Circumambulation

Relapse Records

Street: 07.23

True Widow = Codeine + Marriages

Compared to As High As the Highest Heavens and From the Center of the Circumference of the Earth, Circumambulation proceeds with sparser guitar and deliberate bass, beginning the slow burner as such with “Creeper.” Guitarist/vocalist Dan Phillips supplies higher vocal melodies, complementing the bass-heavy “S:H:S” to build this album; “Four Teeth” massages the atmosphere as bassist Nicole Estill’s milk-and-honey voice saturates with droning, prolonged syllables matched with occasional accompaniment from Phillips in mutual jouissance as the guitar flashes unselfishly.

Once “Numb Hand” ensues, it’s clear that this iteration of True Widow’s “stonegaze” wants to bubble with magmatic volatility, or buckle and creak despite Estill’s even-keeled singing of “Carry on”… in “Trollstigen.” “I:M:O” is a euphonious, instrumental treat, and “HW:R” and “LUNGR” weave distinct melodies—sunny and ominous, respectively—to conclude the album with a gorgeous coronation. Circumambulation is a pilgrimage around your internal shrine—one I superlatively suggest taking. –Alexander Ortega