Intense, ominous and darkly beautiful, Wovenhand’s The Threshingfloor takes listeners to exotic landscapes of the Spirit. The group — chiefly a vehicle for veteran singer/songwriter David Eugene Edwards — has built up a compelling catalogue at the far edges of rock over the years. This time, the music takes on a more organic character, tapping into Appalachian folk, Native American, Balkan and Middle Eastern sources for color and texture. Incantatory tunes like “Sinking Hands,” “Behind Your Breath” and “His Rest” match Edwards’ cellar-deep vocals with jittery rhythms, growling guitars and flitting woodwinds. Wovenhand’s lyrics reconfigure Biblical language and imagery to create scenes haunted as much by the demonic as the divine. The Savior and the Beast shadow each other in “Singing Grass,” “Truth” and the title number, while “Orchard Gate” and “A Holy Measure” offer more benign, reassuring visions. The swirling, hypnotic feel of the album gives way to straight-ahead garage rock on “Denver City,” a track suggestive of vintage Iggy & The Stooges.
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