob Reiner insisted the cigarettes contain cabbage leaves rather than tobacco. A nice little detail to remember there about who Reiner was as a person, following his sad passing in December 2025.
To commemorate the 40th anniversary, it received a limited cinematic re-release in March 2026. There’s also an annual Stand By Me Day in Brownsville of Oregon where residents head to the filming location to see some of the locations.
There was a very big turnout for the 40th anniversary event this year, held on July 25th, with fans making pilgrimages from around the world to the sleepy little town.
We kind of get the feeling, in another 40 years, fans will probably still do the same thing. Well, why not? It’s a damn good film and worthy of rewatching for each new generation.
#Cinema #comingOfAge #Films #History #Lifestyle #Movies #Nostalgia #RiverPhoenix #RobReiner #StandByMe #StephenKing #TheBody -
Netflix Unveils Premiere Date & First-Look Images For ‘The Body’ Starring Sofia Wyle, Gabby Windey & More
#News #GabbyWindey #Netflix #QuinnShephard #SofiaWyle #TheBodyhttps://deadline.com/2026/08/the-body-release-date-photos-gabby-windey-netflix-1237030605/
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Netflix Unveils Premiere Date & First-Look Images For ‘The Body’ Starring Sofia Wyle, Gabby Windey & More
#News #GabbyWindey #Netflix #QuinnShephard #SofiaWyle #TheBodyhttps://deadline.com/2026/08/the-body-release-date-photos-gabby-windey-netflix-1237030605/
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Netflix Unveils Premiere Date & First-Look Images For ‘The Body’ Starring Sofia Wyle, Gabby Windey & More
#News #GabbyWindey #Netflix #QuinnShephard #SofiaWyle #TheBodyhttps://deadline.com/2026/08/the-body-release-date-photos-gabby-windey-netflix-1237030605/
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Netflix Unveils Premiere Date & First-Look Images For ‘The Body’ Starring Sofia Wyle, Gabby Windey & More
#News #GabbyWindey #Netflix #QuinnShephard #SofiaWyle #TheBodyhttps://deadline.com/2026/08/the-body-release-date-photos-gabby-windey-netflix-1237030605/
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https://www.europesays.com/ie/565064/ Mariel Hemingway on the mind-body connection: Why she stopped ‘fixing’ herself and started listening #connection #Éire #ErnestHemingway #Health #IE #Ireland #MarielHemingway #MentalHealth #MentalHealth #PhysicalHealth #TheBody
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Mariel Hemingway on the mind-body connection: Why she stopped ‘fixing’ herself and started listening
For most of her life, Mariel Hemingway treated wellness like a problem to be solved. She pushed herself…
#NewsBeep #News #Mentalhealth #AU #Australia #connection #ernest-hemingway #Health #MarielHemingway #MentalHealth #Physicalhealth #TheBody
https://www.newsbeep.com/au/774174/ -
Mariel Hemingway on the mind-body connection: Why she stopped ‘fixing’ herself and started listening
For most of her life, Mariel Hemingway treated wellness like a problem to be solved. She pushed herself…
#NewsBeep #News #Mentalhealth #AU #Australia #connection #ernest-hemingway #Health #MarielHemingway #MentalHealth #Physicalhealth #TheBody
https://www.newsbeep.com/au/774174/ -
Mariel Hemingway on the mind-body connection: Why she stopped ‘fixing’ herself and started listening
For most of her life, Mariel Hemingway treated wellness like a problem to be solved. She pushed herself…
#NewsBeep #News #Mentalhealth #connection #ernest-hemingway #Health #MarielHemingway #MentalHealth #physicalhealth #TheBody #UK #UnitedKingdom
https://www.newsbeep.com/uk/669668/ -
#Authors #Writing #StephenKing #TheBody
This stopped me cold when I first read it
"That finally rammed it all the way home for me. The kid was dead. The kid wasn’t sick, the kid wasn’t sleeping. The kid wasn’t going to get up in the morning anymore or get the runs from eating too many apples or catch poison ivy or wear out the eraser on the end of his Ticonderoga No. 2 during a hard math test. The kid was dead; stone dead. The kid was never going to go out bottling with his friends in the spring, gunnysack over his shoulder to pick up the returnables the retreating snow uncovered. The kid wasn’t going to wake up at two o‘clock A.M. on the morning of November 1st this year, run to the bathroom, and vomit up a big glurt of cheap Holloween candy. The kid wasn’t going to pull a single girl’s braid in home room. The kid wasn’t going to give a bloody nose, or get one. The kid was can’t, don‘t, won’t, never, shouldn‘t, wouldn’t, couldn’t."
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#Authors #Writing #StephenKing #TheBody
This stopped me cold when I first read it
"That finally rammed it all the way home for me. The kid was dead. The kid wasn’t sick, the kid wasn’t sleeping. The kid wasn’t going to get up in the morning anymore or get the runs from eating too many apples or catch poison ivy or wear out the eraser on the end of his Ticonderoga No. 2 during a hard math test. The kid was dead; stone dead. The kid was never going to go out bottling with his friends in the spring, gunnysack over his shoulder to pick up the returnables the retreating snow uncovered. The kid wasn’t going to wake up at two o‘clock A.M. on the morning of November 1st this year, run to the bathroom, and vomit up a big glurt of cheap Holloween candy. The kid wasn’t going to pull a single girl’s braid in home room. The kid wasn’t going to give a bloody nose, or get one. The kid was can’t, don‘t, won’t, never, shouldn‘t, wouldn’t, couldn’t."
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#Authors #Writing #StephenKing #TheBody
This stopped me cold when I first read it
"That finally rammed it all the way home for me. The kid was dead. The kid wasn’t sick, the kid wasn’t sleeping. The kid wasn’t going to get up in the morning anymore or get the runs from eating too many apples or catch poison ivy or wear out the eraser on the end of his Ticonderoga No. 2 during a hard math test. The kid was dead; stone dead. The kid was never going to go out bottling with his friends in the spring, gunnysack over his shoulder to pick up the returnables the retreating snow uncovered. The kid wasn’t going to wake up at two o‘clock A.M. on the morning of November 1st this year, run to the bathroom, and vomit up a big glurt of cheap Holloween candy. The kid wasn’t going to pull a single girl’s braid in home room. The kid wasn’t going to give a bloody nose, or get one. The kid was can’t, don‘t, won’t, never, shouldn‘t, wouldn’t, couldn’t."
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#Authors #Writing #StephenKing #TheBody
This stopped me cold when I first read it
"That finally rammed it all the way home for me. The kid was dead. The kid wasn’t sick, the kid wasn’t sleeping. The kid wasn’t going to get up in the morning anymore or get the runs from eating too many apples or catch poison ivy or wear out the eraser on the end of his Ticonderoga No. 2 during a hard math test. The kid was dead; stone dead. The kid was never going to go out bottling with his friends in the spring, gunnysack over his shoulder to pick up the returnables the retreating snow uncovered. The kid wasn’t going to wake up at two o‘clock A.M. on the morning of November 1st this year, run to the bathroom, and vomit up a big glurt of cheap Holloween candy. The kid wasn’t going to pull a single girl’s braid in home room. The kid wasn’t going to give a bloody nose, or get one. The kid was can’t, don‘t, won’t, never, shouldn‘t, wouldn’t, couldn’t."
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#Authors #Writing #StephenKing #TheBody
This stopped me cold when I first read it
"That finally rammed it all the way home for me. The kid was dead. The kid wasn’t sick, the kid wasn’t sleeping. The kid wasn’t going to get up in the morning anymore or get the runs from eating too many apples or catch poison ivy or wear out the eraser on the end of his Ticonderoga No. 2 during a hard math test. The kid was dead; stone dead. The kid was never going to go out bottling with his friends in the spring, gunnysack over his shoulder to pick up the returnables the retreating snow uncovered. The kid wasn’t going to wake up at two o‘clock A.M. on the morning of November 1st this year, run to the bathroom, and vomit up a big glurt of cheap Holloween candy. The kid wasn’t going to pull a single girl’s braid in home room. The kid wasn’t going to give a bloody nose, or get one. The kid was can’t, don‘t, won’t, never, shouldn‘t, wouldn’t, couldn’t."
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The Scariest Part Of A Concussion Is The Uncertainty
https://web.brid.gy/r/https://defector.com/the-scariest-part-of-a-concussion-is-the-uncertainty
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The Scariest Part Of A Concussion Is The Uncertainty
https://web.brid.gy/r/https://defector.com/the-scariest-part-of-a-concussion-is-the-uncertainty
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The Scariest Part Of A Concussion Is The Uncertainty
https://web.brid.gy/r/https://defector.com/the-scariest-part-of-a-concussion-is-the-uncertainty
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The Scariest Part Of A Concussion Is The Uncertainty
https://web.brid.gy/r/https://defector.com/the-scariest-part-of-a-concussion-is-the-uncertainty
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https://www.europesays.com/it/438534/ Elle Macpherson, a 62 anni posa in intimo, testimonial di un brand di lingerie e «The Body» conquista i social #abbracciare #bellezza #body #brand #BrandLingerie #campagna #Celebrità #Celebrities #elle #ElleMacpherson #Entertainment #foto #instagram #intimo #Intrattenimento #IT #Italia #Italy #lingerie #macpherson #modella #posa #the #TheBody #utenti
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I’ve been going pretty much nonstop today, but..
I got reunited with the short sword from Emerson’s and my wedding and obtained a tiara!!!
This photo was taken of me at Linneman’s tonight:
I would describe this aesthetic as “Galadriel if she had decided to marry Sauron, but had eventually gotten tired of his conniving ass, gutted him in the divorce proceedings, and taken the One Ring and the prettiest parts of Middle Earth in the aftermath of waxing his ass in court” lol.
-Allēna
#darkGaladriel #Emerson #LinnemanSRiverwestInn #LOTR #ourPoetry #ourWedding #shortSword #theBody #theFace -
I’ve been going pretty much nonstop today, but..
I got reunited with the short sword from Emerson’s and my wedding and obtained a tiara!!!
This photo was taken of me at Linneman’s tonight:
I would describe this aesthetic as “Galadriel if she had decided to marry Sauron, but had eventually gotten tired of his conniving ass, gutted him in the divorce proceedings, and taken the One Ring and the prettiest parts of Middle Earth in the aftermath of waxing his ass in court” lol.
-Allēna
#darkGaladriel #Emerson #LinnemanSRiverwestInn #LOTR #ourPoetry #ourWedding #shortSword #theBody #theFace -
In honor of 40 years of "Stand By Me" (and finally pivoting #LibrarKay away from an exclusive diet of Siamese cats and cozy mysteries...) #TheBody #StandByMe
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https://www.europesays.com/uk/770669/ Cattle Hammer – Dark Thoughts with Lights Out #10 #2026 #BlackMetal #BritishMetal #CattleHammer #DarkThoughtsWithLightsOut #DoomMetal #Drone #Entertainment #Feb26 #Fukpig #mistress #music #PrimitiveMan #Review #Reviews #RoadToMasochist #Sludge #Sumac #TheBody #UK #UnitedKingdom #Weedeater
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Cattle Hammer – Dark Thoughts with Lights Out
English is fairly adequate for basic communication, but it falls short for niche communities. In the same way…
#NewsBeep #News #US #USA #UnitedStates #UnitedStatesOfAmerica #Music #1.0 #2026 #BlackMetal #BritishMetal #CattleHammer #DarkThoughtswithLightsOut #DoomMetal #drone #Entertainment #Feb26 #Fukpig #Mistress #PrimitiveMan #review #reviews #RoadtoMasochist #Sludge #Sumac #TheBody #Weedeater
https://www.newsbeep.com/us/473950/ -
Cattle Hammer – Dark Thoughts with Lights Out
English is fairly adequate for basic communication, but it falls short for niche communities. In the same way…
#NewsBeep #News #US #USA #UnitedStates #UnitedStatesOfAmerica #Music #1.0 #2026 #BlackMetal #BritishMetal #CattleHammer #DarkThoughtswithLightsOut #DoomMetal #drone #Entertainment #Feb26 #Fukpig #Mistress #PrimitiveMan #review #reviews #RoadtoMasochist #Sludge #Sumac #TheBody #Weedeater
https://www.newsbeep.com/us/473950/ -
https://www.europesays.com/ie/341865/ Cattle Hammer – Dark Thoughts with Lights Out #10 #2026 #BlackMetal #BritishMetal #CattleHammer #DarkThoughtsWithLightsOut #DoomMetal #drone #Éire #Entertainment #Feb26 #Fukpig #IE #Ireland #Mistress #Music #PrimitiveMan #Review #Reviews #RoadToMasochist #Sludge #Sumac #TheBody #Weedeater
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Cattle Hammer – Dark Thoughts with Lights Out By Spicie ForrestEnglish is fairly adequate for basic communication, but it falls short for niche communities. In the same way that skiers repurpose “powder” or “carve” and gamers repurpose “own” or “sweaty,” metal fans break and contort language to suit our needs. We talk about “filthy” guitar tones and “razor sharp” riffs, discuss “cavernous” production and “suffocating” weight, and use violent imagery—bleeding ears, caved in skulls—to denote quality. So when I read phrases like “slow, painful march,” “soporific1 dirge,” and “empty decades between chords” on the promo sheet for debut Dark Thoughts with Lights Out, I thought Cattle Hammer was just employing a little dialectical variance, speaking the lingo. Joke’s on me, though. They weren’t.
Based in Birmingham, UK, Cattle Hammer was formed by vocalist/guitarist Duncan Wilkins (Fukpig, Mistress) in 2023. He’s joined by I Cartwright on drums, J Wyles on guitar, and D Von Donovan on bass. Together, they mix a caustic brew of drone, doom, and sludge, but each track on Dark Thoughts with Lights Out has its own identity. “Gloomsower” leans stony, and Wilkins oscillates between deep roars and strangled croaks reminiscent of Weedeater. “Rotting” features short tremolos, although they don’t do much besides check the “blackened” box on the PR sheet. The ambient, noise-tinged intro to “Watchmen, Alone” caught my attention, but repetition of the vocal sample stunts its ability to build tension. Similarly, “Body Puzzle” ends on some interesting synths, but it’s a tough sell so late in the album. If you can’t tell, I’m really reaching for positives here, but there’s not a one that isn’t ultimately a disappointment.
Dark Thoughts With Lights Out by Cattle Hammer
Every time I thought Cattle Hammer might do something interesting or better texturize Dark Thoughts with Lights Out, they shrank from the occasion. The early lead guitar in “Gloomsower” is a bright change of pace amidst thick, doomy passages, but instead of playing a countermelody or variation on the theme or literally anything else, it just plays the same fucking riff in a higher register. This same-riff-different-instrument/key tactic is fairly common (“Rotting,” “Watchmen, Alone”). Organ (“Watchmen, Alone,” “Body Puzzle”) and piano (“Rotting”) make appearances, but fail to deliver anything justifying their inclusion. Static and feedback crop up frequently, but in Cattle Hammer’s hands, they are merely unpleasant and banal. While I was intrigued by the first sample2 and always appreciate Sheri Moon Zombie,3 Cattle Hammer’s sample usage is ham-fisted and melodramatic. Each of these ornaments gave me hope that I might soon feel something besides boredom and frustration, but invariably, Dark Thoughts with Lights Out dashed my hopes and shuffled on.
What astounds me most on Dark Thoughts with Lights Out is how avoidable many of these blunders seem. Percussion is a little lackluster, and the instruments seem a bit compressed in the mix, leaving the vocals too far in front. These aren’t deal breakers, but playing fewer riffs—I’m being generous, calling them that—in 45 minutes than I have fingers is. Structuring the front half of a song to sound like a narrative climax with no build-up or release is (“Watchmen, Alone,” “Body Puzzle”). Rhythmic density rivaling the emptiness of space is. Ambient, feedback-laden outros enough to compile an EP is. This album is ostensibly meant to convey misery and suffering, but devoid of creativity or artistic abstraction, it misses the mark that acts like Primitive Man, The Body, or Sumac hit so well. It’s as if Cattle Hammer has crafted some misguided meta experience, in which the act of listening to the music imparts the misery normally communicated through the music itself.
If there’s one thing Cattle Hammer truly excels at, it’s squandering potential. Every criticism in this review is a place where I saw an opportunity for Dark Thoughts with Lights Out to get better, only for it to stay the course. What’s even more frustrating is that, if any one of these problems weren’t a problem, it could have at least partially salvaged the album. Amidst deeply uninteresting riffs played slow enough for inter-note naps, song constructions that fail to launch, underutilized instrumentation, an impressive lack of variation, repetition ad nauseum, and a totally unjustified runtime, Dark Thoughts with Lights Out isn’t simply unremarkable or uninteresting; it’s a literal chore to listen through. Based on the promo sheet, maybe that’s the point, but whether Cattle Hammer achieved their goal is irrelevant.4 Dark Thoughts with Lights Out is a bad album.
Rating: 1.0/5.0
#10 #2026 #BlackMetal #BritishMetal #CattleHammer #DarkThoughtsWithLightsOut #DoomMetal #Drone #Feb26 #Fukpig #Mistress #PrimitiveMan #Review #Reviews #RoadToMasochist #Sludge #Sumac #TheBody #Weedeater
DR: 10 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Road to Masochist
Websites: Bandcamp | Ampwall | Facebook | Instagram
Releases Worldwide: February 6th, 2026 -
Cattle Hammer – Dark Thoughts with Lights Out By Spicie ForrestEnglish is fairly adequate for basic communication, but it falls short for niche communities. In the same way that skiers repurpose “powder” or “carve” and gamers repurpose “own” or “sweaty,” metal fans break and contort language to suit our needs. We talk about “filthy” guitar tones and “razor sharp” riffs, discuss “cavernous” production and “suffocating” weight, and use violent imagery—bleeding ears, caved in skulls—to denote quality. So when I read phrases like “slow, painful march,” “soporific1 dirge,” and “empty decades between chords” on the promo sheet for debut Dark Thoughts with Lights Out, I thought Cattle Hammer was just employing a little dialectical variance, speaking the lingo. Joke’s on me, though. They weren’t.
Based in Birmingham, UK, Cattle Hammer was formed by vocalist/guitarist Duncan Wilkins (Fukpig, Mistress) in 2023. He’s joined by I Cartwright on drums, J Wyles on guitar, and D Von Donovan on bass. Together, they mix a caustic brew of drone, doom, and sludge, but each track on Dark Thoughts with Lights Out has its own identity. “Gloomsower” leans stony, and Wilkins oscillates between deep roars and strangled croaks reminiscent of Weedeater. “Rotting” features short tremolos, although they don’t do much besides check the “blackened” box on the PR sheet. The ambient, noise-tinged intro to “Watchmen, Alone” caught my attention, but repetition of the vocal sample stunts its ability to build tension. Similarly, “Body Puzzle” ends on some interesting synths, but it’s a tough sell so late in the album. If you can’t tell, I’m really reaching for positives here, but there’s not a one that isn’t ultimately a disappointment.
Dark Thoughts With Lights Out by Cattle Hammer
Every time I thought Cattle Hammer might do something interesting or better texturize Dark Thoughts with Lights Out, they shrank from the occasion. The early lead guitar in “Gloomsower” is a bright change of pace amidst thick, doomy passages, but instead of playing a countermelody or variation on the theme or literally anything else, it just plays the same fucking riff in a higher register. This same-riff-different-instrument/key tactic is fairly common (“Rotting,” “Watchmen, Alone”). Organ (“Watchmen, Alone,” “Body Puzzle”) and piano (“Rotting”) make appearances, but fail to deliver anything justifying their inclusion. Static and feedback crop up frequently, but in Cattle Hammer’s hands, they are merely unpleasant and banal. While I was intrigued by the first sample2 and always appreciate Sheri Moon Zombie,3 Cattle Hammer’s sample usage is ham-fisted and melodramatic. Each of these ornaments gave me hope that I might soon feel something besides boredom and frustration, but invariably, Dark Thoughts with Lights Out dashed my hopes and shuffled on.
What astounds me most on Dark Thoughts with Lights Out is how avoidable many of these blunders seem. Percussion is a little lackluster, and the instruments seem a bit compressed in the mix, leaving the vocals too far in front. These aren’t deal breakers, but playing fewer riffs—I’m being generous, calling them that—in 45 minutes than I have fingers is. Structuring the front half of a song to sound like a narrative climax with no build-up or release is (“Watchmen, Alone,” “Body Puzzle”). Rhythmic density rivaling the emptiness of space is. Ambient, feedback-laden outros enough to compile an EP is. This album is ostensibly meant to convey misery and suffering, but devoid of creativity or artistic abstraction, it misses the mark that acts like Primitive Man, The Body, or Sumac hit so well. It’s as if Cattle Hammer has crafted some misguided meta experience, in which the act of listening to the music imparts the misery normally communicated through the music itself.
If there’s one thing Cattle Hammer truly excels at, it’s squandering potential. Every criticism in this review is a place where I saw an opportunity for Dark Thoughts with Lights Out to get better, only for it to stay the course. What’s even more frustrating is that, if any one of these problems weren’t a problem, it could have at least partially salvaged the album. Amidst deeply uninteresting riffs played slow enough for inter-note naps, song constructions that fail to launch, underutilized instrumentation, an impressive lack of variation, repetition ad nauseum, and a totally unjustified runtime, Dark Thoughts with Lights Out isn’t simply unremarkable or uninteresting; it’s a literal chore to listen through. Based on the promo sheet, maybe that’s the point, but whether Cattle Hammer achieved their goal is irrelevant.4 Dark Thoughts with Lights Out is a bad album.
Rating: 1.0/5.0
#10 #2026 #BlackMetal #BritishMetal #CattleHammer #DarkThoughtsWithLightsOut #DoomMetal #Drone #Feb26 #Fukpig #Mistress #PrimitiveMan #Review #Reviews #RoadToMasochist #Sludge #Sumac #TheBody #Weedeater
DR: 10 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Road to Masochist
Websites: Bandcamp | Ampwall | Facebook | Instagram
Releases Worldwide: February 6th, 2026 -
Cattle Hammer – Dark Thoughts with Lights Out By Spicie ForrestEnglish is fairly adequate for basic communication, but it falls short for niche communities. In the same way that skiers repurpose “powder” or “carve” and gamers repurpose “own” or “sweaty,” metal fans break and contort language to suit our needs. We talk about “filthy” guitar tones and “razor sharp” riffs, discuss “cavernous” production and “suffocating” weight, and use violent imagery—bleeding ears, caved in skulls—to denote quality. So when I read phrases like “slow, painful march,” “soporific1 dirge,” and “empty decades between chords” on the promo sheet for debut Dark Thoughts with Lights Out, I thought Cattle Hammer was just employing a little dialectical variance, speaking the lingo. Joke’s on me, though. They weren’t.
Based in Birmingham, UK, Cattle Hammer was formed by vocalist/guitarist Duncan Wilkins (Fukpig, Mistress) in 2023. He’s joined by I Cartwright on drums, J Wyles on guitar, and D Von Donovan on bass. Together, they mix a caustic brew of drone, doom, and sludge, but each track on Dark Thoughts with Lights Out has its own identity. “Gloomsower” leans stony, and Wilkins oscillates between deep roars and strangled croaks reminiscent of Weedeater. “Rotting” features short tremolos, although they don’t do much besides check the “blackened” box on the PR sheet. The ambient, noise-tinged intro to “Watchmen, Alone” caught my attention, but repetition of the vocal sample stunts its ability to build tension. Similarly, “Body Puzzle” ends on some interesting synths, but it’s a tough sell so late in the album. If you can’t tell, I’m really reaching for positives here, but there’s not a one that isn’t ultimately a disappointment.
Dark Thoughts With Lights Out by Cattle Hammer
Every time I thought Cattle Hammer might do something interesting or better texturize Dark Thoughts with Lights Out, they shrank from the occasion. The early lead guitar in “Gloomsower” is a bright change of pace amidst thick, doomy passages, but instead of playing a countermelody or variation on the theme or literally anything else, it just plays the same fucking riff in a higher register. This same-riff-different-instrument/key tactic is fairly common (“Rotting,” “Watchmen, Alone”). Organ (“Watchmen, Alone,” “Body Puzzle”) and piano (“Rotting”) make appearances, but fail to deliver anything justifying their inclusion. Static and feedback crop up frequently, but in Cattle Hammer’s hands, they are merely unpleasant and banal. While I was intrigued by the first sample2 and always appreciate Sheri Moon Zombie,3 Cattle Hammer’s sample usage is ham-fisted and melodramatic. Each of these ornaments gave me hope that I might soon feel something besides boredom and frustration, but invariably, Dark Thoughts with Lights Out dashed my hopes and shuffled on.
What astounds me most on Dark Thoughts with Lights Out is how avoidable many of these blunders seem. Percussion is a little lackluster, and the instruments seem a bit compressed in the mix, leaving the vocals too far in front. These aren’t deal breakers, but playing fewer riffs—I’m being generous, calling them that—in 45 minutes than I have fingers is. Structuring the front half of a song to sound like a narrative climax with no build-up or release is (“Watchmen, Alone,” “Body Puzzle”). Rhythmic density rivaling the emptiness of space is. Ambient, feedback-laden outros enough to compile an EP is. This album is ostensibly meant to convey misery and suffering, but devoid of creativity or artistic abstraction, it misses the mark that acts like Primitive Man, The Body, or Sumac hit so well. It’s as if Cattle Hammer has crafted some misguided meta experience, in which the act of listening to the music imparts the misery normally communicated through the music itself.
If there’s one thing Cattle Hammer truly excels at, it’s squandering potential. Every criticism in this review is a place where I saw an opportunity for Dark Thoughts with Lights Out to get better, only for it to stay the course. What’s even more frustrating is that, if any one of these problems weren’t a problem, it could have at least partially salvaged the album. Amidst deeply uninteresting riffs played slow enough for inter-note naps, song constructions that fail to launch, underutilized instrumentation, an impressive lack of variation, repetition ad nauseum, and a totally unjustified runtime, Dark Thoughts with Lights Out isn’t simply unremarkable or uninteresting; it’s a literal chore to listen through. Based on the promo sheet, maybe that’s the point, but whether Cattle Hammer achieved their goal is irrelevant.4 Dark Thoughts with Lights Out is a bad album.
Rating: 1.0/5.0
#10 #2026 #BlackMetal #BritishMetal #CattleHammer #DarkThoughtsWithLightsOut #DoomMetal #Drone #Feb26 #Fukpig #Mistress #PrimitiveMan #Review #Reviews #RoadToMasochist #Sludge #Sumac #TheBody #Weedeater
DR: 10 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Road to Masochist
Websites: Bandcamp | Ampwall | Facebook | Instagram
Releases Worldwide: February 6th, 2026 -
Cattle Hammer – Dark Thoughts with Lights Out By Spicie ForrestEnglish is fairly adequate for basic communication, but it falls short for niche communities. In the same way that skiers repurpose “powder” or “carve” and gamers repurpose “own” or “sweaty,” metal fans break and contort language to suit our needs. We talk about “filthy” guitar tones and “razor sharp” riffs, discuss “cavernous” production and “suffocating” weight, and use violent imagery—bleeding ears, caved in skulls—to denote quality. So when I read phrases like “slow, painful march,” “soporific1 dirge,” and “empty decades between chords” on the promo sheet for debut Dark Thoughts with Lights Out, I thought Cattle Hammer was just employing a little dialectical variance, speaking the lingo. Joke’s on me, though. They weren’t.
Based in Birmingham, UK, Cattle Hammer was formed by vocalist/guitarist Duncan Wilkins (Fukpig, Mistress) in 2023. He’s joined by I Cartwright on drums, J Wyles on guitar, and D Von Donovan on bass. Together, they mix a caustic brew of drone, doom, and sludge, but each track on Dark Thoughts with Lights Out has its own identity. “Gloomsower” leans stony, and Wilkins oscillates between deep roars and strangled croaks reminiscent of Weedeater. “Rotting” features short tremolos, although they don’t do much besides check the “blackened” box on the PR sheet. The ambient, noise-tinged intro to “Watchmen, Alone” caught my attention, but repetition of the vocal sample stunts its ability to build tension. Similarly, “Body Puzzle” ends on some interesting synths, but it’s a tough sell so late in the album. If you can’t tell, I’m really reaching for positives here, but there’s not a one that isn’t ultimately a disappointment.
Dark Thoughts With Lights Out by Cattle Hammer
Every time I thought Cattle Hammer might do something interesting or better texturize Dark Thoughts with Lights Out, they shrank from the occasion. The early lead guitar in “Gloomsower” is a bright change of pace amidst thick, doomy passages, but instead of playing a countermelody or variation on the theme or literally anything else, it just plays the same fucking riff in a higher register. This same-riff-different-instrument/key tactic is fairly common (“Rotting,” “Watchmen, Alone”). Organ (“Watchmen, Alone,” “Body Puzzle”) and piano (“Rotting”) make appearances, but fail to deliver anything justifying their inclusion. Static and feedback crop up frequently, but in Cattle Hammer’s hands, they are merely unpleasant and banal. While I was intrigued by the first sample2 and always appreciate Sheri Moon Zombie,3 Cattle Hammer’s sample usage is ham-fisted and melodramatic. Each of these ornaments gave me hope that I might soon feel something besides boredom and frustration, but invariably, Dark Thoughts with Lights Out dashed my hopes and shuffled on.
What astounds me most on Dark Thoughts with Lights Out is how avoidable many of these blunders seem. Percussion is a little lackluster, and the instruments seem a bit compressed in the mix, leaving the vocals too far in front. These aren’t deal breakers, but playing fewer riffs—I’m being generous, calling them that—in 45 minutes than I have fingers is. Structuring the front half of a song to sound like a narrative climax with no build-up or release is (“Watchmen, Alone,” “Body Puzzle”). Rhythmic density rivaling the emptiness of space is. Ambient, feedback-laden outros enough to compile an EP is. This album is ostensibly meant to convey misery and suffering, but devoid of creativity or artistic abstraction, it misses the mark that acts like Primitive Man, The Body, or Sumac hit so well. It’s as if Cattle Hammer has crafted some misguided meta experience, in which the act of listening to the music imparts the misery normally communicated through the music itself.
If there’s one thing Cattle Hammer truly excels at, it’s squandering potential. Every criticism in this review is a place where I saw an opportunity for Dark Thoughts with Lights Out to get better, only for it to stay the course. What’s even more frustrating is that, if any one of these problems weren’t a problem, it could have at least partially salvaged the album. Amidst deeply uninteresting riffs played slow enough for inter-note naps, song constructions that fail to launch, underutilized instrumentation, an impressive lack of variation, repetition ad nauseum, and a totally unjustified runtime, Dark Thoughts with Lights Out isn’t simply unremarkable or uninteresting; it’s a literal chore to listen through. Based on the promo sheet, maybe that’s the point, but whether Cattle Hammer achieved their goal is irrelevant.4 Dark Thoughts with Lights Out is a bad album.
Rating: 1.0/5.0
#10 #2026 #BlackMetal #BritishMetal #CattleHammer #DarkThoughtsWithLightsOut #DoomMetal #Drone #Feb26 #Fukpig #Mistress #PrimitiveMan #Review #Reviews #RoadToMasochist #Sludge #Sumac #TheBody #Weedeater
DR: 10 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Road to Masochist
Websites: Bandcamp | Ampwall | Facebook | Instagram
Releases Worldwide: February 6th, 2026 -
Cattle Hammer – Dark Thoughts with Lights Out By Spicie ForrestEnglish is fairly adequate for basic communication, but it falls short for niche communities. In the same way that skiers repurpose “powder” or “carve” and gamers repurpose “own” or “sweaty,” metal fans break and contort language to suit our needs. We talk about “filthy” guitar tones and “razor sharp” riffs, discuss “cavernous” production and “suffocating” weight, and use violent imagery—bleeding ears, caved in skulls—to denote quality. So when I read phrases like “slow, painful march,” “soporific1 dirge,” and “empty decades between chords” on the promo sheet for debut Dark Thoughts with Lights Out, I thought Cattle Hammer was just employing a little dialectical variance, speaking the lingo. Joke’s on me, though. They weren’t.
Based in Birmingham, UK, Cattle Hammer was formed by vocalist/guitarist Duncan Wilkins (Fukpig, Mistress) in 2023. He’s joined by I Cartwright on drums, J Wyles on guitar, and D Von Donovan on bass. Together, they mix a caustic brew of drone, doom, and sludge, but each track on Dark Thoughts with Lights Out has its own identity. “Gloomsower” leans stony, and Wilkins oscillates between deep roars and strangled croaks reminiscent of Weedeater. “Rotting” features short tremolos, although they don’t do much besides check the “blackened” box on the PR sheet. The ambient, noise-tinged intro to “Watchmen, Alone” caught my attention, but repetition of the vocal sample stunts its ability to build tension. Similarly, “Body Puzzle” ends on some interesting synths, but it’s a tough sell so late in the album. If you can’t tell, I’m really reaching for positives here, but there’s not a one that isn’t ultimately a disappointment.
Dark Thoughts With Lights Out by Cattle Hammer
Every time I thought Cattle Hammer might do something interesting or better texturize Dark Thoughts with Lights Out, they shrank from the occasion. The early lead guitar in “Gloomsower” is a bright change of pace amidst thick, doomy passages, but instead of playing a countermelody or variation on the theme or literally anything else, it just plays the same fucking riff in a higher register. This same-riff-different-instrument/key tactic is fairly common (“Rotting,” “Watchmen, Alone”). Organ (“Watchmen, Alone,” “Body Puzzle”) and piano (“Rotting”) make appearances, but fail to deliver anything justifying their inclusion. Static and feedback crop up frequently, but in Cattle Hammer’s hands, they are merely unpleasant and banal. While I was intrigued by the first sample2 and always appreciate Sheri Moon Zombie,3 Cattle Hammer’s sample usage is ham-fisted and melodramatic. Each of these ornaments gave me hope that I might soon feel something besides boredom and frustration, but invariably, Dark Thoughts with Lights Out dashed my hopes and shuffled on.
What astounds me most on Dark Thoughts with Lights Out is how avoidable many of these blunders seem. Percussion is a little lackluster, and the instruments seem a bit compressed in the mix, leaving the vocals too far in front. These aren’t deal breakers, but playing fewer riffs—I’m being generous, calling them that—in 45 minutes than I have fingers is. Structuring the front half of a song to sound like a narrative climax with no build-up or release is (“Watchmen, Alone,” “Body Puzzle”). Rhythmic density rivaling the emptiness of space is. Ambient, feedback-laden outros enough to compile an EP is. This album is ostensibly meant to convey misery and suffering, but devoid of creativity or artistic abstraction, it misses the mark that acts like Primitive Man, The Body, or Sumac hit so well. It’s as if Cattle Hammer has crafted some misguided meta experience, in which the act of listening to the music imparts the misery normally communicated through the music itself.
If there’s one thing Cattle Hammer truly excels at, it’s squandering potential. Every criticism in this review is a place where I saw an opportunity for Dark Thoughts with Lights Out to get better, only for it to stay the course. What’s even more frustrating is that, if any one of these problems weren’t a problem, it could have at least partially salvaged the album. Amidst deeply uninteresting riffs played slow enough for inter-note naps, song constructions that fail to launch, underutilized instrumentation, an impressive lack of variation, repetition ad nauseum, and a totally unjustified runtime, Dark Thoughts with Lights Out isn’t simply unremarkable or uninteresting; it’s a literal chore to listen through. Based on the promo sheet, maybe that’s the point, but whether Cattle Hammer achieved their goal is irrelevant.4 Dark Thoughts with Lights Out is a bad album.
Rating: 1.0/5.0
#10 #2026 #BlackMetal #BritishMetal #CattleHammer #DarkThoughtsWithLightsOut #DoomMetal #Drone #Feb26 #Fukpig #Mistress #PrimitiveMan #Review #Reviews #RoadToMasochist #Sludge #Sumac #TheBody #Weedeater
DR: 10 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Road to Masochist
Websites: Bandcamp | Ampwall | Facebook | Instagram
Releases Worldwide: February 6th, 2026 -
Full of Hell @ The Castle & Falcon, Birmingham - 11 Apr feat. Full of Hell, The Body, Jarhead Fertilizer + more
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🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on #BBC6Music's #StuartMaconiesFreakZone
The Body & Dis Fig:
🎵 Holy Lance -
🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on #BBC6Music's #StuartMaconiesFreakZone
The Body & Dis Fig:
🎵 Holy Lance -
🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on #BBC6Music's #StuartMaconiesFreakZone
The Body & Dis Fig:
🎵 Holy Lance -
🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on #BBC6Music's #StuartMaconiesFreakZone
The Body & Dis Fig:
🎵 Holy Lance -
🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on #BBC6Music's #StuartMaconiesFreakZone
The Body & Dis Fig:
🎵 Holy Lance -
Netflix’s ‘The Body’ Adds 11 As Recurring
#Casting #Netflix #TheBodyhttps://deadline.com/2025/10/the-body-tv-series-quinn-shephard-adds-11-recurring-1236594864/
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Netflix’s ‘The Body’ Adds 11 As Recurring
#Casting #Netflix #TheBodyhttps://deadline.com/2025/10/the-body-tv-series-quinn-shephard-adds-11-recurring-1236594864/
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Netflix’s ‘The Body’ Adds 11 As Recurring
#Casting #Netflix #TheBodyhttps://deadline.com/2025/10/the-body-tv-series-quinn-shephard-adds-11-recurring-1236594864/
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Netflix’s ‘The Body’ Adds 11 As Recurring
#Casting #Netflix #TheBodyhttps://deadline.com/2025/10/the-body-tv-series-quinn-shephard-adds-11-recurring-1236594864/
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Scoop du jour : Je peux renfiler deux vieux jeans ! Merci le pilates et les #!?@€&! d’abdos ! #thebody #undetailpourvous #maispourmoi #caveutdirebeaucoup
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Heathe – Control Your Soul’s Desire For Freedom Review
By Samguineous Maximus
As I prowled the depths of the promo bin, preparing for my next review, a peculiar glint caught my eye. The label read, “RADIOACTIVE: FOR N00B ABUSE ONLY,” and below it, in what must have been an act of genre-tag terrorism, sat the words: nü metal/gospel/jazz. I briefly considered calling the authorities, but morbid curiosity won out. What kind of unholy chimera lurks inside something with that particular trifecta? I dusted off the cover like a bomb disposal tech, hoping the wires are color-coded. The culprit is Control Your Soul’s Desire For Freedom, the sophomore album from Danish group Heathe. The press blurb boasts “dissonance and endless repetition” alongside “depressive pop, live techno and pitch-black post-hardcore.” This project is either utterly revolutionary or catastrophically bad. Has Heathe somehow crafted an engaging 65-minute aural journey against all odds? Or will Control Your Soul’s Desire For Freedom see them disappear completely into the caverns of their own rectum?
As it turns out, the central sound on Control Your Soul’s Desire For Freedom isn’t quite as mind-boggling as it might seem. I’d place Heathe in the same category as The Body or Swans—sonic provocateurs who rely on oppressive atmosphere in tandem with monotonous repetition while pulling liberally from various musical traditions to convey emotion, often at the cost of songwriting. There are indeed notes of nü metal, gospel, and jazz scattered throughout the album, but they don’t redefine Heathe’s core aesthetic. Instead, these elements serve to augment the central concept or thematic devices of each track. Control Your Soul’s Desire For Freedom is clearly intended more as a listening “experience” meant to illicit powerful emotions than a collection of songs for consumptive pleasure. Each of the 6 tracks offers a different flavor of existential dread, ranging from harsh industrial loops accented by jazzy horns (“My Gods Destroy”) to Massive Attack-like triphop ethereal beats and autotuned choral vocals (“Uproar Taking Shape”). The only constants across them are a throat-shredding screamo wail, which makes up the majority of Heathe’s vocal delivery, 1 and an almost slavish devotion to repetition.
Each song is built on a distinct rhythmic or melodic idea, repeated ad nauseam throughout its runtime. To their credit, Heathe add nuance by carefully shaping the pacing and delivery of these repetitions. Opener “Black Milk Sour Soil” begins with a cappella screams that persist for several minutes before giving way to subtle synth rhythms, tribal drumming, and ominous group chanting. “Valencia’s Next” employs many of the same elements but builds them around a hypnotic central drum loop, adding and subtracting blasts of harsh noise alongside, yes, jazz flute. Individually, these tracks are compelling and texturally rich. Taken together, however, the elongated song lengths and the band’s preference for atmosphere over traditional song structure can make a full-album listen daunting. To their credit, Heathe place powerful climaxes at the end of several tracks, ecstatic post-rock crescendos where the horns and choirs break into consonance, but they aren’t enough to entice me back into repeated listens.In many ways, Control Your Soul’s Desire For Freedom feels less like a conventional album and more like a performance art piece designed for a live audience. Heathe clearly understand how to convey emotional intensity, both uplifting and harrowing, and they wield that skill to striking effect. The final track, “Black As Oil,” is a gorgeous blend of modern classical and ambient, serving as a powerful yet bittersweet resolution after an album steeped in oppressive textures. As the strained vocals fade over shimmering guitar melodies, I’m hit with a wave of emotion—a kind of pained calmness. It’s the same sensation I might get from an avant-garde live performance that’s both awe-inspiring and slightly alienating. There’s real power in Heathe’s ability to evoke that feeling, but as a piece of recorded music, it leaves me wanting just a little more.
Control Your Soul’s Desire For Freedom is a difficult album for me to pin down. As a fan of the autre and experimental, I’ve endured more than my fair share of tuneless dirges masquerading as clever, and Heathe are not guilty of that. Beyond offering genuinely novel and distinctive sounds, there’s a powerful emotional core to this album that I deeply respect, but not one I’m keen to repeatedly partake in. Heathe are a band I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on, and I’d love to experience their brand of sonic alienation in a live setting. For now, though, they fall short of delivering an album that feels truly essential.
Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Empty Tape / Virkelighedsfjern
Websites: hethe.bandcamp.com|facebook.com/heathedeath
Releases Worldwide: October 3rd, 2025#25 #2025 #ControlYourSoulSDesireForFreedom #Denmark #Drone #EmptyTape #Experimental #FreeJazz #Heathe #Industrial #MassiveAttack #Noise #NuMetal #Oct25 #PostHardcore #Review #Reviews #Swans #TheBody #Virkelighedsfjern
