Review: POHL ‘Mysteries’
Hailing from Sheffield, home to steel, actor Sean Bean, and er, Def Leppard (the latter being nothing to be proud of, mortified, yes) comes two-piece POHL. Forming in 2011, the band has had an ever-evolving line-up before settling on its current incarnation, comprising Will Pearce (ex-Hey Colossus) on guitar/vocals and drummer Dr Linda Westman (ex-Old Hope).
The band have several releases commencing with 2012’s debut EP Pohlsmoker, 2014’s Pohl II, 2020’s Freakspeed and last year’s Pergamon single. Mysteries marks the band’s full-length debut which Pearce describes as being ‘an album about grief. How we live with grief, and how we overcome it’. Will the album deliver this cathartic promise? Only one way to find out…
Narrator, the longest track on the album at over six minutes, serves as quite a fascinating listen. Both the vocals and music recall Al Jourgensen and Ministry around the time of Filth Pig when they adopted a sludgier musical approach. Killing Joke and Head of David also come to mind, all of which suggest that industrial influences have been brought to the band’s usual psych/stoner based sound, albeit subtly. A fantastic opener.
God is classic noise-rock with leanings towards bands such as eccentric duo Big Business with some math-rock peppered in along the way. It’s certainly a lot less expansive sounding than the preceding opener and a lot more manic in terms of energy, a great contrast in style. The Whale is immense and the sonic representation of the track’s title is both metaphoric (reference to grief) and literal. There’s a poppy accessibility too that recalls bands such as the much missed Torche that make it a certifiable standout.
a thoroughly explorative, exciting and engaging piece of work that will appeal to fans of noise-rock, psych, punk and stoner rock…
Untitled II is something of an interlude piece, acoustic folk guitar and the first of two tracks to feature spoken word vocals from Gabrielle Astin. Musically the track sits somewhere along the lines of Sonic Youth and The Velvet Underground’s The Murder Mystery and just oozes cool. Revelation is a wonderful heavy psych jam with a laid back vibe and a rich anthemic quality ala Spiritualized and Jane’s Addiction. There are some Middle Eastern flourishes present too, as well as touches of Killing Joke’s much overlooked classic Pandemonium.
Cellar Head follows a similar musical trajectory to Revelation and truth be told feels, it like the vestiges of that track have remained with psychedelia aplenty and moments that recall Soundgarden from around the time of Badmotorfinger (the trippier tendencies of tracks like Searching With My Good Eye Closed). Spoken word is featured once more thanks to Astin on The Door and is another Velvets inspired art-rock piece packed with oddball experimentation and chilly coldwave vibes to offer one a brief respite before proceeding onwards with the rest of the album.
The artwork for the aforementioned single Pergamon featured a (spoof?) black metal cover. Obviously, there are no blastbeats, shrieks or anything that would tie it directly into that genre, but some of the vocals do recall the grandeur of latter Bathory and even horror punks Samhain that lend the track a darker hue. More specifically its progressive stoner metal with krautrock motorik touches that create a hypnotic classic. The appropriately named End err, concludes the album with a stream of Hawkwind and Chrome inspired space-rock, before eventually eclipsing into a shoegaze inspired wall of noise.
The promise that was hinted at previously is now fully realized with Mysteries. Credit needs to be extended out to Pearce and Westman for producing what is a thoroughly explorative, exciting and engaging piece of work that will appeal to fans of noise-rock, psych, punk and stoner rock.
Label: Wrong Speed Records
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram
Scribed by: Reza Mills
