As High As the Highest Heavens & from the Center T (Vinyl) [Import]

The 2nd album from this Texas band is built on a
thunderous, distorted beauty that is compellingly gorgeous, heavy & slow--a dreamy, mud-bank
metal/celestial drone-drawl. Think Mazzy Star sludging through a thick, boggy, dreary, dismal swamp
with a plodding, hypnotic allure; a steam roller methodically leveling sun-baked melodies at
3 mph; a half-speed psychedelic stomp/sprawl with a heavy hand on the reverb/shoegaze
chord; a purpose-driven snail on downers with an electric guitar and a chorus of swaying,
hypnotized, lead-footed followers marching to a 20 ton slo-mo dance; sensual, opium-drenched
pool laps in a quicksand embrace; an elephant thump-soaring through drug-hazed streets lined
with beckoning angels. Sometimes recalls Low, Bardo Pond, Mazzy Star, Jex Thoth, Starflyer 59,
Codeine. The band calls it "stonegaze". I like it. A lot.

Review from Melt Magazine - Columbus, OH

True Widow have completed their first album for Kemado Records, As High As The Highest Heavens and From The Center to the Circumference of the Earth, with a release date now set for March 29, 2011. The Dallas-based trio, have described their sound as "stonegaze", a hybrid of slow-core, chugging rock and hazy, heartfelt vocals. Just when I had given up on discovering anything new and exciting this month, this album arrived in my mailbox. I appreciated the fact that the infinite album title meant I wouldn't have to write as much, as if the band was saying "go ahead, take a little time for yourself, we'll fill up the page for you". As it turns out, laziness can be quite rewarding. This album is exactly what I was in the mood for.

The opening track, 'Jackyl' sets the pace with a crawling drum beat and a growling, detuned, one note guitar line. The rhythm is so sluggish that there are times I would swear it actually sags down a few BPMs in the middle of the verses. The effect is like dragging your belly through hot desert sand as the final stages of dehydration set in. A slidy guitar passage deepens the trance, and its melody is picked up by the female aspect of the group's vocals, singer/bassist Nicole Estill. The words are spoken/sung with a feeling of utter importance, yet obscured behind a cloud of reverb: a hopeful mirage off in the distance. The song climaxes at 3:30 with an addictive, repetitive, moan that for an instant, will make you forget Mazzy Star ever entered a recording studio.

The next track, 'Blooden Horse' starts out with a bit more positive sounding progression: sort of an Autolux played at half time feel, with a touch of south western twang. The vocals (this time male) from guitarist DH Phillips are again poppy, yet somewhat blurred out of the picture. The guitar pulls the song forward, through atypical chord changes that are strummed one note at a time as the crushing low end again fulfills the sense of impending doom that stays with you for the remainder of the record.

I don't know what it is it about Texas that makes musicians want to give things absurdly long titles and play super heavy, super emotive chill-rock (This Will Destroy You, ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, Explosions In The Sky). I have a theory based off of a map I saw the other day, that involves nuclear fallout from all those Nevada test sites in 1950s, but I'm still waiting on the experts to return my emails. Obviously not for everyone, but perfect for warming up and zoning out in these current blizzard conditions. - Tyler Starkey

Unexpected surprise with this one. Great listen. Drone-y, introspective, slow and HEAVY. One of my favorite finds of 2011. Great balance of low-tuned dirge and reverb drenched vocals. Like Queens of the Stone age made a moody record with Best Coast and Raveonettes.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 4 reviews  4.8 out of 5 stars