Wovenhand:
Ten Stones

Awesome music. As all of Woven Hands albums, this is just another "must have" album.

When I met drummer Ordy Garrison after the Woven Hand show in Vienna last year (Szene – 31.05.2007), I asked him about the upcoming album and he answered: “It will be completely different!”. Now, as I have listened to the brandnew “Ten Stones” I must agree – the album sounds really completely different and it’s full with surprises:

“The beautiful Axe” opens the long awaited album and it’s obvious, that the sound has changed in some way. Contrast to former albums now you can hear and feel the drumming and so it’s much more powerful and closer to the typically Woven Hand live sound. Especially when Ordy Garrison is kicking the shit out of his drums while David Eugene Edwards singing “Joy has come, it rises with the sun, He the highest on the horizon”. Special heavy guitar riffs and the drone of the Hurdy Gurdy makes this song so unique. With “Horsetail” a more typically Woven Hand song follows. A wonderful acoustic bass fiddle and David’s impressive voice “If you think you can see it in your hand, then you are blind” create a wonderful atmosphere. The music for this one was written by David Eugene Edwards and Peter van Laerhoven, who is also responsible for the live noise and atmospheric sounds he creates just only on his guitar. “Not one Stone” is without any doubt one of the highlights. A wonderful melody, great guitar work from Peter van Laerhoven again and Ordy’s outstanding drumming meet with David Eugene Edwards’ unbelievable voice singing “Behold the lamb, given for us, made course of us” make this song to another Woven Hand classic. “Cohawkin Road” features the guest appearances of Emil Nikolaisen form the Norway group Serena Maneesh on guitar with Samuel and David Durling (two brothers from the Swedish Industrial band called Mental Destruction) doing some “guest noise”, as it’s credited in the booklet. A very atmospheric song with mysterious lyrics (“Yet in the mirror of the knife I see only me”) will satisfy any Woven Hand fan, I guess. “Iron Feather” begins with an amazing piano intro and leads into a song, which was already played at the last tour in summer (like “The beautiful Axe”), which catches you after the first lines “I must miss you, under the ashen sky”. Very atmospheric again and it features also Emil Nikolaisen on guitar and Daniel C. Smith (who co-produced “Ten Stones” with David Eugene Edwards) from the group Danielson on backing vocals. Another Woven Hand classic that gives all fans the creeps. Mr. Edwards has written the next one with Daniel C. Smith: “White Knuckle Grip” is a bluesy and rockin’ piece of music, which many fans won’t like, I’m afraid. Because it’s completely different to anything, David Eugene Edwards recorded for Woven Hand up to date. Nevertheless is this song a beauty and shows, that David is open minded for any kind of music. And I’m sure, that this one will hit some people with full force, who have never heard about Woven Hand before. Then the next surprise is waiting, in which David acts like a Crooner: “Quiet Nights of quiet Stars” (a Carlos Jobim cover) is this kind of track, nobody has expected. A Bossa Nova sound played by Woven Hand? Yes – you won’t believe this, until you’ve heard it. By the way: The Walkabouts also covered this song. The Woven Hand version gives “Ten Stones” a perfect break and although it’s very unusual, it fits perfectly between the songs. After this “break” the next surprise is coming along: “Kicking Bird” (a native American plains chant named after the Kiowa chief of the same name) only endures a little bit more than two minutes, but this one kicks ass! Ordy’s drumming, a driving rhythm and chant show us again, that Woven Hand are also ready to rock in a studio. The music for this one was co-written by guitar player Peter van Laerhoven with Woven Hand. “Kingdom of Ice” (lyrics inspired by the book of Job) is already known, because of the live performance this year in the summertime. Hurdy Gurdy, Banjola, sounds of galloping horses and David’s intense singing “Lay hand to mouth, spoken once, you have no answer. Lay hand to mouth, spoken twice, and say no more” make this one to another highlight of “Ten Stones”. “His loyal Love” (music written by bass player Pascal Humbert) is atmospheric and full with sounds, while David’s voice (and the one of Elin K. Smith) are in the background. This would also fit perfectly on the next Lilium album. Then, an untitled bonus track closes “Ten Stones”: It’s not really an instrumental, more a noisy thing, like you can hear on the last track “Little Raven” of the last famous “Mosaic” album. Atmosphere, Hurdy Gurdy, vocal improvisations, breathing and various sound creations finishing the masterpiece “Ten Stones” with an eleventh “stone”.