As a young man turning my nose up at Carcass’ Heartwork for being a sell-out death metal album for uncultured scene tourists, I never would have thought that I’d be willingly listening to full-on reggae 30 years later. However, I’m here to report that there’s a lot of good stuff out there…if you avoid all the sell-out reggae that appeals only to uncultured scene-tourists. Case in point, today’s song “Fisherman” by The Congos:
Maybe I needed 30 years to get here…after all, it was only by slowly increasing a steady flow of proto-power metal immersion therapy that I was able to open my ears to the occasional joy of a high falsetto. Also, three decades spent plumbing the depths of the most degraded outsider raw black metal demos led to a certain morbid appreciation for songs with a single verse and NO chorus. More importantly than all this though is just how undeniably dark this song is.
Sure, it has the usual staccato piano background chords–but they are saved from being too upbeat by being played at a slower tempo (and, to my ears, they sound slightly discordant as well). In fact, the whole song seems to be spinning like a 45 played at 33…only the falsetto anchoring the proper playback speed. This hypnotic tempo gives an underwater feel, like music bubbling up from dark depths at which only the most obscene and foul fish-creatures dwell.
The entire production is like nothing you have ever heard…chattering random percussion, half heard guitar licks, bells, synths, and just about anything else you can think of winds its way through the whole song, making for a uncommonly dense and intricate atmosphere for such a simple song. And it really is a relentlessly minimal pice of music–6 minutes long and with a single repeated verse. Sure, the “Row, fisherman row” is the ostensible chorus, but you could sing that at any point in the song and it would work with the backing music.
Is all reggae for me? Not quite, but the more I listen to, the more I realize you can find a hidden heart of darkness in a lot more places than just raw bedroom black metal.
Leave A Reply