MeO — Examination Of The Eye Of A Horse
The band shares its name with Guro Skumsnes Moe, and I assume that the project is driven by her. Certainly, Examination Of The Eye Of A Horse feels bass-led, and indeed, perhaps MoE are at their finest when they strip back the sound to Moe’s hard, spidery riffs. Her playing throughout is clean and intelligent, which might also serve as reasonable descriptions of the band as a whole - though both these serve to somewhat counteract the potential noise and abrasion that MoE might otherwise whip up. MoE are undoubtedly noisy, but this never really amounts to any great abrasion - even with the presence of Kohei Gomi (Pain Jerk). The production is powerful, but also clean, and this reflects the playing too. Skaset’s guitar is dissonant, but often restrained, and Johansen’s drumming is very solid, with a few unusual fills and moves; but neither these, nor Moe’s bass, ever really cut loose or fully overload the listener. The album is perhaps more overwhelmingly dark, calculated, and brooding, than violent.
The album has a few tensions like this. For example, it starts with an impressively epic riff, before being joined by vocals, and my immediate impression was that Moe’s singing (which ranges from strained snarls to almost child-like whispers) was somewhat dwarfed by its surroundings. Repeated listens have warmed me to her voice though, and there are moments - the latter section of Saccades And Fixations, for example - where voice and instruments come together in a gnarled skree. The following track, Paris, sets out a Melt Banana-esque stall, where Moe’s vocals seem more at home. (It also has a repeated passage which would appear to pay homage to the great Voivod, jerkily looping and discordant, even containing a repeated cry of ‘Where are we all going?’, which feels like a Voivod lyric.)
I must admit that my first listens to Examination Of The Eye Of A Horse were a tad indifferent, but it has unravelled to be an enjoyable album. The overall atmosphere is dark and doom-laden - indeed, some of the riffs approach the lumbering doom of a band like High On Fire - but there are also more frenetic sections, and indeed songs (e.g. Paris). Alongside this muscular dread, MoE are also undeniably quirky - though the faux-rock passages in Doll’s Eyes are not entirely convincing. As mentioned above, they seem most effective in the sections which strip back to concentrate on bass-driven dirge atmospheres. I do think that live, MoE would be an impressive onslaught.