Beautiful full color gatefold double LP version of this cult indie-sludge opus...

One of my all time favorite bands to come out of the early 90's "post-hardcore" scene, Engine Kid hailed from Seattle that featured a young Greg Anderson on vocals and guitar, who of course would go on to form Southern Lord Records and play in bands like Sunn O))), Goatsnake, Thorr's Hammer, and Ascend. The music of Engine Kid always seemed to be lumped in with bands like Quicksand and Into Another, but their heavy, magisterial rock was so muc more experimental and arty; listening to Angel Wings again with about thirteen years of perspective reveals that by the time that the band recorded this album, they were beginning to contribute to the sonic template of indie metal that would later give rise to Pelican and Old Man Gloom. There's anthemic, catchy as hell hooks and choruses here, and the song "Windsheild" is a classic in the post-hardcore field, but the melodic side of Angel Wings is balanced with Slint-like math rock dynamics, and HUGE sludgy metallic riffs that are both beautiful and pulverizing, at times even giving me visions of an unlikely cross between Isis and Texas Is The Reason. There's a jazzy element that seeps into Engine Kid's music too, which is attributable to the amount of time that they spent around pals and touring partners Iceburn, no doubt, though the Kid were on a whole different level of heavy. Another kickass track on this album is the song "Anchor", one of my favorites, which actually starts off with Scottish bagpipes before unwinding into an eerie stretch of lugubrious slowcore that slowly and inexorably builds into a pummeling, percussive Helmet-esque riff. Hell, the song "Stitches" is another masterpiece with it's sadly gorgeous and unfolding heaviness... It's cool to revisit an album like this, which prior to getting in stock for the store hadn't been in my stereo for at least a couple of years, and rediscovering just how fucking cool and weird and crushing Angel Wings is. Highly recommended.