Drifter's Sympathy

The first of two Holy Sons albums released in 2009, Drifter's Sympathy comes from a series of songs recorded by Emil Amos over the previous four years, holding together more thoroughly as a discrete unit than might be initially guessed. Given Amos' participation in other musical acts such as Grails and Om, it might seem like a risk to spread himself so thin, but the excellence of the Holy Sons efforts had already been clear by the release of Drifter's Sympathy, which solidified that reputation further. For all of his other bands' worship of extreme rock obsessiveness, Drifter's Sympathy evokes Adrian Sherwood and Kevin Martin more than Tony Iommi (or if one prefers, Bill Ward) — Amos' focus on drumming allows him to explore whatever "dub" can be taken to mean in a context far removed from Jamaica. (Calling one track "Drifter's Dub" admittedly shows that hand even before one listens to it, but the easy, clattering take on threateningly deep echo lives up to it.) The album begins on yet another note with "Snowed In," turning into a series of growling guitar parts that can't not be described as doom-laden. It's definitely not soothing sounds for baby, unless the baby is a changeling. But moments like the concluding filigree show that Amos isn't out to completely destroy, a tension also explored on the soft and folkish "More Mind Briars." It certainly isn't completely a ray of sunshine thanks to the swathe of reverb and steady bass notes punctuating the song.