I’ve always been a sucker for concept albums. The prog rock genre and its cousins, metal and stoner, seem to lend themselves particularly well to concept albums. The focus of the record I’ll be reviewing today, Into the Hollow by Mothman and The Thunderbirds, is on the infamous Mothman, the creature first seen by hundreds of witnesses in Point Pleasant, West Virginia in the late ‘60s. The legend of the Mothman was popularized by author John Keel in his 1975 book The Mothman Prophecies which was later turned into an excellent film starring Richard Gere and Laura Linney in 2002.
Mothman and The Thunderbirds is really a one-man band, that of musician extraordinaire Alex Parkinson. For his debut album, Alex aka Mothman and The Thunderbirds, unleashes an eclectic sludge and stoner metal album with elements of prog rock. However, I must preface this review by saying that this album contains some harsh/aggressive vocals and that’s typically not something I enjoy listening to, nor is it the kind of music that I review on this blog. I’ve made an exception for this album because that kind of singing works well here, for the most part, with the overall mood of the record and the end results proving to be quite melodic.
“Mothman Takes Flight” begins the sonic journey with some head-bobbing guitars and rhythms, followed by “Hollow Earth”, a catchy tune sung with the use of a vocoder that adds a nice layer to the song. Next up is “Nomad”, a hell of a good track with some excellent guitar work and one of the highlights of the album in my opinion. “Indrid Cold” follows, one of the two cuts I enjoyed the least; the vocals were a little too harsh for my taste on this one. “Infinite Ocean” sees guest vocalist Jason Roberts (of the one-man band "Breaths") handling vocal duties on some verses. It has prog rock tendencies, much to my delight, and does some very interesting stuff musically with the song’s tempo. Don’t let the odd title of the next song fool you, “The Simpsons = Real Footage”, because it’s a doozy! With guest singer, Kirby, adding some nice female vocals to the mix for this song about the sad state of the world today. “Agarthan Riders” is a solid song, and one of my favorites, with a killer guitar solo reminiscent of the good old days of metal, featuring Alex’s brother, Sam, on guitars. “Cloud Giant”, with Joe Sobieski on lead vocals, is the most radio-friendly track on the record with elements of psych rock and is a song of hope, about coming home. “Squonk” (no, this isn’t a cover of the 1976 Genesis song) clocking in at less than a minute serves as a prelude to “Roko’s Basilisk”, the second song I didn’t care for on the album due to harsh vocals—or my old ears just being too sensitive for that kind of singing in my old age. The ride comes to an end with “Hollow Sun”, an uplifting song to close the album with light triumphing over darkness.
While not for everybody, Into the Hollow is a fine album, full of musical prowess, terrific songwriting skills, and a very polished record overall. If you don’t mind harsh vocals every now and then, and are into great musicianship, you’re bound to have a good time with Mothman and The Thunderbirds’ debut album. Running at just over 30 minutes, as seems to be the growing trend for album runtimes these days, it makes for a short and speedy listen you’ll want to revisit often. The album is available for pre-order and will be released on May 21st.
Mothman and The Thunderbirds’ Bandcamp page: https://mothmanandthethunderbirds.bandcamp.com
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