The Biblical account of Abraham and Isaac is harrowing. In the story, Abraham's faith was tested when he was instructed by God to sacrifice his son Isaac, the child he had waited 100 years for. At some point in their travel to the altar, Isaac asks his father where the sacrificial lamb is; Abraham answers that God will provide one. Both speakers seem worried and apprehensive, particularly Abraham as he struggles with the conflicting desire to follow God’s instructions and his paternal instinct to protect his son. As Abraham raises his knife into the air, an angel calls out to stop him. One can imagine the horror on both Abraham and Isaac’s faces, as well as the overwhelming sense of relief they must have felt when the provided sacrifice, in the form of a ram, appeared near the altar.
Heavy Ghost, the debut album from David Michael Stith, seems to partly reflect the volatile buildup and release illustrated in the story of Abraham and Isaac. It begins appropriately with the clattering "Isaac's Song," which acts like a response to the quiet, tension-filled closer on his Curtain Speech EP, "Abraham’s song (Firebird)." The latter track finds Stith hushed yet urgent, mic’d close and rapidly fingerpicking arpeggios while narrating stream-of-consciousness lyrics, not unlike the flurry of thought that must have occurred in Abraham’s head while he prepared to sacrifice his son. Meanwhile, the strident, metallic sounds and striking piano chords of “Isaac’s Song” evoke the release of Abraham’s tension, perhaps even the thoughts inside Isaac’s head while he was strapped down and nearly killed.
Indeed, “Isaac’s Song” sets up the dark and ominous mood prevalent throughout. The rest of the album is similarly executed, but never becomes tiresome or overdone. Lead single “Pity Dance” begins with shambling fingerpicking and muted percussion. Backing vocals gradually join in until the explosive climax three-fourths of the way through, when piano strings are harshly scraped and clear octaves and glissandi glisten above the maelstrom. “BMB” opens with a stark descending chord progression, with dissonance creeping in shortly after the lyrics end at just a minute into the song. All of the gloominess makes the album’s major key moments seem rapturous by comparison, especially on standout “Fire of Birds,” with its clear string quartet arrangement and jubilant group vocals on the final chorus.
The most striking instrument here, though, is Stith’s voice, a soft tenor often residing in the falsetto range. He adds plenty of reverb to his multitracked backing vocals, creating a massive, spectral choir that’s both evocative and eerie. On songs like “Creekmouth” and “Spirit Parade,” the voices are dark and cabalistic, restless spirits caterwauling in the night. Elsewhere, the voices on “BMB” and “Morning Glory Cloud” join the dissonant strings and thundering piano, forming a portentous chorus heralding something catastrophic. Heavy Ghost’s most beautiful, transcendent moment is on “Braid of Voices,” when the army of Stiths unite into a triumphant, heavenly chorus that ends with a sigh, a fleeting glimpse of beauty for the narrator before being shaken awake by the turbulent, earthly sounds of tribal drums.
Interestingly, his lyricism carries pathos without attempting to relay definitive meaning. Like many Asthmatic Kitty artists, Stith examines faith in his music, but he seems more cynical and inquisitive than other artists on the AK roster. On “Morning Glory Cloud,” for example, he sings “The divining ray/ Is threatening/ To illuminate/ Everything/ I have been hiding,” while an ambling acoustic guitar strum leads into ominous piano and cymbal crashes. “Pity Dance” opens with the frustrated statement, “I’m leaving out the parts I don't like”; he later declares “Your god’s a lion/ Recently fed/ Drowsy” and subsequently reveals the ambiguous physical or spiritual (perhaps both) statement “I’ll tell the truth/ I have been sleeping with the lights on/ Ever since I left you.” On the contemplative closer “Wig,” Stith repeatedly asks in a tired, resigned manner, “Oh, did you once know?”
After the thundering clangor of “Braid of Voices,” a gentle drone rises above the musical horizon, signaling the end of the storm and possibly some sort of relief for a troubled mind. The strings and tympani gradually fade out until we are left in silence. The moment serves as an appropriate conclusion to a singular work from an extremely talented new voice.
1. Isaac's Song
2. Pity Dance
3. Creekmouth
4. Pigs
5. Spirit Parade
6. BMB
7. Thanksgiving Moon
8. Fire Of Birds
9. Morning Glory Cloud
10. GMS
11. Braid Of Voices
12. Wig
More about: DM Stith
