As a music listener, there are a few tropes that I absolutely cannot resist. Things like ambient guitars, crushing bass fuzz, and the passionate crooning of a folksy alto. 

And on their fourth album VITAL, BIG|BRAVE delivers on all counts. 

Within the first few seconds of opener “Abating the Incarnation of Matter,” I was already head over heels. Around the seven minute mark, I preordered a copy on vinyl. 

Despite being a trio, the sound on this album is absolutely immense—as to be expected from Southern Lord. The drums crash with reckless fury, and yet they sound practically dwarfed by the thick sludge of the detuned guitars and bass. While being incredibly heavy, it’s still rooted in minimalism, making for an effective and engaging listen. At times it recalls the slowcore doomgaze of bands like True Widow. At others, it approaches the cerebral math-sludge of bands like Sumac. 

Above this din, Robin Wattie’s voice soars with a passion not unlike metal favorites Emma Ruth Rundle or Chelsea Wolfe. Wattie’s voice might be a bit more powerful though, even at times breaking into a near scream. Whether she’s cooing above humming feedback, crooning earnestly over a heavy riff, or shouting above a wall of noise, she is always pitch perfect. 

Lyrically, it’s just as heavy. VITAL is mediation on race and gender as Wattie has navigated a white-dominated, male-dominated culture. It is an affirmation of her value as a rebuttal of that culture’s negotiations to undervalue her. “Of This Ilk” speaks out against the trend of skin bleaching in cultures across the world. “Half Breed” meditates on the othering that mixed-race individuals face nearly everywhere they go.

Given the heaviness of both the composition and the lyrical matter, it’s not much of a surprise that BIG|BRAVE has no problem being patient. Five tracks stretch across the album’s thirty-nine minute run time, three of them stretching well beyond the eight-minute mark. And across that time, there are several moments where the band invites you to press in, to wait for the next chord hit, to sit with the weight of the previously sung line until you get it. It’s not the easiest listen in the world—it demands the listener’s attention, refusing to resort to cheap tricks to keep it. But that patience is most certainly rewarded, and with dividends. 

For heavy fans with the time to give it, VITAL is sure to be one of your favorite albums of the year. It’s already one of mine.

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-Nathaniel Fitzgerald