Usually, whenever I find myself coming across an album that completely blindsides me I won’t come across another such work for a decent amount of time, typically in the form of months. When I heard and reviewed the latest from Hanormale just a week ago, I thought that would be the strangest thing my ears would hear for some time. Yet, it’s clear that the universe wants me on my toes as of late with the very strange and inexplicable act of Manos Six and the Muddy Devil hitting my ears tonight, and it’s under the moonlight of this new effort and amongst its acoustic twang that I simply cannot find myself turning away from.

The American South is a place that certainly elicits plenty of emotions whether you’re American but not from there, a native that has never dreamt of being anywhere else, or someone who isn’t American that looks at that region from the outside, but one thing that effortlessly embodies the South is the very sound of the twang of an acoustic banjo. That’s far from anything that any of us would expect to see draw inspiration from modern black metal simply given the very sound and typical style of such an instrument, but it’s with the creation of “Swamp Suicide” that Manos Six and the Muddy Devil have crafted an experience that likely sits in a marshy realm all of its own that many of us likely have never heard before or even thought possible. Drawing from some of the darkest regions of what Americana and neo-folk have to offer with a twist and presentation that is clearly drawn from black metal, the very presentation and concept of “Swamp Suicide” is something that will surely turn many away from this record, but I implore the adventurous to find a spot up against a tree to really let the melodies and rustic chants take you to a part of the South where Lucifer dwells in the very swamps and the blackness of Death lies on the very rustling of the grass. It’s this presentation and simplicity that really allows Manos Six and the Muddy Devil to excel with a sound that effortlessly could’ve fallen apart if it had any less thought put into it, or even too much. It’s from their porch in the middle of actual nowhere that this duo makes their dark sermons to their unholy lord as the very stomp of their boots and clap of their hands signal defiance to God, but it’s in that empty field where no soul leaves untainted that one can’t help but feel that there’s something particularly interesting about this effort despite the reservations revolving around every facet of it right from the very get-go.

Simplicity can just as easily be a road to success as it can be to a shortcoming failure, and it was clear that Manos Six and the Muddy Devil was aware of that as they consolidated in the darkness with the most basic of instruments to craft a listen that’s as simple as it is evocative. It’s long been held that the Deep South has another name, the Bible Belt, but it’s right in the buckle of that territory where “Swamp Suicide” seeks to undermine such forsaken reverence with a craft that impresses a lot more than what many may expect before losing themselves in the melodic twang that’s at constant play here with it all being satisfying and interesting in equal proportions all the way unto the final clap.

“Swamp Suicide” releases on June 25th via Fucking Your Creations Records!

LISTEN to “Swamp Suicide” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Manos Six and the Muddy Devil on Facebook here.