Thou announce album & EP trilogy, stream lots of new songs

After talking for a long time about a followup to 2014’s great Heathen, sludge metal staples Thou surprise-released The House Primordial earlier this month. I mentioned in my review that while Thou have had some music that goes into melodic rock territory, The House Primordial was some of the harshest, noisiest music they’ve ever made. What we didn’t know at the time, was that Thou are technically considering the 10-track release an EP, and that it’s one of three EPs they’re releasing leading up to their next proper full-length. Each EP is in a different style, and the band says that all three of those styles will be represented on the full-length.

The second EP, Inconsolable, is out today on Community Records, and this one is the polar opposite of The House Primordial — it’s some of their quietest music ever, with clean vocals and a big slowcore/folk vibe. The third EP, Rhea Sylvia, comes out July 27 via Deathwish, and they’re saying that one will focus on their grunge side (Thou have always taken a ton of influence from grunge and have done an entire Nirvana cover set). The first single from Rhea Sylvia, “The Only Law,” is also out today.

The full-length is called Magus and it drops on August 31 via Sacred Bones. Its first single is “The Changeling Prince” and you really can hear how all three sides of Thou’s current sound come through on this heavy-but-melodic song.

You can stream the Inconsolable EP and the singles from Rhea Sylvia and Magus, along with the tracklists for the latter two, below.

Magus Tracklist
1 – Inward
2 – My Brother
Caliban
3 – Transcending Dualities
4 – The Changeling Prince
5 – Sovereign Self
6 – Divine Will
7 – In the Kingdom of Meaning
8 – Greater Invocation of Disgust
9 – Elimination Rhetoric
10 – The Law Which Compels
11 – Supremacy

Rhea Sylvia Tracklist
1. The Only Law
2. Unfortunate Times
3. Non-Entity
4. Deepest Sun
5. Restless River
6. The Lasting Dose