Thou is an American

sludge metal Sludge metal (also known as sludge or sludge doom) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that originated through combining elements of doom metal and hardcore punk. It is typically harsh and abrasive, often featuring shouted vocals, heavi ...

band formed in

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties i ...

, in 2005. The current lineup of the band consists of Bryan Funck (vocals), Andy Gibbs (guitar), Matthew Thudium (guitar and vocals), Mitch Wells (bass), KC Stafford (guitar and vocals), and Tyler Coburn (drums).

History

The band was formed by guitarists Andy Gibbs and Matthew Thudium, bassist Mitch Wells, and drummer Terry Gulino. Thou released their first full-length effort, ''Tyrant'', in 2007 after the arrival of the vocalist Bryan Funck. These were followed by their second studio album ''Peasant'' in 2008 and a string of EPs, including ''Malfeasance – Retribution'' (2008), ''The Retaliation of the Immutable Force of Nature'' (2008), ''Through the Empires of the Eternal Void'' (2009) and ''Baton Rouge/You Have Much to Answer For'' (2010). Their third full-length album, ''Summit'' was released in 2010. The band's fourth studio album, '' Heathen'', released in 2014, was met with critical acclaim. This album marked the first time in the band's career that the band had featured cleanly sung vocals from collaborator Emily McWilliams. The album was named the best

metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...

album of 2014 by music website

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

. Thou has toured with and collaborated frequently with fellow

band The Body, whom they most recently collaborated with on the album entitled, ''You, Whom I Have Always Hated''. On October 30, 2020, they released a collaboration album called ''May Our Chambers Be Full'' with

Emma Ruth Rundle Emma Ruth Rundle (born October 10, 1983) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and visual artist based in Portland, Oregon. Formerly of the Nocturnes and Marriages, she has released five solo albums and is a member of Red Sparowes. Early ...

Style and artistry

Thou's style has been labeled as "experimental

doom Doom is another name for damnation. Doom may also refer to: People * Doom (professional wrestling), the tag team of Ron Simmons and Butch Reed * Daniel Doom (born 1934), Belgian cyclist * Debbie Doom (born 1963), American softball pitcher * ...

stoner metal Stoner rock, also known as stoner metal or stoner doom, is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of doom metal with psychedelic rock and acid rock. The genre emerged during the early 1990s and was pioneered foremost by Kyuss and Sleep. ...

and

. On the band's style,

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

critic Gregory Heaney stated that "the band's sound blends the shuddering heaviness of doom with the oppressive atmospherics of

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with t ...

, giving the band a monolithic sound that feels, at times, inescapable." Thou has taken a '

do it yourself "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and semi ...

' approach to touring which has become a defining characteristic of the band and its aesthetic. Thou's lyrics often espouse

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...

views. Thou also has covered artists from various rock music genres, including

Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN and stylized as NIИ, is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland in 1988. Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Trent Reznor was the only permanent member of the band ...

' " Terrible Lie" (with The Body) and

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...

songs "Something in the Way", "Sifting", and "

Aneurysm An aneurysm is an outward bulging, likened to a bubble or balloon, caused by a localized, abnormal, weak spot on a blood vessel wall. Aneurysms may be a result of a hereditary condition or an acquired disease. Aneurysms can also be a nidus (s ...

Band members

Current members * Bryan Funck – vocals (2007–present) * Andy Gibbs – guitar (2005–present) * Matthew Thudium – guitar (2005–present) * Mitch Wells – bass (2005–present) * Tyler Coburn – drums (2018–present) * KC Stafford – guitar/bass/vocals (2018–present) Former members * Terry Gulino – drums (2005–2010) * Josh Nee – drums (2010–2018)

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums *''Tyrant'' (2007, One Eye Records) *''Peasant'' (2008, Level Plane Records) *''Summit'' (2010, Gilead Media) *'' Heathen'' (2014, Gilead Media) *''

Magus Magi (; singular magus ; from Latin ''magus'', cf. fa, مغ ) were priests in Zoroastrianism and the earlier religions of the western Iranians. The earliest known use of the word ''magi'' is in the trilingual inscription written by Darius the ...

'' (2018,

Sacred Bones Records Sacred Bones Records is an American independent record label founded in 2007 and based in Brooklyn, New York. The label has released recordings from artists including Zola Jesus, David Lynch, John Carpenter, Blanck Mass, Crystal Stilts, Marissa ...

) Collaborative releases * ''Released from Love'' (collaborative EP with The Body) (2014) * '' You, Whom I Have Always Hated'' (collaborative album with The Body) (2015) * ''

May Our Chambers Be Full ''May Our Chambers Be Full'' is a collaborative studio album by American singer-songwriter Emma Ruth Rundle and doom metal band Thou. It was released on October 30, 2020, through Sacred Bones Records as a part of the label's 'Alliance Series'. Rec ...

'' (collaborative album with

(2020) * ''The Helm of Sorrow'' (collaborative EP with

(2021) * ''Myopia'' (collaborative album with Mizmor) (2022) Splits * ''Thrive and Decay'' (Split 7" with Black September) (2008) * ''We Pass Like Night... From Land to Land'' (Split-LP with Leech) (2008) * ''Reincarnation Prayer'' (Split 7" with Haarp) (2009) * ''Our Enemy Civilization'' (Split-LP with Salome) (2009) * ''Degradation of Human Life'' (Split-LP with Mohoram Atta) (2009) * ''Dwell in the Darkness of Thought and Drink the Poison of Life'' (Split EP with The City is the Tower) (2010) * ''Tears That Soak a Callous Heart'') (Split EP with Moloch) (2010) * ''A Faire Quarrell'' (Split 7" with Human Intruder) (2010) * ''War Is the Force That Gives Us Meaning: A Two Part Analysis of Personal and Inter-Personal Conflict'' (Split-LP with Cower) (2011) * ''4th of July'' (Split 7" with Kowloon Walled City) (2012) * ''Resurrection Bay'' (Split 7" with

Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...

) (2012) * ''Wingwalker/Prayer to God'' (Split 7" with Great Falls) (2015) * ''Eyehatethou'' (Split EP with Barghest) (2015) * ''I Have Become Your Pupil'' (Split with The Hirs Collective) (2018) * ''Let Our Names Be Forgotten'' (Split EP with Ragana) (2018) Demos * ''Call No Man Happy Until He Is Dead'' (2005) * ''Demo'' (2007) Singles and EPs * ''Malfeasance-Retribution'' (10") (2008) * ''To Carry a Stone'' (7") (2008) * ''The Retaliation of the Immutable Force of Nature'' (EP) (2008) * ''Through the Empires of Eternal Void'' (2009) * ''Baton Rouge, You Have Much to Answer For'' (EP) (2010) * ''Big City'' (2011) * ''To the Chaos Wizard Youth'' (EP) (2011) * ''The Archer & The Owle'' (EP) (2011) * ''The Sacrifice'' (EP) (2014) * ''Only You Deserve Conceit'' (7") (2015) * ''The House Primordial'' (2018) * ''Inconsolable'' (2018) * '' Rhea Sylvia'' (EP) (2018) Compilation albums * ''Oakland'' (2010) * ''Rendon'' (2010) * ''Ceremonies of Humiliation'' (2014) * ''Algiers'' (2014) * ''Blessings of the Highest Order'' (Nirvana covers) (2020, Robotic Empire) * ''A Primer of Holy Words'' (covers) (2020, Robotic Empire) * ''Hightower'' (2021, Robotic Empire) Compilation contributions *"Well Fed Fuck" (originally by

Born Against Born Against was an American hardcore punk band from New York active between 1989 and 1993. In addition to their radical leftist politics, the group espoused a DIY punk message and challenged what they perceived as being a problem within the p ...

; Compilation "Clone – Play Slow, Die Fast, Vol. II" (2009, Blind Date Records) *"Milk It" (originally by

; tribute album ''

In Utero, in Tribute, in Entirety ''In Utero, in Tribute, in Entirety'' is a tribute album to Nirvana's 1993 third and final album, ''In Utero'', by various artists. The album was released through Robotic Empire on April 15, 2014, and an exclusive version was released for Record S ...

'') (2014, Robotic Empire) *"Endless, Nameless"/"Even In His Youth" (originally by

; tribute album ''

Whatever Nevermind ''Whatever Nevermind'' is a tribute album to Nirvana's 1991 second studio album, ''Nevermind'', by various artists. The album was released by Robotic Empire for Record Store Day on April 18, 2015 in vinyl and digital formats. Robotic Empire previo ...

'') (2015, Robotic Empire) *"Eyehatethou" (Adult Swim Singles 2015) (2015, Adult Swim) *"Floyd the Barber" (originally by

; tribute album ''

Doused in Mud, Soaked in Bleach ''Doused in Mud, Soaked in Bleach'' is a tribute album to Nirvana's 1989 debut album, ''Bleach'', performed by various artists. The album was released by Robotic Empire for Record Store Day on April 16, 2016. It also concludes a series Robotic Em ...

'') (2016, Robotic Empire) *"Don't Let It Bring You Down" (originally by

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay ...

; Compilation "Many Waters: Baton Rouge Flood Relief 2017" (2017, Thrill Jockey) *"Maps" (originally by

Yeah Yeah Yeahs The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are an American indie rock band formed in New York City in 2000. The group is composed of vocalist and pianist Karen O (born Karen Lee Orzolek), guitarist and keyboardist Nick Zinner, and drummer Brian Chase. They are complem ...

); Compilation "Save

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several award ...

: An 00's Covers Compilation" *" Them Bones" (originally by

Alice In Chains Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AIC) is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1987 by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney, who later recruited bassist Mike Starr and lead vocalist Layne ...

); tribute album "Dirt Redux" (2020, Magnetic Eye Records)

References

External links

* * {{Authority control American sludge metal musical groups American doom metal musical groups Political music groups Heavy metal musical groups from Louisiana Musical groups established in 2005 2005 establishments in Louisiana American experimental musical groups Musical groups from Baton Rouge, Louisiana Level Plane Records artists