Steve Von Till - A Grave Is A Grim Horse (Neurot)
2/5
By: Charlie Potter
If you are someone that romanticises the idea of listening to an earnest, old, haggard man that has seen it all have his way with your ears, then this is for you. If you can go all the way to not only enjoying the persona of Steve von Till on this recording, but also believing it, then you will absolutely love this album. There are definitely going to be some people that think that this is one of the best things that they ever heard, but they are mostly going to be people that already have an incredibly high opinion of Steve von Till as some kind of wise old genius.
Von Till is clearly a very important part of Neurosis, and has been instrumental in creating some of the best albums ever written with them. But unfortunately listening to one sixth of that input provides about a tenth of the fulfilment. The problem with A Grave Is A Grim Horse is that it doesn't have much to offer that isn't already there in Neurosis. Of course being more stripped back and having a more acoustic timbre has its own merits, but it's not something that you can't find elsewhere, whereas Neurosis' sound is totally unique, and the only similar sound you can hear that is similar is by bands that are trying to copy Neurosis.
The one thing that has had notably more work done is the lyrics. You could even view this recording as a self taught lesson in writing lyrics. The thing about that is that most people would not even have the luxury of being able to release such an album, let alone want to. I have always found Von Till's ideas very interesting in interview, although I have often disagreed with him. Set to song though, you see Steve Von Till for what he really is - an idealist melodramatic hippy. On one side there is the appeal of the distanced eastern style philosophy, on the other side there is the forced metaphors and supreme melodrama, probably the best and worst line on the album is "a grain of sand is all I ever wanted to be" - it doesn't even seem that bad on paper, but sung in his overly creaky old man's voice, it sounds silly. And then there are lines like "there is a spider in my dreams, long and silent is his name"... what are you talking about Steve?! Spiders don't have names, if they did have names they would be things like Octodeath or Filth Conundrum...
Which brings us back to the issue of there being a persona presented on the album. Steve von Till is just not as old as he is forcing himself to sound. I just don't believe him, it's like he's forcing himself to sound sincere, which is the most insincere sound there is.
After a good few listens you really do begin to appreciate the layered textures of this album though; everything is lightly arranged and carefully constructed, which in a way only makes it more of a shame when it's drowned about by Mr. Creaky Tones. You also have to appreciate how slow and confidently Mr. Von Till can push it home. A Grave Is A Grim Horse does grow on you a lot and it does have its better and worse songs, but ultimately, there's little here that's worth the investment.
Artists in this article: Steve Von Till
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