Wovenhand “Live At Roepaen”

Glitterhouse, 2012

Powerful, intense and melodramatic set of new weird Americana

• Unique is probably the most over-used word in the critical canon, but one person of whom it can be said without the slightest fear of contradiction is David Eugene Edwards.

• From the first notes recorded by his previous band 16 Horsepower, his howling intensity, vivid gothic imagery, frequent fire and brimstone Christian content and lyrical mix of pain, fear and retribution was like nothing else, and it still isn’t. Edwards may have sat down when performing live but his wide-eyed power and passion was more than the equal of anyone else out there.

  16 Horsepower ceased to be a decade ago, but Edwards has continued to follow the same path with his new band Wovenhand. His music may not be quite as loud, his eyes may not bulge as much when he sings live but it’s still the intense experience it ever was. The album, recorded in a church in the Netherlands, also comes with an extended DVD, which is as well filmed as any live concert you’re likely to see. It’s a bit one-paced, but then Edwards music was never about light and shade, and the religious setting makes the doom and foreboding a little overpowering at times but this is nonetheless a mighty set. The songs are taken from all the bands studio albums, plus three from 16 Horsepower’s swansong “Folklore”, so it’s as good an introduction to the band’s music as you could wish for.