As I continue to reflect upon the Steve Grimmett Top 10 I dropped a couple weeks ago, the thought crossed my mind: What other metal artists have such wide-ranging careers that would call for a similarly natured Top 10? Phil Anselmo is easily in the running. Just like the universe itself, the Anselmo-verse is dark, unpredictable, and ever-expanding. I’d attempt to list all of the Pantera frontman’s side quests, but we’d be here all day, so let’s cut to the chase. Today’s album in review is Gold, the debut full length from the Anselmo fronted black metal supergroup, Scour.
Considering his open love for bands like Darkthrone and Mayhem, it’s no surprise to see Anselmo immersing himself in metal’s most evil subgenre. It also wouldn’t be his first foray, as the early ’00s saw him collaborate with his then wife Opal Enthroned and good pal Killjoy (rest in power) of Necrophagia infamy in Viking Crown. As for Scour, Anselmo finds himself backed by past and present members of Pig Destroyer, Misery Index, and Cattle Decapitation, just to name a few. Together, the hellish quintet create enough of a racket to cause a slew of noise complaints a county over.
Before we get into the music itself, I’d like to dispel any half-baked comments I’ve seen online regarding Anselmo’s vocals being “cooked”, “fried”, “shot”, or whatever other hot verbiage of the day. For a guy who’s allegedly so “washed out” (another regular remark), he sure can growl like a mutha, unleashing nothing but throat-shredding highs and utterly demonic lows throughout the course of Gold. This dude’s been at it longer than most of you social media edgelords have been alive, and is STILL killing it, so as the old song goes, “Walk on home, boy!”
As for the music itself, Scour’s spin on second wave black metal is most definitely their own alone. The deathgrind influence of the members’ main outfits bleeds into frenzied cuts like “Cross” and “Blades”, recalling blackened grind deviants, Anaal Nathrakh. Other death metal flavored moments like “Infusorium”, “Hell”, and “Invoked”, come off like blackened spins on Deicide and Vital Remains with their brutish deliveries and deadly riffage. The remainder of the album lies somewhere between dark ambient noisescapes and orthodox black metal that ranges from decent (“Evil”) to pedestrian (“Devil”, “Serve”). That said, even Gold‘s lukewarm moments shine, thanks to its beefed up production and thick as murk guitars, a pleasant detour from the usual razor-thin tremolo tone that has become industry standard since Mayhem.
If Phil Anselmo had nothing to do with this project/album, would I have even bothered listening to Gold in the first place? Probably not, but that’s because I’m a boomer trapped in a gen Z body who believes black metal peaked in the ’80s. The vast majority of you who frequent the genre’s second wave, which just so happens to be its most popular wave, will likely dig it. If nothing else, it’s an iron-clad punch to the face of the hipster post-rock and screamo that has passed as “black metal” for the past 15 years. As the old saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
6 out of 10
Label: Nuclear Blast
Genre: Black Metal
For fans of: Marduk, Anaal Nathrakh, 1349
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