Song Highlight: The Body - Tied Up and Locked In

When considering the genre of heavy music, I can think of no band that is more despondent than The Body. And perhaps most surprisingly, they are able to accomplish this without appearing overly heavy-handed or gimmicky. The piercing banshee wail of Chip King, set over the distorted hum of his guitar, and Lee Buford’s monolithic drumming is truly a unique and oppressive force. As a band, the Body have been pushing against the confines of the metal genre since their inception. They have been strong proponents of incorporating noise into their music, along with utilizing pop song structures and elements of electronic music. Their album I Have Fought Against It, But I Can’t Any Longer was built largely from spliced together samples of their older recordings, and many of their albums feature choral arrangements from the Assembly of Light Choir, demonstrating some of the diversity of their approach to making music. Furthermore, they are incredibly prolific and are constantly working with other musicians, releasing collaborative albums with bands like Full of Hell, Thou, Krieg, and Uniform. 

The Body’s most recent album, I’ve Seen All I Need To See is their first in a while that dials back the number of collaborators, and focuses on King and Lee as a duo, trying to capture the corrosive menace of their live performances. The song “Tied Up and Locked In” is one of the most distorted pieces of music that I have ever heard, sounding as if it is blaring from a blown out speaker at maximum volume. The droning hum of King’s guitar is propelled forward by Buford’s martial drumming, buoyed in a sea of crackling noise. Towards the song’s end, King’s shrieks are accompanied by the harsher screams of Sandworm's Ben Eberle. The lyrical content of the song is indecipherable, though if you look up the lyrics, you find the following:

"I will die alone

I will die far from you

Ashes, dust, and thirst"

Even if you cannot make out any of those words, by the time the song reaches its conclusion, you certainly can feel them.

Buy The Body’s music here.