Album review: Jo Quail – The Cartographer

Working with the likes of Myrkur, Emma Ruth Rundle and Wardruna, London-based cellist Jo Quail has become a key contributor to the world of modern heavy music. Collaborations aside, she’s also a formidable composer in her own right, as demonstrated by this latest work, originally commissioned for the 2020 edition of Roadburn, and finally premiered at this year’s festival.

Divided into five movements, The Cartographer presents as an example of contemporary classical music, albeit a version imbued with a darkness that will resonate with admirers of Swans, Amenra or Neurosis. Jo’s elegantly brooding cello is almost unaccompanied for much of the first movement, sound effects and minimalist percussion flickering at the periphery, but as the whole work develops, more instrumentation arrives to provide an immersive experience. While this exists in a very different space to the sort of orchestral/metal crossover typified by Metallica’s S&M albums, there’s certainly some common ground with longform prog or the more experimental end of post-rock.

Vocals are in the mix too, with choral contributions from French singer Lucie Delhi alongside a tremendous performance from Jake Harding of rising doomsters Grave Lines. The point in the third movement where the latter bellows ‘Pray for me!’ is probably the key moment in what is The Cartographer’s heaviest section, its brass-led intensity summoning an evocatively timeless sense of drama. The album’s closing sections are less grandiose but just as stimulating, with Danielle Van Berkom’s violin proving particularly effective in its final minutes.

The Cartographer is a work which rewards full attention and repeat listening, its challenging nature reflecting the unique position Jo Quail occupies at the nexus of different musical worlds.

Verdict: 4/5

For Fans Of: Wardruna, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Amenra

The Cartographer is out now via By Norse