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The Body / Whitehorse - Whitehorse & The Body [Collaboration] review




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Reviewer:
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7.33
Band: The Body / Whitehorse
Album: Whitehorse & The Body [Collaboration]
Release date: January 2019


01. In My Heart The Answer Is Yes, But I Said No.
02. We Found You Totally Innocent, Which Is The Worst Crime Of All.

The Body are quite prolific, having amassed a dense number of full lengths, EPs, splits, and collaborations over their 20 year career. This inevitably raises the question of "can a band that pumps out so many releases maintain quality between them all?" For The Body's latest collab with Whitehorse, then, we're about to find out.

As you could probably guess by the title, Whitehorse & The Body is? yeah, a collaborative EP between the extreme sludgers of Australia's Whitehorse and the industrial Avant-garde noise metal terrorists we all know and love from The Body. Though brief, going just over the 16 minute mark, if one is familiar with both bands it's pretty easy to tell that "the Whitehorse sound" is the one that exerted more of an influence in the final product here, resulting in a sound that is a lot more structured, doomy, and all around rhythmic than most of what The Body have been up to lately. If you haven't particularly been a fan of Chip and Lee going in a more formless, industrialized noise direction with their sound recently, this could come as a welcome shift.

With that said, this certainly does not mean that The Body's sound has been swallowed up entirely with this collab, even if it does have a less than 50% presence in the final formula. The first track here is very groovy, riff heavy, and more in Whitehorse territory than anything, but it does nonetheless contain some of the trademark, swirly electronic sounds that have become The Body's trademark. The second track, however is considerably different, and while it still leans more toward Whitehorse's approach, an influence from The Body is a lot more noticeable: things get a little more melodic and atmospheric, Chip's infamous screeches come into play more, and toward the middle there's quite a bit of that plodding, industrialized drumming delivery that is unquestionably The Body's signature.

While not quite as good as their collabs with Full Of Hell or the one they did with The Haxan Cloak, The Body's collab with Whitehorse is still a pretty damn good effort, and as strong a testament as any to the great ability the duo have to morph and redefine their sound in many different ways. Although I may have liked more of a 50/50 synthesis between the sounds of both bands here, the fact that this collab is more inclined to Whitehorse actually makes things a little more interesting, as it represents a new shift for The Body's collab approach in which they sort of just sprinkle their influence on top rather than injecting it straight into the core. 20 years into their career and with a ton of releases under their belt, The Body can at times be a real "hit or miss" type band, but this time around, with Whitehorse's help, they've definitely racked up a hit.

The impending pain welcomes you. Go suffer humbly.





Written on 20.01.2019 by Metal Storm’s own Babalao. Comforting the disturbed and disturbing the comfortable since 2013.


Comments

Comments: 12   Visited by: 108 users
20.01.2019 - 20:08
RaduP
CertifiedHipster
I remember reading about this and thinking that it's a collab with Whitehouse.

This Whitehouse
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Do you think if the heart keeps on shrinking
One day there will be no heart at all?
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20.01.2019 - 20:09
RaduP
CertifiedHipster
But I suppose I should get into Whitehorse as well.

Turns out The Body and Whitehorse also released a split together back in 2011.
----
Do you think if the heart keeps on shrinking
One day there will be no heart at all?
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20.01.2019 - 20:43
Auntie Sahar
Drone Empress
Written by RaduP on 20.01.2019 at 20:08

I remember reading about this and thinking that it's a collab with Whitehouse.

Never heard of them before but they sound pretty noisey and electronic, so I could see a collab between them and The Body working quite well too.
----
I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go.

~ II. VII
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20.01.2019 - 20:52
RaduP
CertifiedHipster
Written by Auntie Sahar on 20.01.2019 at 20:43

Written by RaduP on 20.01.2019 at 20:08

I remember reading about this and thinking that it's a collab with Whitehouse.

Never heard of them before but they sound pretty noisey and electronic, so I could see a collab between them and The Body working quite well too.

They're one of the earliest power electronics bands. The song I linked is from 1980, so they go that far.

What I didn't know is that they're inactive as of 2008, but they're not dead or anything.
----
Do you think if the heart keeps on shrinking
One day there will be no heart at all?
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21.01.2019 - 17:36
VIG
Account deleted
This was a pleasant surprise for me. I knew nothing of this collab, and previously had not heard of Whitehorse, but it was a pretty good find. I'm also surprised The Body is finally releasing a good collab again, it seems a lot of the collabs (and just The Body stuff in general) is really inconsistent.

Oh, and that artwork is awesome.
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21.01.2019 - 18:01
Auntie Sahar
Drone Empress
Written by Guest on 21.01.2019 at 17:36

This was a pleasant surprise for me. I knew nothing of this collab, and previously had not heard of Whitehorse, but it was a pretty good find. I'm also surprised The Body is finally releasing a good collab again, it seems a lot of the collabs (and just The Body stuff in general) is really inconsistent.

Again? I mean as if the ones I mentioned weren't already good enough?
I'll admit that I haven't listened to all of their collabs, and I need to explore some more, but the ones with Full Of Hell and the one with The Haxan Cloak especially (I Shall Die Here, totally wild and electronic and nightmarish) are fucking BEAST.

I'm not sure I'd call The Body inconsistent, their quality fluctuates but I don't really think they've made any genuinely terrible release yet. I know I'm probably in the minority opinion there, but I think they're pretty great at what they do and working with others to adapt their sound. I didn't particularly like their most recent two albums (I Have Fought Against It and the O God Who Avenges one) as much as No One Deserves Happiness, but the last collab with Full Of Hell as well as this collab have both been pretty sick.
----
I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go.

~ II. VII
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21.01.2019 - 18:58
VIG
Account deleted
Written by Auntie Sahar on 21.01.2019 at 18:01

Again? I mean as if the ones I mentioned weren't already good enough?
I'll admit that I haven't listened to all of their collabs, and I need to explore some more, but the ones with Full Of Hell and the one with The Haxan Cloak especially (I Shall Die Here, totally wild and electronic and nightmarish) are fucking BEAST.

I'm not sure I'd call The Body inconsistent, their quality fluctuates but I don't really think they've made any genuinely terrible release yet. I know I'm probably in the minority opinion there, but I think they're pretty great at what they do and working with others to adapt their sound. I didn't particularly like their most recent two albums (I Have Fought Against It and the O God Who Avenges one) as much as No One Deserves Happiness, but the last collab with Full Of Hell as well as this collab have both been pretty sick.


I would rank the collabs (that I know) like this:

1. One Day You Will Ache Like I Ache [Collaboration] (w/ Full Of Hell)
2. I Shall Die Here [Collaboration] (w/ The Haxan Cloak)
3. Whitehorse & The Body [Collaboration] [EP] (w/ Whitehorse)
4. Ascending A Mountain Of Heavy Light [Collaboration] (w/ Full Of Hell)
5. Mental Wounds Not Healing [Collaboration] (w/ Uniform)
6. Released From Love [Collaboration] [EP] (w/ Thou)
7. You, Whom I Have Always Hated [Collaboration] (w/ Thou)
8. The Body / Krieg [Collaboration] (w/ Krieg)

Honestly I found Christs, Redeemers and the new "O God Who Avenges, Shine Forth. Rise Up, Judge Of The Earth; Pay Back To The Proud What They Deserve." EP pretty bad/boring. I definitely prefer the first FOH collab to the second. It has more feeling to it. Farewell, Man, though, was an awesome song.
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21.01.2019 - 21:55
Auntie Sahar
Drone Empress
Written by Guest on 21.01.2019 at 18:58

I would rank the collabs (that I know) like this...

Honestly I found Christs, Redeemers and the new "O God Who Avenges, Shine Forth. Rise Up, Judge Of The Earth; Pay Back To The Proud What They Deserve." EP pretty bad/boring. I definitely prefer the first FOH collab to the second. It has more feeling to it. Farewell, Man, though, was an awesome song.

Hey thanks for that ranking actually, I haven't listened to all of their collabs yet so you laying em out like that definitely gives me a better idea of what I need to still check out. I agree with ya, O God Who Avenges was pretty boring. Christs, Redeemers I did enjoy, but it's not as good as All The Waters Of The Earth Turn To Blood or No One Deserves Happiness. And I am basically exactly the opposite on their collabs with Full Of Hell. The first one was quite good but also a bit overbearing and too uptempo after a while... not something that really works well listening for too long a time in my book, and it left me kind of wishing they had gone at more of a midtempo approach and explored the industrial and electronic influences more. On the second collab they did just that
----
I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go.

~ II. VII
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21.01.2019 - 22:12
VIG
Account deleted
Written by Auntie Sahar on 21.01.2019 at 21:55

Hey thanks for that ranking actually, I haven't listened to all of their collabs yet so you laying em out like that definitely gives me a better idea of what I need to still check out.

I actually haven't heard two of their collabs, one with Vampillia, and one with Braveyoung. Both seem interesting, so we should both check those ones out as well.
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22.01.2019 - 22:48
VIG
Account deleted
Just gonna say it again, that artwork is great.
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22.01.2019 - 23:45
Auntie Sahar
Drone Empress
Written by Guest on 22.01.2019 at 22:48

Just gonna say it again, that artwork is great.

Yeah Joe linked to the art page of the guy who did it on the album thread, he does some pretty neat stuff indeed.
----
I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go.

~ II. VII
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30.01.2019 - 05:52
Alex F
Slick Dick Rick
Damn, I honestly forgot Whitehorse existed. I remember liking Caverns and Progression a few years back, so I guess I'll have to give this a listen. Great review Che!
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