Album Art with Alex: Thou - Peasant
I've only been collecting records for a few years, and like many non-audiophiles, I'd be hard pressed to justify the price premium inherent to the medium by invoking the "warmer sound" or "wider dynamic range" that vinyl offers. Truth be told, a lot of it has to do with the album artwork.
You heard it here folks: Man Spends An Extra $10-20 on Every Album He Purchases Because He Likes to Look at the Pictures.
You heard it here folks: Man Spends An Extra $10-20 on Every Album He Purchases Because He Likes to Look at the Pictures.
In this series, I'll be looking at some of my favorite album artwork. We're not just talking about the covers - packaging, booklets, inserts, and posters are all fair game. Unlike my other series, this one won't contain a ton of writing. I'll mostly be providing some background information and light descriptions so that the images can (mostly) speak for themselves. All albums will come from my personal collection and will have been purchased with my own money.
Today's post will be about one of my favorite bands - Louisiana sludge metal outfit Thou - and the 2017 reissue of their sophomore album, Peasant.
The outside of the jacket features stark black-and-white art with a glossy, textured finish:
Vocalist Bryan Funck is the driving force behind much of Thou's album artwork. He has "pilfered" photographs and woodcuts from books and re-purposed them to give each of the band's releases a "medieval, magickal, old world feel."
This aesthetic is reflected in the gatefold's interior, which depicts a divination of sorts. Within a flattened deer hide, we see the same skeletal figure from the back cover presiding over a sinking city. This portentous vision is also accompanied by a terse declaration quoted from The Smiths: "We cannot cling to the old dreams anymore. No, we cannot cling to those dreams."
The 20 page 11x11" booklet contains additional ruminations on death, decay, and violence via Funck's dark lyricism and eye for striking artwork.
The album is etched onto 180 gram black vinyl - no fancy colored wax here - but the LP labels include some additional text and artwork.
Today's post will be about one of my favorite bands - Louisiana sludge metal outfit Thou - and the 2017 reissue of their sophomore album, Peasant.
Thou - Peasant (2017 reissue)
Format: 180 gram double LP
Label: Robotic Empire
Genre: Sludge metal
Genre: Sludge metal
I've been a huge fan of Thou since I first heard their album Summit back in 2010. While I own a number of Thou's releases on vinyl and CD, the 2017 reissue of Peasant may be the band's most lavish package yet.
What we have here is deceptively simple: the album comes in a gatefold jacket and is accompanied by a 20 page booklet. There is no download card because the Thou's music is available for free from Bandcamp and the band's website. In a 2010 interview, bassist Mitch Wells explained the band's approach to physical releases:
Fortunately, I'm a sucker for that packaging.
What we have here is deceptively simple: the album comes in a gatefold jacket and is accompanied by a 20 page booklet. There is no download card because the Thou's music is available for free from Bandcamp and the band's website. In a 2010 interview, bassist Mitch Wells explained the band's approach to physical releases:
"The people who collect records and are into our band, they'll go buy it anyway, even if it's up for free. If you're a record collector and you like this kind of music, you're gonna get it, so it's really more for people who want to just have the packaging. If you don't want the packaging, if you really don't care about that, then that's fine too - you can just have it for free.
We don't want it to be this crazy thing that you have to find, or that it's really hard to get to [...] Whoever wants to hear us: we want you to hear us."
We don't want it to be this crazy thing that you have to find, or that it's really hard to get to [...] Whoever wants to hear us: we want you to hear us."
Fortunately, I'm a sucker for that packaging.
The outside of the jacket features stark black-and-white art with a glossy, textured finish:
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| Back and front covers (apologies for the glare) |
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| A closeup of the jacket's glossy finish. |
Vocalist Bryan Funck is the driving force behind much of Thou's album artwork. He has "pilfered" photographs and woodcuts from books and re-purposed them to give each of the band's releases a "medieval, magickal, old world feel."
The 20 page 11x11" booklet contains additional ruminations on death, decay, and violence via Funck's dark lyricism and eye for striking artwork.
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| Booklet cover |
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| Lyrics for disc 1 |
The album is etched onto 180 gram black vinyl - no fancy colored wax here - but the LP labels include some additional text and artwork.
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| Side A label, with a quote from Steven Erikson's fantasy novel Reaper's Gale and instructions for playing the album |
Between the music and visuals, you're receiving a lot of art for your money. It's clear that the band and their collaborators wanted to deliver an exceptional and lovingly-crafted package, and I'm glad to say that they have succeeded. Big thanks to Thou and Robotic Empire for further justifying this terrible, terrible hobby of mine.
Support the label and artist!
Robotic Empire
Thou's Bandcamp page
Thou's official website
Support the label and artist!
Robotic Empire
Thou's Bandcamp page
Thou's official website