Crooked Mouth & Headstone Brigade – Crooked Headstone

[Reviewed by: Iaha Crax]

I, Voidhanger Records surprises us with a folky album which is a rarity among the extreme metal ensemble of the label. Noite “A Cor do Fogo” was a splendid record touching slightly that same musical perimeter, nonetheless Noite is the side-project of the Black Metal project Onirik.

This time, these two outfits share the classical world musical background, traditional folk-rock ignited by the passion for good communal music. If we care to find out idiosyncratic approaches to this style that flooded the underground in the steps of Sol Invictus, Death In June or :Of the Wand And The Moon:, we could fail to appreciate the authentic sensitive melody that stands out as a privilege for the few remaining good souls.

This collaboration bears the mark of candid lightness untouched by the dark clouds of thoughts and eschatological visions of the neo-folk genre.  While Crooked Mouth is an artist from British Columbia playing guitar, harmonium, trombone, Headstone Brigade comes with his accordion from Washington and they both share vocals and percussion. They follow the picaresque sensuality of the atmosphere depicted in burlesque novels (Tristram Shandy, Canterbury Tales, Gargantua, The Decameron) that have risen the spirits in our bleak hearts nourished from the modern decay and boredom phantasies.

“Crooked Headstone” makes you jolly and makes atonements for the sins of past quests for another reality, it is contingent and terrestrial to the point of being natural, as many may look for after the disillusionment of the unanswered questions. Matt Howden meets Lina Baby Doll at East of Eden.  

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Crooked Mouth & Headstone Brigade – Crooked Headstone

I Voidhanger Records

CD/Digital 2021