It has now been four years since The Horrors released their album ‘V’ which had a much more mainstream indie style then they had ever had before. Adele’s producer Paul Epworth worked on the record and it looked at the time like the band were heading down the commercial avenue.
However, we are here now in 2021 and the new EP ‘Lout’ is the bands heaviest material to date. You could be mistaken for thinking you had gone back over ten years on first listen of the EP.
The Horrors have never been a band to shy away from trying different sounds with a mix of punk, neo-psych, and shoegaze across their discography. This EP goes in a new direction again, taking on an industrial heavy sound.
Even though the new EP is only three tracks long it still manages to pack a lot into those 15 minutes. It starts off with the title track which starts instantly with an onrush of industrial guitars and a punishing drum are accompanied by the rough and fuzzy vocals of Faris Badwan. The song gives you little time to prepare for the bands new direction and you are hit with the onslaught of heavy riffs. The chorus repeats the line “Here comes the roll of the dice” over and over in a sort of authoritative and military way. If anything, this reflects the whole EP as if it’s the Horrors was to say here, we are.
The second track on the EP is an instrumental titled ‘Org’. It is erratic and has high energy with sounds going all over the place and is unlike anything they have ever done before. But for 3:57 you feel as if you race through the music. It is a track that begs to be heard in the club and you can just imagine the strobe lights going into overdrive as the song is played.
After the full throttle of ‘Org’, we are then left with the final track of the EP ‘Whiplash’. This song is the highlight of the EP and it continues the aggressive and intimidating vocals of Badwan. Although this time it manages to sound melodic and fits in with their previous poppier work, just this time with the industrial sound. It feels like this track is a direct homage to Nine Inch Nails and the comparison between the two bands is obvious. But it does feel as though ‘Lout’ could be a modernized version of NIN.
That is then the end, 12 minutes have past, and the EP is over. It leaves you wanting so much more from The Horrors. This new direction is certainly exciting and is not something that we would have expected from them. It is bold, it is different, and it works exceptionally. The only downside is the length but hopefully we do not have to wait too long for a full album.
- Josh Bailey-Lee
@joshbaileylee
Image: Spotify
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