Release Date: September 01st 2023. Record Label: Horton Records. Formats: CD/DD/Vinyl
Medicine Horse - Medicine Horse: Tracklisting
1.Dead Medicine 03:56
2.Turning Tide 03:51
3.Swamp Interlude
4.Letiche
5.Badlands
6.She
7.Kuwa Detlukv (The Orchard)
Members
Nico Williams – vocals
Kyle Williams – guitar
Travis Rowe – lead guitar
Chris West – bass
Garrett Heck – drums
Review:
Medicine Horse is a Doom/Stoner Metal band who bring the classic WEEDIAN and Down-Tuned sound to the party but add an authentic Indigenous Metal element to their sound as the band features two members who are part of the Native American community. Lead vocalist Nico Williams is from the Cherokee Nation and guitarist Kyle Williams is from the Ponca,Otoe-Missouria, and Ioway Nations. So the band brings a real life cultural element from their respective backgrounds to the album and allows the lyrics to be even more hard hitting and socially aware for a Doom/Stoner Metal album such as this.
The music is inspired by bands such as Weedater, DOWN and Crowbar with it’s sludgy undertones allowing Medicine Horse playing with a more ferocious drive that is quite melodic at the same time. With a few heavy moments of jagged Classic Hard Rock then Medicine Horse plays a wide array of different sounds from the Heavy Rock scene.
Nico Williams vocals are not what I expected at all. As I was expecting a more Blues Rock take throughout but Nico delivers with a more intense and in some cases extreme style. The vocals have a BANSHEE like quality to them which you can hear within the stunning opening tracks of Dead Medicine and Turning Tide. Nico does offer a more sultry style on Turning Tide which shows what a great vocalist Nico actually is.
The music remains part of the sludgy and murky Southern Metal style with outbursts of aggressive and catchy Stoner/Weedian based extended grooves. The album does have a fantastic realistic edge which is down to perhaps their intelligent lyrics and creative themes that draws upon the band’s ancestral culture.
Medicine Horse remain true to their convictions throughout the album with a highly atmospheric and moody sound which is played LOW & SLOW and stripped right back on tracks such as Swamp Interlude and Letiche. There’s a massive NOLA or DOWN influence on Letiche with the swamp infused Sludgy guitars and intelligent drumming that allows this to be one of the best tracks of the album. The song also can be quite unsettling to hear at times with Nico’s intelligent vocals and intense lyrics that allowed the song to be quite horrific in places.
Production values are handled superbly well on this album with Medicine Horse having a more Garage Rock approach with the delivery of their music here. The sound is more primal especially on the later stages of the album with Nico’s vocals always evolving into different styles and having a commanding presence within them.
The final three songs on the album Badlands, She and Kuwa Detlukv (The Orchard) moves with the gloomy and unsettling themes heard on Letiche with Medicine Horse even playing a more Groove Metal driven style of music. With a Thrash Metal approach being used on the final stages of the album then Medicine Horse are masters of their own domain for an album that ends in spectacular and unsettling fashion.
Medicine Horse have created quite a unique Doom/Stoner Metal album which allows them to be one of the most unique and original voices within the underground scene. This is an album that’s emotionally hard hitting and one that offers first rate entertainment from start to finish.
Words by Steve Howe
Thanks to Action PR! for the promo.
Medicine Horse S/T will be available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl via Horton Records from Friday September 08th 2023.
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