Austin’s AIWASS Resurrect Scottish Folk Song ‘Cruel Brother’ in New Single
It has been estimated that some four million new songs are being released into the world of sound every year. Certainly, it's been hard -- neigh, impossible -- to keep up with all the new albums churned out just in the doom scene. As a consequence, it is all too easy to loose touch with the great songs of the past. I'm not talking about songs from the '70s, '80s or '90s, but those written generations and generations ago, stretching back into Medieval and Renaissance times.
That's why it's so refreshing to encounter a band taking on an old Scottish ballad like the one before us. Taking a cue from Battlefield Band, the traditional folk group who brought "Cruel Brother" to a wider audience decades ago, Austin, Texas band AIWASS gives this tragic tale a unique twist.
Dark, moody synthesizer surrounds the senses as the track begins, as if to transport us hundreds of years into the past to a scene unthinkable: a dying bride, a spiteful brother, a grieving knight, and an atmosphere teeming with sadness and revenge. Gently plucked mandolin strings cross with acoustic guitar. Misty, forlorn vocals tell the tale of love found and lost, eventually engaging the full powers of the doom metal quartet, complete with foreboding drums and bluesy, bittersweet guitar riffs.
Frontman Blake Carrera comments:
The themes of the song, despite being an old Scottish ballad, are quite familiar to listeners of doom and metal in general: love, lust, violence, and loss. By reinterpreting this song, we hope to bring the past into the future. The screams at the end of the song are not just an identification that this is “blackened doom”; they are also the screams of loss and sadness that are perpetuated throughout time by all of us.
Aiwass caught my ear during the pandemic, when we premiered and gave a detailed review of their first LP Wayward Gods. Since then, the band has expanded with founding member Blake Carrera (vox, guitar, mandolin, synth) joined by Eddy Keyes (vox, acoustic guitar, bass), Pablo Anton (guitar), and Grant Husselman (drums). As a result, the Aiwass sound has evolved into something wonderfully nuanced and altogether powerful.
"Cruel Brother" will be issued as a standalone single on Friday, March 28th (get it here). Fans of Green Lung, take notice
[Verse 1]
There were three ladies played at baw
Hey wi the rose and the linsey o
But a knight cam by, played ower them aw
Doun by the greenwood sidie o
[Verse 2]
This knight bowed low tae aw the three
Hey wi the rose and the linsey o
But tae the youngest, he bent his knee
Doun by the greenwood sidie o
[Verse 3]
O lady fair, gie me your haun'
Hey wi the rose and the linsey o
And I'll mak ye lady ower aw my land
Doun by the greenwood sidie o
[Verse 4]
Sir knight, ere you my favour win
Hey wi the rose and the linsey o
Ye maun gain consent ower all my kin
Doun by the greenwood sidie o
[Verse 5]
He gained consent fae her parents dear
Hey wi the rose and the linsey o
And likewise fae her sisters fair
Doun by the greenwood sidie o
[Verse 6]
He's gained consent ower all her kin
Hey wi the rose and the linsey o
He forgot tae speak tae her brother John
Doun by the greenwood sidie o
[Verse 7]
When the wedding day was come
Hey wi the rose and the linsey o
This knight would take his bonnie bride home
Doun by the greenwood sidie o
[Verse 8]
Her mother led her through the closs
Hey wi the rose and the linsey o
And her brother John stood her on her horse
Doun by the greenwood sidie o
[Verse 9]
He took a knife baith long and sharp
And he stabbed the bonnie bride tae her heart
[Verse 10]
Lead me tae yon high, high hill
Hey wi the rose and the linsey o
And I'll lie doun and I'll mak my will
Doun by the greenwood sidie o
[Verse 11]
And what will ye gie tae your brother John
Hey wi the rose and the linsey o
The gallows tree for tae hang him on
Doun by the greenwood sidie o
[Verse 12]
And what will ye gie to your brother John's wife
Hey wi the rose and the linsey o
The wilderness tae end her life
Doun by the greenwood sidie o
