The fact that Star Treatment kicks things off possibly in the most vigorous way ever heard on a Wovenhand record with the song Come Brave, is our right off the bat indication that the band's newest is without doubt a contrasting album in their body of work, which in case you haven't noticed, it has become quite large already. Star Treatment is Wovenhand's tenth full length (eleventh if you count the collaborative LP with Ultima Vez) and their best one in a very long time.
This fuzzier, slightly more aggressive, at times more punk and definitely more energizing side of Wovenhand, which brings back vivid memories of 16 Horsepower, should be a pleasant surprise to anyone who expected another The Laughing Stalk or one more Refractory Obdurate, because no matter how good those LPs may have been, it's been over ten years since Wovenhand's last significantly memorable album. Everything else they released in between those years has been satisfying or better, but none of it sounded truly exceptional as Star Treatment does, an album that grabs you from the first listen.
David Eugene Edwards, that monster of a musician behind the Wovenhand moniker, has brought his little project a long way since 2001, and whenever the terms "gothic" and "americana" are blended with one another, his name should be the first that pops in one mind, alongside Michael Gira's and Will Oldham's.
Listen below...
Vinyl US
Vinyl EU & UK
ZR