Medicine Horse Premiere “Dead Medicine”; Self-Titled Debut Out Sept. 8
Posted in Bootleg Theater, Reviews on August 7th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Notably vicious Tulsa, Oklahoma, sludge metallers Medicine Horse will release their self-titled debut Sept. 8 through Horton Records. The album runs seven tracks/34 minutes and is led off by “Dead Medicine” (video premiering below), a powerfully caustic sub-four-minute riffer that’s biting as it explores thematically the different cultures around Western — read: ‘white’ — and Indigenous healing, vocalist Nico Williams harsh-throat screaming lyrics decrying the chemicalization and commercialization of doctoring, which, on the long list of things to be correctly filed under ‘Shit White People Made Awful’ along with rural culture, the blues and rice, is a fair enough place to start. I certainly know every time I go to a doctor’s office that looks like a mall complete with a corporate logo, or receive treatment at an urgi-care center that treats you like you’re at 7-Eleven, or take the friggin’ pile of pills that greets me every morning in front of the coffee pot, it feels disconnected from any sense of humanity or caring in a healing process.
But Medicine Horse‘s Medicine Horse isn’t just about the wreck that capitalism has quite purposefully made of the US health system — though it very easily could be; “Nothing green left in these hills/All they’ve got for us is these pills” — and the five-piece of Nico, guitarists Kyle Williams and Travis Rowe, bassist Chris West and drummer Garrett Heck unfurl a barrage of sludged riffing throughout the varied half-hour plus, with Nico swapping to a melodic vocal approach for most of the slower-rolling “Turning Tide,” which nods doomly through its early verses before subtly upping the tempo just before 2:20 into its 3:51, turning harsher, then re-slowing with double-tracked screams held over as it reaches its culmination in delivering the title-line, “We are the turning tide.”
Pay attention through the subsequent “Swamp Interlude” and you’ll hear the story of “Letiche” to come, that centerpiece track a high point in terms of composition and atmosphere, slowing down further across its early going with a melodic verse over strains of guitar that cycle through farther back in the mix than they might otherwise be, drums and vocals up front, bass deep and coming forward with the riff as they shift to oldschool sludge insistence with vocal scathe laced over and a
dual-vocal (someone backing Nico, that is) clean-sung seeming crescendo before the toms grow intense, the low end digs in and the build hits its lumbering and ferocious payoff.
Seven minutes brutally spent, and they won’t be the last. Even in the context of Medicine Horse as a whole, “Letiche” is punishing, taking the ripper nature of “Dead Medicine” and the ambience and melody of “Turning Tide” and the introductory “Swamp Interlude” to a point of full realization. “Badlands,” which opens side B, goes back to ground. In the vein of “Dead Medicine,” but faster, it is led by the riff and screams, given heft and movement by the bass and drums, and turns thrashy in its midsection before stomping out a cavernous and doomed ending, giving over to the penultimate “She,” which like closer “Kuwa Detlukv (The Orchard)” works more in line with “Letiche” in terms of methodology if not execution.
By that I mean that like the album from whence it comes, it brings the moody/melodic aspects of the band’s persona in accord with the furious, and in the case of “She” particularly, via a lumbering and slow-shoving middle leading to a second cycle through the verse, it is tense and ready for the next onslaught. Nico is joined by backing vocals again, and the bass caps “She” before “Kuwa Detlukv (The Orchard)” stretches further into unfolding nod. I won’t embarrass myself by trying to guess the language the lyrics are in (though I’d be interested to find out), but the phrasing works fluidly with the post-midsection melody, the softly drawling guitar, and the tension in the cymbals that lets you know the full-volume roll, bass punch and all, will return.
How does it all end? Vocal harmonies hint toward progression to come in the record’s final moments, but that itself is an aftermath of one last sludge-metal assault, and I think the duality between the two represents well the course that Medicine Horse have marked out for themselves, at least in getting to the point of releasing their first album. How they’ll actually grow is beyond me, and in a universe of infinite possibility trying to predict such things is, well, dumb, but aside from the engagement with Indigenous voices being something the American heavy underground very, very much needs, the manner in which Medicine Horse offer their take, whether its the gnash of “Dead Medicine,” the storytelling in “Swamp Interlude” and “Letiche” or the drawl-and-pound of “She” and “Kuwa Detlukv (The Orchard), speaks to further growth to come. May they continue to manifest the notions set forth here in sound and theme.
You’ll find the video for “Dead Medicine” below, followed by some comment from Nico Williams about the track, the preorder link, more info on the album and band, and all that regular ol’ PR wire stuff.
Please enjoy:
Medicine Horse, “Dead Medicine” official video
Nico Williams on “Dead Medicine”:
“‘Dead Medicine’ explores the contrast between traditional Indigenous medicinal knowledge and Western medicine. In our ancestral wellness practices, medicine is about connection to the natural world, a reciprocal relationship that is alive and flows from generation to generation. In exchange for our stewardship, our environment nourishes us in a way that keeps us balanced and healthy. Modern medicine is so far removed from that kind of connectivity. Pharmaceuticals might start with elements from the natural world, but they are are manufactured into unrecognizable chemicals with side effects that are often worse than what we’re using them to treat. We call it medicine but it’s motivated by commercial interests, without soul, it’s dead medicine. We’ve only been using these types of chemicals for a few generations, but it’s become a part of us, a poison we inherit. In this song I fantasize about purging all the modern chemicals from my body, all the processed and artificial contamination, bleeding it all out to start fresh, to replace it with living, green medicine.”
pre-order: https://orcd.co/medicinehorse
Formed in the autumn of the year the world fell apart, 2020, Medicine Horse began as a way to navigate uncertainty and mitigate existential panic within front woman Nico Williams’ household. With the help of drummer Garrett Heck, a sound took shape, and players were assembled to bring it all to life. Williams, a citizen of Cherokee Nation, moves between jazz-tinged vocal melodies and emotionally charged howls, weaving her lyrical storytelling of historical account, folklore, and Indigenous futurism around layers of sludgy-yet-energetic harmony formed in the clash of techniques between rhythm guitarist Kyle Williams (Ponca,Otoe-Missouria, and Ioway Nations) and lead guitarist Travis Rowe. Rowe draws deeply from his country roots, transforming those immovable hooks into devastatingly heavy riffs before they ignite into towering solos.
A rhythm section steeped in the slow waters of their respective homes of Monroe and New Orleans Louisiana, drummer Garrett Heck and bassist Chris West anchor Medicine Horse’s rumble with elements of doom at one moment, and the frenetic energy of thrash the next. Immediate influences of Southern doom and sludge like Crowbar, Acid Bath and Down are easy to discern, while hints of grunge, post-punk, and classic Southern blues rock simmer beneath the surface. Burn weed, cedar, and sage…plug in, turn up, and amplify your frontal lobe.
Medicine Horse is named in honor of the great-great-great-grandfather of guitarist Kyle Kent Williams Sr (Ponka/Otoe-Missouria/Ioway) Shoⁿge moⁿkoⁿ (in Otoe, Ma’Kaⁿ Shuⁿje). The energy of the band’s music channels the power of these ancestral connections, and also drives the lyrical content.
Medicine Horse are:
Vocals: Nico Williams
Guitar: Kyle Williams
Guitar: Travis Rowe
Drums: Garrett Heck
Bass: Chris West
