If there’s one thing the last twelve months or so have taught people it’s how to adapt, and fans of live music have been no exception. With no shows to attend, the number of people paying to watch their favourite bands – or just any band – performing special quarantine sets has been steadily on the rise.
Last Friday (1/29/21) I got to check out the live stream from Housecore bands Scour and Shock Narcotic. Both of these groups are “supergroups” but I’m not going to get into that right now. I will say though that the list of bands that make up the background for each band are some of my favorites so I was kinda excited for this show.
En Minor is a project that had been rattling around in Philip H. Anselmo“s head since he was a child; they are an unexpectedly emotional and deeply serious sound that freefalls out of the genres most of the band members are associated with, including Anselmo himself, and into uncharted territory. Unconventional and, in many ways, experimental, their 2020 release, When the Cold Truth Has Worn Its Miserable Welcome Out (Housecore Records) is steeped in reverence to the Jazz tradition in New Orleans, and maybe more markedly serves as a morose interpretation of a Jazz Funeral March with hints of Vaudeville; an unironic gothic twist on Tom Waits that Anselmo has since self-described as Depression Core.