A unique project that began when lead guitarist Chris solo endeavours blossomed into a string of ballads, 49 Burning Condors has been something of an evolutionary process. Joined over time by lead singer Kimber, drummer Kat, violinist Andriana, and bassist Zach, the band first took shape around their debut track ‘Rosaleen’, a timeless release about a woman who has her heart stolen by a witch on the Mississippi.
In the years that followed, 49 Burning Condors have become something of a sensation, rising from the dive bars to play headline shows across New York and Delaware. Armed with a raucous sound that is endlessly inspired by ‘the twangy blues of Mississippi Fred McDowell, the sudsy and sultry rock of Queens of the Stone Age, the haunting and fuzzy feel of Chelsea Wolfe and All Them Witches, and the heart-in-guts lyrics of Amy Winehouse’, they’ve made their mark in the most brilliant of ways, kicking up the dust and sharing their brilliant new album, ‘Seventh Hymnal’.
Filled to the brim with gritty, enchanting blues sounds, the new album opens with the classically titled ‘Bayou’, a stripped-back epic that shines with Gothic Southern style. From there, ‘Little Death’ delivers a touching ode to baroque sounds, before ‘Willow Tree’ and ‘Red Drum Skin’ take hold, lashing out with folkish melodicism and tempered percussion. In the closing moments, ‘Noonday’ takes hold with a stark desert rock edge, while ‘Chapel Hill’ strikes as a ‘murder folk gem’, pushing the album to its eventual close with the sombre, yet ethereal sounds of ‘Seventh Hymnal’.
Speaking about the album, the band explained, “’Seventh Hymnal’ was written during the pandemic; a time of abounding uncertainty, where death loomed around every corner, and chaos lingered in our world, homes, and veins. Our songs are dripping with stories of grief, bodies floating down the river, men drowning to a siren's song, and of the gods worshipped, who turned calamitous. Seventh Hymnal is not only an outpouring of all the things we wanted to say but couldn't express in regular words to those we loved and even to ourselves, but a benediction and examination of a woman's role of power in the world of men.”
An album filled with dark sounds, mythology, and empowering lyrics; ‘Seventh Hymnal’ is an intoxicating record that is well worth experiencing. Come January, 49 Burning Condors will be headed out to the middle of nowhere in the woods to finalize songs for their next album, and next fall you will finally be able to catch them on tour.
Score: 8.5/10
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