Buried Alone: Tales of Crushing Defeat is the debut studio album by Knifeworld.

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Background and recording

Prior to forming Knifeworld, Kavus Torabi sang and played guitar in the pioneering art punk ^[1] five piece band the Monsoon Bassoon, writing the tracks with Dan Chudley. After the band broke up in 2001, Torabi started writing by himself more and built a studio, The Cop's Dream. ^[2] Torabi played guitar with Cardiacs from 2003 until the ramifications of head honcho Tim Smith's massive heart attack and stroke in 2008 meant that the band effectively ceased operations. ^[4]

Composition

Buried Alone: Tales of Crushing Defeat is a psychedelic album, taking in elements of pop, heavy metal, hardcore, avant-progressive and folk. ^[7] Writing for The List, Mark Robertson noted that Buried Alone leaps "from Canterbury folk whimsy to full on thrash and everything in between". ^[8] Matt Evans of The Quietus wrote that Buried Alone flaunts complex, winding structures, daunting musicianship and vast ambition with a primary focus on strong melodies, fizzing energy and pop. ^[3] According to Drowned in Sound's Robert Ferguson, the album uses hairpin twists of direction to kick the listener's brain into submission, with heavy guitars bludgeoning them before vocal harmonies lead them towards somewhere else entirely. ^[9]

The opening track "Singled Out for Battery" is introduced with a shimmering guitar line and thundering bass note; Torabi's vocals contrast with a childlike chant by Mel Woods before the track races towards a more frenetic build up. Its composition incorporates complex guitar lines that intertwine with piano and ELO infused keyboard. ^[10] Track two, "The Wretched Fathoms", has a pulverising metallic introduction that gives way to a more serene verse, and features crashing waves of guitars heralded by what Sam Shepherd of The Line of Best Fit described as "guitars that sound more like a tormented seagull than any kind of instrument". ^[10] Ferguson called it "a crashing assault on the senses" where "guitars burst through silence, buzz-buzz buzzbuzzbuzzing" and " synths wail somewhere in the hinterland" with short lived relief from soothing vocals. ^[9]

Release and promotion

"Pissed Up on Brake Fluid" was released as the first Knifeworld single by Believers Roast on 13 July 2009, featuring the B-side "Happy Half-life, Dear Friend". ^[7] It peaked at number 83 on the UK Physical Singles Chart in March 2012. ^[11] Buried Alone: Tales of Crushing Defeat was due out on 10 August 2009, ^[7] but released on 17 August 2009. ^{[1] [9]} For live performances, Torabi got a seven-piece band together including Allami, Woods, Craig Fortnam from North Sea Radio Orchestra on bass, Chloe Herrington (sax/basoon) and Emmett Elvin (keyboards) from Chrome Hoof and Tom Clues on guitar, which he described as "the most ambitious undertaking" he had done so far; they had an album launch on 18 August at 93 Feet East in London where they played songs from the album and new ones. ^[2]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Drowned in Sound	7/10 [9]
The Line of Best Fit	78% [10]
The List	[8]

Buried Alone: Tales of Crushing Defeat had a rapturous reception and featured an "explosion of ideas and wonderful playing" according to Echoes and Dust's Dave Cooper. ^[12]

Shepherd called Buried Alone "a rather challenging and thoroughly endearing listen." ^[10] "From the earth, to the stars and back down to the choppy waters of the sea within the space of five minutes; Knife World [ sic] do their damnedest to take you on one hell of a journey." ^[10]

Ferguson opined that Knifeworld "is a preposterus name for a band" in isolation but that the album's dizzying theatricality "casts their choice in more sympathetic lighting". ^[9]

Track listing

All music and lyrics by Kavus Torabi.

1. "Singled Out for Battery" – 4:49
2. "The Wretched Fathoms" – 3:31
3. "Corpses Feuding Underground" – 2:52
4. "Severed of Horsehoof" – 6:20
5. "No More Dying" – 4:10
6. "An Arrival" – 3:30
7. "Unwreckaged" – 5:39
8. "Pissed Up on Brake Fluid" – 4:30
9. "The Money Shot" – 3:37
10. "Torch" – 1:44
11. "Me to the Future of You" – 8:38

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of Buried Alone: Tales of Crushing Defeat. ^[13]

Credits

• Recorded at The Cop's Dream by Kavus Torabi.
• Drums recorded at Map, London and engineered by Colin Smith.
• Mixed at The Cop's Dream by Kavus Torabi.
• Mastered at Swift by Antti Uusimaki.
• Tom Clues cast a stern ear and provided loving encouragement over Kavus' singing.
• Believers Roast logo by David Barclay.
• Catering by Zahara Poe.
• Photography by Hayley Madden.
• All artwork by Steve Mitchell, www.57design.co.uk

References

External links

• Buried Alone: Tales of Crushing Defeat at Discogs (list of releases)

Category:2009 debut albums Category:Psychedelic music albums by British artists