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THUMOS

(UNITED STATES)

THE COURSE OF EMPIRE

(2022)
LABEL:

AUTRE LABEL

GENRE:

DOOM

TAGS:
Instrumental
"Result of a collaboration with Spaceseer, "The Course Of Empire" confirms at the same time the singularity of Thumos as well as its creative force doubled with an insolent fertility."
CHILDERIC THOR (07.09.2022)  
4/5
(0) opinions (0) comment(s) Nudge
When many bands let (too) many years go by between two albums, Thumos on the contrary never stops enriching its discography with a frenzy that forces respect. Between demos, EPs, splits and LPs, it's already no less than a dozen offerings recorded in four years that bear his signature. Of course quantity does not always rhyme with quality. Such is however the case of this American project about which we still know nothing. Neither photo nor credit enlighten the identity of these musicians who are perhaps even reduced to one person. No matter. But we know at least its originality with his instrumental and rough post doom and a universe inspired by antiquity and especially by Plato's work.

Only six months after delivering "The Republic", their first real long-lasting album, Thumos is already back with "The Course Of Empire". A collaboration with the equally strange Spaceseer, it deserves no less attention than its predecessor. More than a split where each participant makes a certain number of tracks, the opus wants to be the fruit of an alliance in which the two protagonists are merged. As its title and cover indicate, the record draws its inspiration from the set of paintings made by Thomas Cole, leader of the Hudson River School and named "The Course of the Empire", himself influenced by the fall of the Roman Empire. These paintings dated 1836 illustrate the life cycle of a civilization from birth (the wilderness) to death (the destruction). It is easy to guess the parallel that the authors of this album draw between the past and the present world, between the empires of yesterday and those of today, between ancient Rome and the United States in the grip of a civilizational decline.

This theme leads to a progressive construction which, with a handful of interludes, follows the successive stages of the life of a city, and which gives the different tracks a very distinct coloring. 'Commencement' rumbles with an epic breath whose percussive character resounds like the powerful erection of an architecture emerging from the ground. But already 'Arcadian' palpitates with a darker sap like a threat smouldering. Always leaden and rocky, the rhythm advances in the manner of cohorts going to war.

Epicenter of the listening, 'Consummation' announces the decay to come. The features become harder and harder. A whirlwind of paroxysmal violence eats away at the foundations of this civilization that darkness invades little by little. The hypnotic beauty of the origins gives way to a black ugliness that no light comes to attenuate. Gritty guitars, seismic bass and harsh percussions are in unison with this imminent apocalypse. Crazy riffs and corrosive ambient layers are the basis of 'Destruction' which crackles with funereal emotions before the nothingness of desolation fills this end of the world landscape.

Concept album, "The Course Of Empire" must be apprehended in its desperate globality, a monolith which little by little cracks. Written with several hands with Spaceseer, it confirms at the same time the singularity of Thumos as well as its creative force doubled with an insolent fertility.
- Official website
SIMILAR BANDS:
CALDERA

TRACK LISTING:
01. Introduction
02. Commencement
03. Arcadian
04. Interlude 1
05. Consummation
06. Interlude 2
07. Destruction
08. Desolation

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"Osmium out now !"
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OTHER(S) REVIEWS ABOUT THUMOS
THUMOS_The-Republic
The Republic (2022)
4/5
5/5
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THUMOS_The-End-Of-Words
The End Of Words (2021)
4/5
4/5
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