The Witzard

Thou are a Sludge/Doom Metal band hailing from Baton Rouge, Louisiana formed in 2005. Their current line-up consists of guitarists Matthew Thudium, Andy Gibbs & K.C. Stafford , bassist Mitch Wells , drummer Tyler Coburn , and vocalist Bryan Funck . Thou have previously released music in conjunction with a wide variety of labels, such as Deathwish , [adult swim], Vendetta Records , Gilead Media, Thrill Jockey , Sacred Bones Records, and Get Better Records . Although, Thou 's latest effort was surprise-released this past Friday on Bandcamp Friday with Olympia, Washington-based imprint Robotic Empire . Blessings of The Highest Order consists entirely of Nirvana covers; featuring everything from Incesticide B-side "Aneurysm" to "In Bloom" from Nevermind all rendered in a Sludge Metal/Grunge style. In fact, most of the compositions from Blessings of The Highest Order have been previously released on past Thou recordings, aside from "Dive." ...

"GOING INTO THE SPACE... I GIVE SO MUCH OF MY HEART... OPENING MYSELF UP TO THE WORLD... AS MY SOUL BECOMES PUBLIC DOMAIN, [WHICH IS] A BEAUTIFUL THING... BUT WITH THAT ALSO COMES [YOU KNOW] HATRED [AND SH*T]... I'VE HAD TO GROW THIS CALLUS [AROUND MYSELF] TO PROTECT MY HEART," vocalist, producer, DJ, and yoga teacher Sumach "Gonjasufi" Valentine warbled within a crackly, baren Warp Records message dubbed Callus (Introduction) , which additionally included a fragment of his as-yet-unreleased song, "Surfinfinity." For those who may be largely unfamiliar, Sumach 's biggest claim to fame would likely be working alongside Jay Z and producer Kyambo "Hip Hop" Joshu on his genre-eschewing Magna Carta... Holy Grail (which samples "Nikels and Dimes" ) and was once described by Pitchfork Senior Editor Ryan Dombal as "a scraggly, scary, smoked-out croak that creeps like the spiritual offspring of George Clinton and Leadbe...