01. We Buried Him Preciously
02. Only Forever
03. My Naked Hands
04. To Lurch And Fall
05. An Old Confusion
06. I Soon Will Be Myself Again
07. Gestures In The Dark
08. Vestiges
09. Whitehaired
So yea, its been a while since ive written a full blown review and lord knows there has been some pretty good releases this year. But with this album I just had to sit down and write one because as of now its my favorite of 2010 hands down. I cannot state enough how happy I am about this record. Or maybe happy is the wrong term as this record is downright depressing and foreboding. The record is a blend of black metal, ambience, and cold suffocating atmosphere. I've read other snippets about the album in which they throw in the term "shoegaze" which continues to baffle me. I swear there are new terms for music everyday when it really isnt needed. I also have seen punk thrown in there as a influence which I don't sense at all on this record. Fans of Velvet Cacoon and The Ruins of Beverast will enjoy this record immensely. The record is the debut from a lad out of Seattle, Wa by the name of Bryan Thomas.
He performs a eerily clausterphobic and haunting record here that ensares you from beginning to end and never lets up. Even the album cover in all its simplicity does its job to encompass the dark atmosphere of the record itself giving it a feel of total isolation and loneliness. This album would be fantastic to spin while sitting in a dark forest with a thick heavy fog swirling about. Help a Body is a voidic journey of eternal darkwave bliss. Throw in some great percussion and acoustic interludes and you got a recipe for a total suicidal and psychotic meltdown. My favorite tracks on here are "We Buried him Preciously", "My Naked Hands", "To Lurch and Fall", "Gestures in the Dark", and "And Old Confusion".
Fact is, there is no bad track on here which is refreshing. The arrangements are just so top notch throughout this record that it flows seemlessly from start to finish. Some of the keyboards remind me a lot of the work done on The Enigma Prognosis by Veneficum which is probably another reason why I love this record so much. The haunting atmosphere cannot be overstated here because it is such a huge part of what makes this album flow. But here I like Thomas' vocal approach much more which doesn't overtake the music itself or try to drown it out. But even with the translucent nature of the music there is still a angry and furious approach to how the music is conveyed to the audience. At this present time the album is limited to 500 copies (one of which I now own) and is totally worth the price of admission. We are heading for the downstretch of 2010 and although that's plenty of time for another record to shine for me I seriously doubt there will be one as I have played this record at least 2-3 times a day now for over 2 weeks. At this point in time Help a Body will be a serious album to contend with for the album of the year for me and deservedly so.
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