A solo vehicle for 16 Horsepower leader David Eugene Edwards, Woven Hand sacrifices his other outfit's thunderous bombast but retains the glowering intensity. This follow-up to 2002's self-titled debut is a masterstroke of creeping gothic: spectral percussion, skeletal guitar and Edwards' ominous voice, lent added weight by the religious significance of the lyrics (especially the startling ”To make a Ring”) . Of his contemporaries, only Nick Cave and Willard Grand Conspiracy's Robert Fisher sound as eerily portentous. Queasy strings, thorny banjo and spare use of piano help sustain the raven-at-dusk mood throughout.

4 stars out of 5