Album Review: Piedmont Apocrypha by Horseback

As the mastermind behind shapeshifting experimental outfit Horseback, North Carolina musician Jenks Miller has played many roles: ambient auteur, doom-metal songwriter, black metal howler, producer, folkie. But he's not exactly willing to use labels—and why should he? In a recent interview, Miller avoids the slippery slope of compartmentalization by situating Horseback within a broader tradition of psychic exploration and visceral expression, birthed by the blues and embedded within the musical DNA of John Cage, Neil Young, and Richard Thompson alike: "As far as I'm concerned," he says, "all esoteric music is bonded by blood. I love it all.

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The raw, honest, and ultimately humane way in which Jenks Miller utters the words “I was born to lose / I won’t have this form forever”, on the aptly titled opening track “Passing Through”, tells a story in itself. It is more than a comment and yet something less than a statement. His voice is left devoid of effects and alterations, so much so that one is able to sense the man’s fragility and alienation.

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Historically, non-metal records from metal bands have been a mixed bag. In the very recent past, quality control has ranged from excellent (Kylesa's psychedelic bummer jams on Ultraviolet) to ho-hum (Alcest's grunge balladry on Shelter). Given that Jenks Miller (a.k.a. Horseback) perfected his particular blend of haunting folk metal on 2012's Half Blood, I guess he was about due to fuck with his style.Admittedly, Piedmont Apocrypha is still very much in the Americana droning style Miller has delivered before.

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Horseback — Piedmont Apocrypha (Three Lobed Recordings)<a href="http://threelobed. bandcamp. com/album/piedmont-apocrypha" data-mce-href="http://threelobed.

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