For those Hototogisu fans that are sometimes unlucky enough to miss out on limited editions, this Important Records release is a godsend. Some Blood will Stick takes tracks from both 2004’s Swoon Scream and 2005’s Awful Symmetry (both editions of 100) and it’s unlikely you’ll stumble across one of those for less than thirty pounds these days. The addition of an unreleased track makes this a compulsory purchase for any fans of Matthew Bower (Skullflower/Sunroof!) and Marcia Bassett (Double Leopards/Zaimph).
There are few bands that lean as heavily towards the pure sound of ritual as Hototogisu. Skilled in both the simplicity and heaviosity of drone, this album reeks of brimstone and the sweet smell of burning oxygen. Their ability to sound thematic without actually giving in to following these threads leaves their music open to interpretation, or better still open to engagement.
The black metallics of their feedback-styled orchestral layers insinuate a cracked cathedral dome sound. Swirling screams of ritual slaughter and the panning between the tinkling and the clanging of meathooks. His work as Hototogisu is utterly distinct from his other main projects, Skullflower and Sunroof!, the music having become an inverted hurricane, spinning out Indian drones like expanding brain stems.
Bower’s fag ash demonic throat shredding climbs over lift shaft hydraulic rushes, a single thunderclap pulse failing to keep time in the storm. At times its possible to distinguish the great swathes of guitar as melody, grand strums of six string over etched whitened and tensed tones. This six-track compilation is yet another definitive example of why Hototogisu is Bower and Bassett’s most revered project.
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