Genre: the Bible, psych/punk/folk/wow, fire and brimstone, the wraith of God

Refractory: "Stubborn or unmanageable". Obdurate: "Stubbornly persistent in wrongdoing". Why name an album after two synonymous adjectives? I'm not sure I can answer that question, and Wovenhand (led by the folk mastermind David Eugene Edwards) have crafted an album that doesn't offer easy solutions either. Searing, wordy, referential, and epic "Refractory Obdurate" is a record that requires patience. Thankfully, the music is so compulsively listenable that it's hard not to let it play through one more time. A special type of album that doesn't come around often.

Others: Cult of Youth, Current 93, Swans, Angels of Light, Mount Eerie, Nick Cave

Favorites: 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 9. No FCCs.

1. (4:47) *** Pounding drums, desert rock guitar, and deep heartfelt male vocals. Halfway through explodes into exhilarating psych rock
2. (3:40) *** Clever, addictive drum beat. Dramatic tone and lyrics. Crazy rock out for last 30ish seconds.
3. (4:53) Starts with gentle acoustic guitar but soon accompanied by heavier blasts of electric guitar and bass.
4. (4:01) Bright guitar, fast. Almost pop-punk.
5. (5:20) Heavy drumming and foreboding vocals.
6. (4:47) ** Beautiful acoustic guitar that leads into emotive psych rock.
7. (3:34) ** Fast krautrock groove. Southwestern highway music.
8. (5:21) ** Subtle world percussion. Dark hymnal. More sedate.
9. (3:54) *** Chugging bass and overall totally unhinged kickass instrumentation. Awesome.
10. (2:42) Stark percussion. Expansive, dark. Appropriately menacing finish to a behemoth of an album.