Muscle and Marrow's Second Album Draws Inspiration From Pain, Loss and Courtney Love

[MOOD METAL] If you want to get a sense of what you're in for with Muscle and Marrow's sophomore album, Love, start with the song titles. The album kicks off with "My Fear," which builds a wall of chanting, thundering drums and looping synths worthy of Blade Runner's end credits. From there, things only get more apocalyptic. There's the desolate "Womb," the growling "The Drooling Mouth," the eerily gorgeous "Bereft Body." Though the album could soundtrack a voyage through the Mines of Moria, its subject matter is deeply human and relatable. Love deals with the loss of frontwoman Kira Clark's grandmother, who suffered from Alzheimer's, and is inspired by Courtney Love, whom Clark became fascinated with while she and drummer Keith McGraw worked on the album. You can hear those emotional polarities in the form of quiet, strange digital sounds humming under the tsunami of drums and guitar, and Clark's vocals have undoubtedly been influenced by Love—she lets loose from her virtuosic control now and again, allowing her thoroughly metal vocals to get raspy. Love is an epic album that finds the duo heightening and expanding its sound, in terms of both the instrumentation and emotions they explore.

SEE IT: Muscle and Marrow plays Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside St., with Marissa Nadler and Wrekmeister Harmonies, on Tuesday, July 5. 9 pm. $12. 21+.

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