| ⭐⭐⭐✨ |
2020’s ‘The Common Task’ felt like a bit of a watershed moment for Horse Lords. In stumbling upon the kind of jerky, psychedelic math rock that has since become such a staple of their identity, they seem to have made it a mission to test the absolute limits of reiteration. It becomes rock music as a form of hypnosis at a certain point. ‘Demand To Be Taken To Heaven Alive!’ seems to eclipse everything prior, eschewing any semblance of what one might call “traditional” rock songwriting. Opting instead for musical performances so laden with groove, so mechanical in their execution, so insistent in their linearity, they transcend form altogether. Their previous album ‘Comradely Objects’, even in its most one-track minded moments, still possessed a capability to jut even a modicum in a lateral fashion. By contrast, what is so striking about their latest is just how competently they manage to accomplish such singularity without pushing themselves completely into a corner.
The detuned synth fragments that kick off the titular closing track slowly lose themselves within the cyclical sonic mayhem. The omissions are deceptive, and don’t fully register until we hit the backend. The trippiest part is just how seemingly monotonous its patterns can feel, even though the vessels they’re being communicated through are slowly changing. Contrast this with the first full piece “Brain of the Firm”, which locks into more familiar rhythmic patterns for Horse Lords, though nevertheless finds nifty ways to shift emphasis. Even if they read as being stubbornly composed, there is a mesmerising level of action occurring right under your nose. What this project showcases is a mastery of structural modulation. As quickly as they find themselves in a hypnosis, the band engineers a brand new angle for the same bassline or guitar rhythm. Effectively writing a lead that feels fresh, even if it shares genetics with what preceded it.
The robotically funky “A City Yet to Come” sounds like a malfunctioning piece of technology, but reflects this idea of subliminal evolution accurately. Literal dental drill effects mask the switches, the returning autotuned vocal samples are a red herring. It’s perhaps the strongest jam of the bunch, particularly as it devolves into a honking horn-fest in the final leg. Horse Lords use the time they have in the booth to acquire maximum mileage out of these often spare melodic pieces, and the music on ‘Demand to Be Taken to Heaven Alive!’ is as insistent on transcending form as the title suggests. Despite a far more muscular second act post-“Rotation III”, the band are still proving that patience is a virtue, and that age doesn’t have to mellow your creativity. While this is their most groove-centric album to date, in a way it’s almost their easiest on the ears. They balance their bent for post-minimalism and drone with what is likely their beefiest rhythm section yet. The result is a really solid juxtaposition of movement and tranquility, an encouragement to take action as gracefully as you can.
Dan Will Review 