"Potentate of The Small and The Great."

I used to think that Massive Attack’s Mezzanine was the greatest Waterbed Album of all time. When I say Waterbed Album, I’m talking about one of those albums that you would use to seduce someone -- an album full of rich and sensual sounds, so much so that whenever you hear it, your mind tumbles into the darkened corners of your sexual self, and you start to get your imaginary freak on with all of the fantasy people you dream about. Throughout my life, there have been many Waterbed Albums -- The Cure’s Disintegration, Morphine’s Good, Prick’s self-titled album, and the aforementioned heavyweight champion Mezzanine.

Former heavyweight champion, though.

The title belt has been wrestled away -- no, more like choked-the-fuck-out and dragged lifelessly from the ring -- by the otherworldy monstrosity known as Oxbow, and their disturbing and quite beautiful platter fittingly titled An Evil Heat.


Now -- please trust me when I tell you the following about this beast of an album:

An Evil Heat will suffocate you, but in that good kind of way. Kind of like when you want your lover to reach out and wrench their hands around your throat, just to see what it feels like to have a little taste of that type of darkness. From the moment the album starts, it becomes quite clear that this is an act of love. You will be beaten. You will be scarred. But you will love every moment of this beating. You will pick up your head, and stare off into the nothingness -- and you will want more.

Something important to know about Oxbow, is that vocalist Eugene S. Robinson is a monster -- and I mean that with the utmost respect(read the linked article, and see for yourself). He is unlike the rest of the kids on the playground. He is relentless, and his swagger will envelope you from the moment he opens his mouth on the opening track, "The Snake & The Stick," whispering right into your ear -- "One Sunday morning, the preacher went a-trawling/ To the House of Fuck, he come a-calling."


If that doesn't get you going, well, I have no idea what to tell you, my friends.

When I listen to An Evil Heat, it feels like a dirty gospel record. Not dirty in a pornographic sense, but dirty in a grimey and to-the-bone sense. Yes, there are tracks that stand on their own, but ultimately this is a swallow-it-all type of album. Something to put on late at night when the rest of the world is fast asleep, so that the feral and visceral parts of you can get the fuck on down. This record is all swagger and sweat. From the opening track right to the very end of the thirty-two minute(!) closer, "Shine(Glimmer)." This album will roll you. This album will take you into parts of yourself you never knew existed.

Don't believe me? Throw this fucker on the next time you want to let the animal out of the cage. See what happens. Write it all down. You can come on back and tell me I was right.

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