by Conor Lochrie (@conornoconnor)
It says a lot about the success of their collaboration that Emma Ruth Rundle and Thou had leftover material from the same 2019 sessions that yielded last year’s May Our Chambers Be Full; they entered the rumbling depths of hell together and wanted to stay a little while longer.
The full album that this EP, The Helm of Sorrow, accompanies was one of 2020’s most unexpected successes, a collaboration between two differing shades of alternative metal that actually dovetailed excellently. The unique match-up between the melancholic darkness of Rundle and the fiery and sludgy assault of Thou was so strong that the best compliment that could be paid to The Helm of Sorrow is that it’s able to stand on its own as a record.
‘Orphan Limbs’ immediately showcases the light-meets-dark interplay. Thou collaborator Emily McWilliams begins in the spotlight, her despairing vocal drawing one in under light shoegaze guitars. After this short calm, Thou’s thunder then arrives, their destructive screaming engulfing everything; Rundle always lurks in the shadows behind Bryan Funck’s pounding shouting though, waiting for her moment again. ‘Crone Dance’ doesn’t wait as long to let Thou unleash their fury. Their hammering riffs and berating drums start almost from the off, only growing in intensity. Rundle’s voice filters in and out between the noise when it can, adding an extra layer.
After a moment of rhythmic hesitation, ‘Recurrence’ suffocates with its thrash, Funck mostly unrelenting in his searing dominance. The last track is a cover of The Cranberries’ ‘Hollywood’ - one can only imagine what this collaboration would have done with the always-covered ‘Zombie’ though - in what is a surprisingly faithful rendition. The reverb is obviously increased, their version being a heavier ode to the wonderful alternative rock of the 90’s, but they keep the tense rhythmic build-up that The Cranberries did so well (Rundle even puts on her best dramatic Dolores O’Riordan affectations).
This may finally be the end of Rundle and Thou’s work together although one hopes it’s not. Rather than the usual cascade of vapid pop artists teaming up to increase sales, this is what true collaboration is: two contrasting behemoths of a larger genre, with contrasting styles and mutual respect, walking a mile in the other’s shoes and seeing how it feels. It means that Thou’s overwhelming doom was balanced, if only for a time, by Rundle’s sombre thoughtfulness; it made them more accessible, while providing her a darker outlet.