The Aurochs, the debut album from already-prolific New Zealand post-metal outfit Thousand Limbs, is a big undertaking. Inspired by Kakuan Shien’s Ten Ox-herding Pictures, each of the 10 songs is based on a woodcutting from the aforementioned work. Told strictly through music and without lyrics or vocals, The Aurochs is sonically huge, inspired in equal parts by Earth, Neurosis and Bongripper.
“It’s a sonic interpretation of a perpetual cycle of disconnection and reconnection with a spiritual practice,” guitarist Patrick Gray tells Decibel. “The woodcuts act as an extra-musical guide, with a recurring motif representing the lost beast in the woods, disappearing then appearing again throughout the album.”
The Aurochs is an extremely dynamic album, rooted in the thunderous “main” tracks, with quieter, more pensive songs (“Evening Haze,” “Beneath Soil and Stone”) serving as bridges between them.
Azatoth Records will officially release The Aurochs on July 19, but you can listen to it below.
