Wovenhand

Meet Wovenhand, an ultra serious outfit started as a side/solo project for 16 Horsepower's front man David Eugene Edwards.  However, upon the untimely demise of said Horsepower, it became a full band, with Edwards leading a very grim charge.  Their bizarre mix of dark folk, punk, industrial, and experimental rock make them one of the hardest bands to categorize in secular music, even more so in Christian.

 

The murky background mirrors the equally murky lyrics and prose of one of the most intense bands strumming (yes strumming) their electric guitars.  Their subject matter has the initial semblance of hymns.  Often about God, and the Christian walk, however, a more road weary and energetically exhausted sounding pilgrim has yet to be named David Eugene.  Likewise the label 'hymn' is hardly a competent term.  These songs are a running dialogue, caught somewhere between Job and David of the Bible.

At a distance this image does an excellent job of visually summarizing the band.  The colors flatly state vintage value.  The dull silver and gold seem extravagant, not in terms of actual value, but rather as a collector's item, which is what the music is.

As you move closer the leafy motif and flowery inhabitants of the coffin are instant triggers for thoughts of country/folk/blues music, which, although not what this is, is exactly the way you should be thinking when you go to their show. They move around the image and in the coffin in a slow dance, and the image has become more then a summary.  It is a story in itself.  A prequel.

The font for the logo is a surprising choice and alone saves the image from being hopelessly trapped in the south.  It's utter English monkishness proclaims an epic story.  It also gives the overall poster an almost sci fi flavor, and, besides the axe, is the most energetic element.

Distinctly like the music, the intended message of the poster is difficult to lay hold of.  The axe floats dangerously off the page, traces of it's dubious final movement echo around it's prison, the coffin.  It practically screams, just like David Eugene, of a buried secret, and the mind instantly jumps to a violent one.  It is such a strong act three story that the viewer can hardly help offering at least a moment's consideration. 

However, it lays amongst flowers, possibly implying the death and burial of beauty, or something beautiful.  It could also be a reference to the old term, "Bury the hatchets!" This myriad of conflicting messages is a strong hook to come to the concert, demanding answers.  However, it must be said, that whether or not the band can deliver or not is in question.  

The poster, while entirely effective in it's duties, may be a little too perfect a reflection of the band. Their answers read as questions, and their story, perhaps like life itself seems to stretch endlessly into the horizon.