Blizaro - Light and Desolation (2025)

I had encountered some shitposting somewhere about the cover artwork for Blizaro's third proper full-length, Light and Desolation, but I think it must have been the product of someone who didn't quite grasp what was going on here. This is essentially the 'basement doom' album envisioned and performed by your local Dungeon Master, that kind of awkward guy who scribbled all sorts of arcane imagery, logos and monsters in his school notebooks while the rest of you were trying to pay attention to whatever lesson was being taught that day. Which, let's face it, he didn't need to hear, since he was probably already on cruise control to a higher grade, having long since grasped the material. I personally think it looks awesome...amateurish, creepy, enigmatic and quick to unlock the gates of nostalgia that will soon flood over you when listening to it.

The music is almost as eldritch as the artwork, with a very primitive, stripped down sound, clean on the chugging rhythm guitars, never dowsed in any excess layer of studio polish. It does have a 'demo' vibe, which wouldn't be the first time for John Gallo's project, as some of the stuff off the excellent Strange Doorways compilation possessed a similar sincerity. Of all the Blizaro records, I think this one returns most to the fundamentals of the doom metal genre, embellishes them with a range of proggy synths, equally as lo-fi sounding as the rest of the instruments. Minus a few tweaks here or there, this sounds like something you could have dug up in a record bin 30 years ago, when the doom metal genre as a whole was really only starting to snowball itself into a legitimate sub-classification. However, the use of the synths and epic, barbaric vibes created through the vocals and harder rhythm guitar riffs delve into a world much more fantastic than a Pentagram or Trouble; lyrically more in line with Cirith Ungol, sword and sorcery/cosmic horror influences, but the synths and structures here feel much more fresh and...bizarre.

John's vocals are humble, workmanlike, and constantly multi-tracked to create the impression that you are constantly listening to some cult ritual or haunted choir. He might not have the classic range or presence of an Osbourne, Marcolin or Wagner, but his technique grows even more hypnotic the further you journey through the record. In fact, I felt that the entire experience escalated through the entire play length, from the folksy acoustic intro "The Last Winter" all the way to the climactic "Warriors of the New Lands", the best-produced track on the album and one of the best I've ever heard from Blizaro, with charging riffs and loads of atmosphere over the groove of the drums and bass fills, all of which are also performed here by Gallo. There are no stinkers en route, mind you, as tunes like "Lightning Strikes Back" and the titular "Glare of Light and Desolation" totally kill it with a balance of mean, minimal doom riffs with extravagant melodies, harmonies, and a nice acoustic segue here or there.

This is a vibe album, and once it hooks you, there's no letting go as your imagination spirals into a limbo of twisted landscapes, imposing dark castles, demons and wizards and the steel in hand one needs to end such curses and threats. I wasn't immersed as immediately (nor as much) as on City of the Living Nightmare or Cornucopia della morte, or the compilation I mentioned above, but when this one levels up on some tunes, they're the measure of nearly anything John has written before. Just know what you are getting into, a realm of yellowed paperbacks, teenage dreams, horrors eldritch and medieval, darkness and heroism, performed with a panoramic understanding of the genre and its influences, stripped down to its very basics and then re-dressed in starry new robes.

Verdict: Win [8.25/10]

https://blizaro.bandcamp.com/album/light-and-desolation

Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats - Blood Lust (2011)

Electric Wizard led me to Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats, and I do admit I consider the latter to be an evolution on the other's sound, making it a fraction more mainstream and adventurous in the process since they bring in a lot of other 70s influences to the Sabbath style, namely the Beatles. If you heavily fuzzed out the Beatles, gave them cool horror lyrics and an edge, this might be the result, Uncle Acid is like the nexus between Hammer Horror, distortion-drenched pop rock and the Rise Above roster. They have never let me down on a single album, and though they've recently moved on to a more theatrical, progressive leanings, I still listen across all their catalogue fairly evenly, with the possible exception of the debut, which was decent but crushed by Blood Lust in almost every category.

From the opening notes of "I'll Cut You Down", the sophomore is just brighter and more creatively conceived, with a nice pomp to the bass tone, and a rhythm guitar that constantly evokes nostalgia and atmosphere no matter how primitive some of its trudging riff structures. K.R. Starrs' striking vocals give you an Ozzy vibe without really channeling the Prince of Darkness, or perhaps they live up to the band's moniker by sounding like a psychedelic drug trip giving a voice. The feedback and distortion used on these and the guitars are excellent, it gives you that washed out, raw feeling not unlike Electric Wizard, especially their records around this same period, but the difference is in the songwriting, these never feel like garden variety evil doom songs, the menace is "Death's Door" or "Curse in the Trees" is how they groove along like a dude in a pair of bell-bottoms kicking perceived scorpions around his feet. The bass playing is simple, but I like how it curves up to those fuzzy guitars, and the drum kit here sounds pretty awesome too, though like their peers, it never needs to be too technical or flashy...

Just lots of fills and crashing, and in fact they're interesting in psyche pieces like the proggier "I'm Here to Kill You" that they'd probably sound great even without the other instruments. But all combined, this band is a total force to be reckoned with, and Blood Lust is compelling throughout its 43 minute length, from the catchy chorus of the opener to the belligerent flow of "Ritual Knife", the glorious voo-doom of "Withered Hand of Evil", or the almost 70s pure 'eavy metal' charging of the main riff in "Over & Over Again". The one exception for me is the acoustic finale "Down to the Fire", it's nice to turn off the amps perhaps and does eventually seem like it's going somewhere, primarily because Starrs' voice works well with the louder acoustic guitars, but it feels half-formed to me and just doesn't add much to what is already a bananas great freaking record. I could live without that, but otherwise Blood Lust is one of the best albums in an obscenely consistent catalogue. Nothing complex, just let it hypnotize you until you resemble the woman on the cover.

Verdict: Epic Win [9/10]

https://www.uncleacidband.com/

Electric Wizard - Witchcult Today (2007)

Witchcult Today is one of those records that feels so simple and primal that you could just plug in, write it and record it on the spot, and that's not something I can always get down with unless its in the hands of a band like Electric Wizard. The Brits had long mastered their most daunting and crushing extremes with records like Dopethrone and Let Us Prey, and by the later 00s were settling into this catchier flow of raw, effective doom and sludge which I found just as hypnotizing as their formative releases. There is nothing pretentious or boring here, the music can speak for itself, exceedingly basic in construction yet just catchy enough to sing along with; this isn't some exercise in vapid repetition like Jerusalem but something with just enough variation and experimentation to fully immerse the listener whilst slowly punching them in the face.

Noisy, huge walls of fuzz that cascade at a crawled pace through Sabbath-like doom licks, it's that 70s foundation taken out to a wasted extreme, with very little concern for blowing out your speakers or sounding produced or polished...yet, the levels do somehow find a balance. The bass largely just plods along with the rhythm guitar, but that latter is so enormous that it's not about to find any competition in the mix other than Jus Oborn's wavering, drugged vocals, and that's only because they are genetically constructed to pierce through them. The drums might as well be trash cans, as long as they can provide the attention span with a steady pace to follow the catchy drudging. I can't tell you that a single riff on this record is original in any capacity, and yet I still enjoy it that much, because there's such a hideous conviction to how they're delivered. To be fair, they do layer in some melodies and bluesy wailings (as in the bridge of the title track) to create more depth, but this is the sort of record I might hate in the hands of someone less 'cool', if that makes any sense?

There are definitely some more psychedelic escapes here, like the noisy, quivering feedback of the interlude "Raptus" or the the moody mire of "Black Magic Rituals & Perversion", which sounds like the most atmospheric trad doom ever, given some ritualistic clout by the crazy fills and percussion as it transforms into this fuzz-fucked behemoth, only to later transform again into tribal droning noise with what sound like some reversed vocal samples. This shit is some of the most frightening they'd sounded since the aforementioned Dopethrone, and thankfully ground things back on planet Earth with the closer "Saturnine" and it's super-bluesy Sabbath lick and vocals that saturate the audience in stoner bliss, even if their lungs are as clean as a cathedral. Witchcult is just a transitive experience, like some of its own predecessors, the sort of record you come away from different than you went in, staggeringly heavy in tone but strangely accessible other than the weird bits. Cool blokes, cool cover, damn cool tracks, Lovecraftian and occult themes, what fucking else would you sign up for?

Verdict: Epic Win [9/10]

https://www.electricfuckinwizard.com/

Black Hole - Land of Mystery (1985)

Black Hole are one of the earlier bands to latch onto that Sabbath sound and then morph it into something new with a heavy dosing of 70s prog rock influences, and Land of Mystery is almost a singular piece of inspiration from that mid-80s period where bands were more about the glam or intensifying heaviness that was being ushered in through the thrash metal, crossover and proto-death. I say 'almost', because we did have the Death SS and Paul Chain stuff, but this band definitely had their own style to it which has grown on me over the last several decades since I first heard it. No, this wasn't a record I picked up on its first run, but even in the earlier days of the internet metal buzz I remember it being referred to on numerous occasions and ultimately got a listen in.

This is definitely a spooky one due to all the sound effects and experimentation they use, in fact it does parallel the fellow Italian band Goblin if you sort of mashed them together with some old Sabbath. The vocals of 'Mysterious Future' Robert definitely emulate an Ozzy-like inflection, with some of the syllabic patterns similar, but the melodies and accent in the voice differentiate it, and he also plays around with it a lot more in the upper register, as if voicing different characters; and gets a pretty wistful, wasted sounding middle range when it tapers off. What really keeps it fresh though is how the instruments play along with it, both the guitars and bass are pretty intricate, the synthesizers, organs and pedalboard also play a bigger factor then you'd think. They'll just jam out on these little breaks as in the title track where all those instruments get to shine beyond the heaviness, and these are the parts in which you truly feel like you're in some old forgotten 'giallo' film being pursued by the mysterious killer and/or revelations.

They do have plenty of more evil, 'doom' riffs here as in "All My Evil" or "Blind Men and Occult Forces" which all might have appeared as B-sides from the Iommi camp a decade earlier, but even here there are embellishments like the creeping organs, elevated choir-like chants and that bass playing which felt like no other at the time outside of the prog rock. Another band I'd liken this one too would be the Japanese Flower Travellin' Band, they are a little more cinematic and instrumental and gave me more Iron Butterfly vibes, but I think fans of one of these would enjoy checking out the other. In fact, if you've got some patience, some love of any of the other groups I've mentioned here, or just old Italo horror soundtracks in general, then I would highly recommend giving your chance to experience this album. The songs are all aired out well, all 6+ minutes long, with interesting rhythmic breaks that give the impression of turbulent cinematic scenes, and it's genius enough that, had the band stayed the course, might have developed into something monolithic. They did reunite for some albums in 2000 and 2017, and they weren't bad, but a case of too little, too late. Land of Mystery was simply transcendent, but transcendent into a gloomy nether-realm of graveyards, demons, and masked necromancers.

Verdict: Epic Win [9/10]

https://www.facebook.com/blackholedarkdoom/

1782 - Clamor Luciferi (2023)

There's just so much 'right' about Italian bands performing horror themed metal, so much that it crosses most of the sub-genres, from the brutal bludgeoning of Fulci, to the cult blackening of Mortuary Drape, the shock rock/heavy metal of Death SS, escapist giallo doom of Paul Chain, or the funeral parlor sounds of Abysmal Grief. Sardinians 1783 definitely conform most to that final category, but they definitely eschew a lot of the atmospherics and cinema-reel creepiness to bludgeon you straight in the face with a sluggish brand of primitive stoner doom that borders heavily on the nihilistic sludge made popular by Eyehategod and Electric Wizard. The sort of 'bad high' or 'bad trip' which just beats on you repetitiously with dour guitar tone, fat evil bass, wanton and wastoid vocals, steady and simple drums, little else to distract you.

So the album title, the band name, the cover artwork, and the sinister/occult themes of the songs are all a win for me, but unfortunately, when you've got such a straightforward style, it relies so heavily on you getting those riff patterns that bore themselves into the listener's psyche. When you're working with such basic chord progressions, I think there's an impetus to play it safe and then just flood those ear canals with crushing ton, and Clamor Luciferi might partly wind up a victim of that. There are some moodier bits here like "Tumultus XIII", where the guitars rumble along at more of a dirge against the plodding bass, and you feel like the music is rising to some vaulted cathedral ceiling, but others like the minimally titled "Succubus" and "Demons" are almost TOO one-track, with nothing in there to really surprise or freak you out. The vocal mix is interesting, he has a sort or dirty chanted style which is almost entirely smothered by the guitar tone and bass, but at the very least it feels like someone is whispering you subliminal messages very close to the rhythm of the instruments.

Whenever the band stretches out of these samey patterns, it gets more interesting, even in "Devil's Blood" where it starts out sparser but emits the most threatening, basic doom riff on the album. The production is never the issue, that bass sounds fat enough to rupture your tires, and the guitars have a dirty fuzz to them which works in the format. Perhaps the vocals could be more pronounced, but really 1782 needs to take this stylistic concept and then broaden it out, with more atmospheres, organs, or maybe some unexpected, minor key harmonies, or more psychedelic guitars/blues, because it grows dull fast unless you are in this super specific mood for something so drawling. Clamor Luciferi album is by no means a terrible album, it's fine, but it just needs a lot more ambition; the organ intro "A Merciful Suffering" set me up for some further expeditions that never manifest.

Verdict: Indifference [6/10]

https://1782doom.bandcamp.com/album/clamor-luciferi

Cirith Ungol - Dark Parade (2023)

With the news that Cirith Ungol has retired from touring after 2024, one can only wonder what the future might hold for the studio side of their collective career. But if Dark Parade ends up being the last that they record (and perhaps it isn't), they could retired with full confidence that they survived a quarter century hiatus and returned to rival all of their original output. Though my heart belongs to One Foot in Hell, there is no question that this record is the best-balanced, most impressively produced and heaviest proof of concept they've ever released, one that hooks you directly with its first and most exciting tune (unlike the Half Past Human EP before it), and then never really lets the listener go from its dour and overpowering paean to epic swords and sorcery, through the might of American heavy/doom metal!

This album sounds so fantastic that it almost feels like clones of the band from another dimension found the secret to immortality and transported themselves into our reality to continue the Californians' sound forward. Most of the guys in the band were in, what, their 60s, and sound like they can crush the fuck out of you with the simple squeeze of a hand. Tim Baker's voice sounds as mighty as ever, and I often find myself wondering how he can do that stuff without it hurting. (Maybe it does?) Robert Garven lays down a simplistic and straightforward set of beats but puts so much power into them you can just feel yourself lurching along with ever kick and snare, there isn't a single strike misplaced, and the bass has a great presence curving along with the slate-carved rhythm guitars, though it doesn't pop out as much as on the EP. The mix is loud, crystal clear but man do the guitars slam into you as they're chugging along, and the bluesy, burning leads are just dirty and dusty enough to send me flying back to my early teens and One Foot in Hell obsession. It sometimes feels like they tapped into my love of "Blood & Iron" and made a whole album just out of that.

"Velocity (E.S.P.)" is so awesome that I remember repeating it several times before I'd even pay any attention to the rest of the disc, which by the way, did not let me down. Other favorites include the glorious, fell majesty of the Moorcock tribute "Sailor on the Seas of Fate", the hammering "Looking Glass" which has verses that feel the perfect soundtrack to a smithy forging instruments of war, and the epic finale "Down Below" which has thunder fucking drum fills and some of Baker's most angry and bitter howls that seem to condemn the very listener to the implied underworld to perish eternally in its most sulfurous and fiery pits. With age, Cirith Ungol seems to get ANGRIER, and it's a beautiful thing, not that they can't lay in some nice acoustic segues or wa wa leads to evoke the wonder of 70s and 80s fantastical sword & sorcerous landscapes, but this one gets the best at its heaviest and though the songs might not rign out in my memory as much as "Blood and Iron", "Chaos Descends", "Nadoskor" or "Doomed Planet",this record deserves all the praise I could hoist upon that one, and TECHNICALLY you might say this is their peak performance. I mean if I were picking an album to introduce someone new to their sound, this is that choice. Can they top it? Will they? Do they even need to?

Verdict: Epic Win [9/10]

https://www.facebook.com/cirithungolofficial

Cirith Ungol - Half Past Human EP (2021)

Half Past Human is not only impressive in that it proves the new era of Cirith Ungol wasn't going to be a one and done, but also that it does such a great job of revisiting older material and updating it to the production qualities of Forever Black. Dropping just a year after the reunion record, it's got one re-recorded track from their album-length 1978 demo and a couple others that Greg Lindstrom had reused in another of his bands called Falcon. Regardless, they all fit in pretty well with what the Californians had been doing in the later 80s or the new full-length, and a couple are decent enough to be staples on anyone's Cirith Ungol playlist. "Route 666" does give me a little of a "100 MPH" vibe, which doesn't quite put the short-player's best material to the fore, but like that song, it's still pretty catchy with some good lead glazing, a thumping bass tone and some aggressive vocals from Baker.

The rest of the material is a little darker and stronger though, like "Shelob's Lair" and it's bluesy, stomping tribute to everyone's favorite giant spider, or the title track which has an atmospheric doom vibe that sits alongside some of the epics from the record before it. You can kind of discern that these overall might not be quite awesome enough to have included with Forever Black or Dark Parade, some of them do feel like recycled and polished-off B-sides, but I remember this was plenty enough to tide me over while I was waiting for something more elaborate. They're not hitting at their hardest here, but you could easily imagine any of these tracks being part of Paradise Lost, it has that same sort of smoother production without losing the towering angst of Tim Baker's tone. The drums sound great, the leads shine wherever they show up, the bass is possibly the most corpulent on any of the recordings and even the little chants and things you hear layered in for atmosphere do their job. The Michael Whelan cover art slays, in this case literally, but when doesn't it?

Verdict: Win [7.75/10]

https://www.facebook.com/cirithungolofficial

Cirith Ungol - Forever Black (2020)

What truly makes Forever Black such an excellent 'comeback' is not only that it maintains consistency with the records that came 30 years or more before it, but it also doesn't rest so much on its laurels to feel safe or redundant. There are new riffs to be found, song structures that are arguably more adventurous than Paradise Lost; but at the same time, it's so damn loyal to the Cirith Ungol aesthetic that you feel as if all that intervening time never happened...the band admirably avoided all the trends that might have poisoned its sound. There's no grunge here, no groove beyond what they already incorporated from their 70s hard rock influences, and no technical acceleration towards the more European power metal sound or polished, sterile modernization. This is the tried and true heavy/doom style, only with a production more in line with what younger and newer bands were meting out in the 21st century.

And even then, I'd say that mostly just applies to the volume of the mix and perhaps a bit of thickness to the rhythm guitars. Tim Baker's grating, unforgettable, tyrannical timbre sounds like his pipes haven't aged since the 80s, and it's mixed here with just enough air and reverb to flow perfectly above the charging and thundering of the instruments. Songs like "Legions Arise" hearken back to a favorite like "Blood & Iron", but they've also got steady proto-metal vibes in "The Frost Monstreme" with its dour, bluesy little licks, or "The Fire Divine" as an epic, primal stomper. "Stormbringer" is perhaps the most epic tune among the bunch, a tribute to the black sword which adorns Elric's person and most of their album covers, and given a properly moving chorus with some barbarian choir backing vocals that give it that fantastical atmosphere it so deserves. Even as you get deeper into the track list, there really are no weaknesses, with some killer little hooks appearing in the verse of "Nightmare" or the title track that rivals "Stormbringer" in strength.

This might in fact be their most consistent offering to its day, with nothing semi-silly like a "100 M.P.H." to break up the proceedings, and it's the perfect way for the band to return to Metal Blade, the Michael Whelan artwork, and also to a fanbase which had grown in the interim since the divisive Paradise Lost. Not only has their style of epic/doom become more popular with younger audiences thirsty for retro sincerity, but also the literature upon which they base a lot of their lyrics. The number of bands covering Moorcok, Tolkien, Howard and their ilk has only expanded drastically, and Forever Black slides in like a titan to those nostalgia-fueled expectations while satisfying modern standards as well. I don't know that I'd put it as their best album, but it's clearly in the upper half, and I'd even go so far to say that it's superior in craftsmanship and performance to One Foot in Hell, only the songs don't seem to stick with me quite as much...but time will tell.

Verdict: Win [8.75/10]

https://www.facebook.com/cirithungolofficial

Cirith Ungol - Live at the Roxy (2025)

What if I told you Cirith Ungol didn't have but one awesome live record, but they actually have two? Live at the Roxy does feature a lot of crossover with I'm Alive, with regards to the second half of the set presented, but what makes this one stand out is that it kicks off with an astonishingly good performance of their ENTIRE excellent Dark Parade album from 2023. In fact, while I might be caught blaring the studio version more often from my motor vehicle at unhealthy volumes, I can honestly not tell you which version is better, because they perform the record with such clarity and conviction and prove beyond the shadow of any doubt that they are one of the most legit epic/fantasy heavy metal bands in the history of mankind.

That they get through all of that material and then announce 'they'll be back for some classics in five minutes', you have to wonder how these legends have anything left within them. How does the crowd, after being steamrolled by that flawless album performance? And yet, here they go with some recent renditions of "Frost and Fire", "Chaos Descends", "Master of the Pit", "Join the Legion", and the very track that got me into the band to begin with, "Blood and Iron". I'd also mark that I prefer these to the recordings on I'm Alive, for while that was a damn good live offering, the band sounds much more road worn and sinister here, there are just that many more cracks beneath the surface that make the clobber you all the harder. Tim's voice does sound slightly less studio perfect, but it's got a vicious wisdom and age to it that makes it all the more impressive, while the rhythm guitars and rhythm section perform everything a little harder, making it sound more natural than its live predecessor.

I do wish a little more love had been given to Half Past Human and Forever Black material, but at least we've got "The Frost Monstreme" to represent the latter, and it sounds awesome. For some of the earliest tunes, I think the versions here are so good that they supercede the original studio recordings as the place I'd most like to listen to them. Just an amazing release, and considering the band are on the verge of stopping live performances, they've really saved the best for last. As of my writing this, Live at the Roxy is only a couple weeks old, and it's well worth your time picking up, whether you're familiar with the band or just crave some badass traditional metal, it's one of the best live albums I've heard in recent years.

Verdict: Win [8.5/10]

https://www.facebook.com/cirithungolofficial

Cirith Ungol - I'm Alive (2019)

I'm Alive had the distinction of being our first proper Cirith Ungol recording after their 2015 reunion, but the catch was that it was a live recording from Greece's Up the Hammers Festival, featuring the modern lineup and 90 minutes of material from the first four albums, the last of which had been put out close to three decades before this. It's also spectacular, with almost studio quality sound that perfectly captures the band's doomed, epic metal vibes and even helps bulk up some of the earlier tunes with some well-needed muscle so they can tango at the gym with One Foot in Hell or Paradise Lost. There's probably a tiny fraction of sloppiness that one could attribute to any live performance, but it only adds to the personality and the glorious triumph of having this long underrated band deliver a solid beating to the audience.

The guitars are nice and chunky to carry the classics like "Blood and Iron" or "Atom the Smasher", and maybe if there were any complaint they almost sound a little too cleanly performed. However, once the leads erupt you get a great balance of atmosphere against the rhythm player and in this I think it does sound superior to even the studio takes. The bass sounds good and the drums have a simple shuffle to them but hit hard enough to support the straightforward riffing. Most importantly, Tim Baker sounds like an absolute menace, like there isn't even an iota of grime or age beyond which he already had on his delivery back on those 80s performances. I can only imagine if you were a longtime Greek fan just how ecstatic you would have been with this live set, the band playing almost all your favorites and sounding pretty much how you would have dreamed when you purchased your ticket. 

No, they don't play ALL the material from the earlier albums, some fun ones like "The Troll" are mysteriously absent, but all the surefire hits are played back to back for a very long set and, without knowing that the reunion would also be producing some great NEW records later on, this would have been a one and done experience, since it would be unlikely to get any better. They do a great job capturing the audio here with excellent quality, just a little hint of crow noise that's never intrusive, and it's so clean that you might even think part of it was overdubbed in the studio like some famous classic 'live albums'. Or Cirith Ungol were just damn serious about getting back and giving back to their fans, and even did so here with another Michael Wheln cover art featuring the legendary Elric. A benchmark live recording for epic heavy/doom metal fans or for anyone wanting to hear some veterans return from the dust, stand and deliver.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

https://www.facebook.com/cirithungolofficial

Cirith Ungol - Servants of Chaos (2001)

Servants of Chaos makes for an interesting fan package in that it offers an extensive exposure to what the band was up to in that entire decade before they dropped their debut record. Largely comprised of their 1978 and 79 demos, each album-length in of itself, with some live tunes tacked on, it's about as comprehensive a backlog as one might ask for and really rounds out the collection of any completist. Naturally the presumption is that this material is going to embrace the 70s hard rock aesthetics even more than their first few official studio efforts, and I think that holds true, but even then I wasn't prepared for just how wild and adventurous the band was going to be. This shit is raw, it's often all over the place, but you can generally hear how they formulated the heavier hitting sound they would progress with.

"Hype Performance", the opener slaps you with some very Hawkwind-sounding spacey hard prog rock, with weird sounds and keys glitching through the guitars, where some of the other tunes like "Last Laugh" have more of the vibe you'd expect from their era, bluesy hard rock with some talky vocals that almost remind me of punk and garage, or even later grunge stuff like Mudhoney. There are a number of the recognizable tracks like "Frost and Fire", but they sound even quirkier with the acid synthesizers, or "Better Off Dead" which sounds like you're jamming it through even more of a marijuana haze coming from the back of some airbrushed van. Even "1000 M.P.H." makes an appearance, sounding a little more suited to this mesh of material than on One Foot in Hell where it ended up. Tim's voice is already in that grating, warlike mode on many of these earlier tunes, and to be fair, the demo-level production has a good raw charm to it that makes the band sound absolutely savage, despite the nerdy prog cheese that they are often escaping towards.

Some highlights for me were the instrumental duo of "Ill Met in Lankhmar" and "Return to Lankhmar", based on the Fritz Leiber classic fantasy stories, they really manage to capture the vibe of those old anthologies with the prog rhythms, synthesizers and blazing leads, making me which they'd have these all re-recorded on some possible concept album in the Lankhmar setting. In fact a lot of the stuff from that '79 demo is instrumental, and while it does feel weird not to have Baker's voice present, they experiment with some weird sounds in "Witchdance" and "Feeding the Ants" too. To that extent, much of the material does feel unfinished or not properly organized, it's clearly not the full band spread we'd expect since there are also a lot of drums missing, but it's definitely imaginative. 

The live recordings are from the 80s and kick some ass, raw and ripping and Baker himself sounds phenomenal, potentially even more menacing than he does in-studio. The cover of "Secret Agent Man" was unexpected and doesn't feel as if it belongs, but they definitely create a dirtier and amusing version of that song which feels like it's filtered through acid trips in some abandoned garage. There are also some rehearsal recordings which sound alright, again the rawness seems to work with the vocal style and certainly makes the rhythm guitar sound more crushing. All told, there's a lot going on with this compilation, they include some extensive notes on their earlier years, and while I can't say I'd make a recommendation for new fans, or that it's got a high ratio of quality to the quantity, old heads who already love Cirith Ungol band might find it an entertaining, flawed retrospective.

Verdict: Indifference [6.5/10]

https://www.facebook.com/cirithungolofficial

Cirith Ungol - Paradise Lost (1991)

Paradise Lost came out a little too late to capitalize on the three albums before it, or at least that's how I felt back at the time, but it was also the first 'new' Cirith Ungol record for me, so I was elated to see the beautiful cover art and logo at the CD shop and made the purchase instantly. For 1991, it felt truly out of place against all the waning thrash metal, emergent death and black scenes, grunge and groove and The Black Album and all that jazz. It's also proven to be one of their more divisive offerings (even the drummer has spoken at length about the various issues with its production and release), but I have to say that Paradise Lost was pretty catchy out of the starting gates, for the most part it's another damn solid example of their style, and I kind of admire how defiantly traditional it felt in its day.

Cirith Ungol had the tendency to include a sillier sounding track or two on numerous of their efforts, the then-most recent example being "100 M.P.H." from the awesome One Foot in Hell. I would say that Paradise Lost has a few examples of this, one being the cover of The Crazy World of Arthur Brown's "Fire", which they've heavied up and assimilated to their own style quite well. That said, while the lyrics seem somewhat relevant to their own dark fantasy themes, it does stand out a little, whereas Prophecy's "Go It Alone" is just absolutely cheesy here, not a deal-breaker so much, since the musicians and Baker make it sound slick and atmospheric, but unnecessary for sure. "The Troll", an original which features one of the catchiest verse riff patterns in all of metal history, also comes across a little goofier than probably intended. I love that song, so it doesn't bother me, but pair this up with other tunes that feel a little flightier and more melodic than their prior fare, such as "Heaven Help Us", and you've got a disc that doesn't quite match its kick-ass, crushing predecessor.

Beyond those exceptions, though, this is great stuff, with cuts like "Join the Legion", "Before the Lash" and "Fallen Idols" cut from the same cloth as all their epic heavy/doom greats, and could have been outtakes from One Foot in Hell. The band mixes up the vocals a little more here, with searing clean passages on "Chaos Rising" that work pretty well, and the album overall does feel like an evolution upon the ideas of its predecessors. They blend in some new tempos, some good atmospheric lead guitars (as in the title track finale), and a palette of riffs that ironically make it feel fresh and forward-thinking, despite how dated the band's appeal might have felt next to the more trendy and budding styles of the time. I personally enjoy "The Troll", I know others who don't, but I definitely think the covers could have been scrapped for one more serious original and the album might have gotten a warmer reception. But even then, I still break this one out at least as much as I do Frost and Fire, there are a number of essential tunes and it fits the legacy quite well.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

https://www.facebook.com/cirithungolofficial

Cirith Ungol - One Foot in Hell (1986)

One Foot in Hell was the first Cirith Ungol record I picked up on cassette, smitten after repeated exposures to the opening track "Blood and Iron" on Best of Metal Blade Volume 2, which I played so much that I infuriated all my family and another family that were camping together in New Hampshire over the summers. While that might be my go-to anthem among the band's catalogue, I was satisfied to find that the rest of the album is nearly on par, and for me the most evocative in terms of the dark fantasy/sword & sorcery that influenced the Californians both lyrically and sonically. They basically took everything great from the earlier album and covered it with a suit of iron, occasionally flecked with some rusty spikes to poison the blood of the impaled.

While other bands were ratcheting up the technically and extremity, Cirith Ungol were sticking to their formula and just making it more consistent and engaging. I mean, this album dropped in a year that also produced Master of Puppets and Reign in Blood, two discs that have done lengthy (and often competing) rotations as my metal GOATS, which make for quite a contrast against this simpler sound. This band was already becoming an anachronism by the mid 80s, but that's exactly what makes One Foot in Hell so damn cool, the stark and straightforward blend of riffs and atmosphere. I do actually think this one is less varied than its two predecessors, but the production feels a little more '80s' in line with a lot of the band's Metal Blade peers, there's more of a reverb and resonance coming out of the speakers that it exchanges for the jam room feels of its older siblings, and this works in tandem for the soaring, brooding chorus parts as in "Nadsokor". The whole album here feels like it was written and performed by orcs as they beat their siege machines together and prepare to roll across the realms, stamping out the civilizations of man, elf and dwarf...

...and for a 12 year old, that was MIGHTY FUCKING AWESOME. And still is! Whether because such an idea is timeless, or because I never stopped being 12, that's a conversation we can have another time, but judging by the band's continued popularity and the fact that the following three records they would produce over the 30+ years after this one, seem more like attempts to revisit this magic than that of the first two records. So I am not alone. Now, having heaped such praise upon this one, I can't quite say it's perfect, there's a little bit of goofiness here with the obvious party track "100 M.P.H.", which is fun in its outright, but sounds like they're trying to create their own "Ballroom Blitz", still keeping it well within the realm of the heavy metal lyrics, but had this one been replaced by another more serious piece like all its neighbors, the album would be even better than it is. Just saying. At least the lead at the end is really slick.

Otherwise, this is everything you want. Tim Baker's harrowing vocals launch over the mix like a stone heaved over some poor castle's wall by a trebuchet, especially in the doomiest tunes like "Chaos Descends" or "Doomed Planet", where the voice is such a weapon against the slower churn of the guitars. The rhythm guitar tone has a lot more 80s steel to it than the 70s-cloaked earlier albums, and I also think the lead guitar blends in better where it often seemed to bleed a little on the debut. There is a bit of passivity to the drums, if only because they are just crushed by the awesome weight of the riffs and vocals, but in a way that works in its favor, and I'd say the same for the bass...it doesn't have that pop to it like it did on the first two, but it definitely bulks up enough to enforce the rhythms, and I think that approach just worked better for this material.

One Foot in Hell is a bonafide American metal classic that deserves to be placed on the same pedestal as classics from Manowar or Twisted Sister, and to this day remains my favorite of the whole Cirith Ungol canon. It has one track that doesn't live up to the rest for me, sure, and it got absolutely buried the year it came out by so many other amazing releases, but it's totally timeless, sounding just as potent now as it did when I was hitting puberty. I think the band really hit the level they wanted musically, and where they would remain barring slight tweaks to production and aggression. A nice "Waaagh!" we could stick in the faces of our poseur friends and siblings who listened to Poison and Bon Jovi.

Verdict: Epic Win [9/10]

https://www.facebook.com/cirithungolofficial

Cirith Ungol - King of the Dead (1984)

King of the Dead might not have hit peak Cirith Ungol for me, but this record was certainly meaner and more substantial than its predecessor, and even the younger Me appreciated it a little more right out of the box than the debut. Stylistically, it's not a lot different, there's still a lot of bluesy hard rock coursing through its 60s-70s fantasy veins, but Tim Baker's vocal performance here is a lot more evil and over the top and that alone gives the tunes a darker atmosphere. They still maintain that pop to the bass guitars which made them stand out against a lot of other heavy metal bands of the day, and the focus on memorable, simple rhythm guitars with plenty of groove to them, and melodic leads definitely stood alongside bands like Trouble and Pentagram to help the doom metal style evolve from Sabbath into a genre.

For many fans, this is the de facto Cirith Ungol experience, and while I'm an outlier to that idea, I can certainly understand why. It kicks your teeth in with steady blazers "Atom Smasher" and "Black Machine", but then after dispatching the minion hordes on the surface, creeps through the caverns in "Master of the Pit" with its bass line and leads, or the lumbering title track, which is both understated and epic in equal measures, Baker spitting out some of his most dangerous elongated screams to the slightly choppy, proggy grooves in the bridge. This also has a much mightier second half than the debut, with awesome pieces like "Death of the Sun", or the doomy power 'ballad' "Finger of Scorn" which once again features some of Baker's more eerie wailing dowsing it with atmosphere. The instrumental "Toccata in Dm" was something slightly different, a classical adaptation spun into a nice contrast of effected leads and spooky bass lines. They also pace this whole 46 minute journey quite well, and end on a strong note with their namesake track that exemplifies all their patient, pounding dynamics.

King of the Dead is more or less a template for One Foot in Hell, and that I appreciate, but it's also the perfect accompaniment for a night paging through your old epic fantasy paperbacks by Moorcock, Tolkien, Howard or Cook, or perhaps your Warlord comics. It's sword & sorcery writ into musical form, something not a lot of bands were doing at the time as the hair metal was starting to rage, thrash was in its infancy and a lot of Cirith Ungol's own Metal Blade peers were starting to eke out their own strains of what we'd now dub USPM. An umbrella they themselves might belong to, but has a pretty diverse palette...Omen and Manowar, Lizzy Borden and this band all sound quite different, with just enough overlap to interest a mutual audience. In the end, though, this sophomore just feels more committed to the sound established on the debut, slightly more consistent in production and songwriting and there's a pretty understandable reason why fans might hand you this first if you express interest in the band.

Verdict: Win [8.5/10]

https://www.facebook.com/cirithungolofficial

Cirith Ungol - Frost and Fire (1981)

Though I was introduced to metal music at a very early age, it wasn't until The Best of Metal Blade Volume 2 cassette that I really ran across Cirith Ungol's music. I was obsessed with that entire compilation during Middle School and especially at summer camp where their Orcish anthem "Blood and Iron" really sparked off a lot of fiery inspiration in me for various D&D games. As I backtracked to the Californians' first two records, I was obviously hooked by the unforgettable Michael Whelan artwork, but truth be told I wasn't as immediately taken by the music of the debut, which existed (understandably) on a more 70s hard rock threshold and lacked a little of the ironclad threat that a record like One Foot in Hell would later muster.

Gradually, I grew to appreciate these formative albums, and looking back now it seems silly to have spent years undervaluing Frost and Fire, because the DNA is much the same, and for the time it dropped it probably delivered the same punch as I associated with the later 80s stuff. I don't think this is their most consistent offering, and it probably remains the least visited in their catalogue for me personally, but it was quite a novel epic heavy metal piece, a sound felt like a midway between AC/DC, Judas Priest and early Manowar, rooted in blues and groove and injected with a bit of prog rock adventurism through the use of the crispy acid organ synthesizers on "What Does It Take". There are a few party tracks like "Edge of a Knife" which seem like they dip a little into a Rolling Stones or Stooges vibe, but even there you get some more epic guitars in the bridge, and clearly if they hadn't already arrived at their stylistic destination, they were well underrway in most of the instrumental categories.

The most important two are how the stark, blue collar weight of the guitar riffs collides with the more adventurous phrasing and plotting, almost like a West Coast counterpart to the Budgie stuff which was so great throughout the 70s; and the grating intonations of the legendary Tim Baker, who seems like an Udo, Bon Scott or Brian Johnson if they were forged thousands of years ago in Middle Earth along with a particular set of rings. The guy just sounds downright and nasty as early as this debut, whether it's the full on metal charge of the titular opener or the dirty hard rock bar blues in "Better Off Death". There's an acid to this higher pitch which seems to drip directly into your brain and there forever remain, as melodic as it is vicious, and when you think about it in retrospect, it brought something different to what would later be known as 'doom metal' from an Ozzy or Bobby Liebling.

Elsewhere, the drums are crisp and clean, and another big feature is the bass which has a nice pop to it where it pokes out from the other instruments. The whole band is fairly clear, and though the album might lack the 'heaviness' of later outings, I think the production here is quite perfect for the time, and has an organic, boxy nature to it which sounds like you'd experience in the jam room, though they can get a lot of resonance and atmosphere where needed like the intro to the closing instrumental "Maybe That's Why" with its acoustic guitars and droning electric harmonies. Some of the mixes aren't as balanced as others, and the leads can sound a little noisy or crude. Also, it's hard not to feel that the record is front-loaded with its catchiest tunes in "Frost and Fire", "I'm Alive" and "A Little Fire", but with age I definitely find myself exploring its nether regions rather than just skipping past them. A worthwhile introduction to a formidable band, and despite how 'dated' I might have initially found this one when rubbed against the band's first 'Reckless' records offering, it ironically ages well, and deserves new life amidst all the recent exploration of proto-metal and retro-doom styles which have spawned so many tasty throwback acts.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

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Old Ghoul - Old Ghoul EP (2023)

Doom is perhaps the most natural fit of all metal styles for the horror aesthetics, partially because it hails from 50+ years ago to align with when and where so many of those post-Monster classics of that burgeoning cinematic field arrived, but also because, by design, it's got the most space to work through its atmospheres and haunted tones if we've approaching through purely aural aesthetics. Italy in particular has had a lot of bands embrace this post-Sabbath mixture, but to an extent, the Americans have also carried that torch, with groups like St. Vitus and Pentagram and The Obsessed making a lot of waves, the first of those probably touching upon such themes the most, while the others only dabble superficially in between the drug anthems and other more personal subject matter.

Old Ghoul is a project from the prolific Chad Davis, who is himself quite versed in doom itself through the excellent Hour of 13 and The Sabbathian, but has also played around in other genres including death and sludge and black metal. For this debut EP release, he sticks right to the source of his inspiration, largely reminiscent of the three US bands I mentioned above, and straight back to the moderately paced, Sabbath sluggers which would stick an accessible groove and thus inspire 10,000,000 stoner acts that followed. To that extent, this material is decent, especially the first track "The Crypt of Night", which of the three flirts around with a slightly darker vibe, vocal effects that help differentiate his delivery from the Ozz-man, although a lot of the pacing in the lines is quite similar. The rhythm guitar tone is another feature for me, just potent and clean and cutting into you just enough to complement his vocals, and then the drums have a nice, raw, live vibe to them which sits well with such simplistic material. Bass is a little weak, it doesn't really stand out for itself and with so much room in which it can maneuver, it just doesn't perform more than the bare minimum.

Where Old Ghoul runs into an issue is that at three tracks, I would have liked Davis to flex a little more dynamic muscle. There are some elements of "The Devils at Brocken" which get a little angrier, but in terms of tempo and riff construction, all three of the tunes are just too similar. Had "The Crypt of Night" balanced off against a faster, groovier number and then maybe an eerier, atmospheric piece, I feel you'd get a better experience and idea of the project's capabilities, unless they simply don't exist, which I'd find hard to believe. The production itself is just right, the tunes are decent, but I found myself a little less interested with each as the EP progressed, and they also transform into something a little more blander that doesn't really manifest the vibes that the cool, cloaked cover creep promises, becoming more of a stoner-by-numbers sort of doom that offers no more surprise than a competent but forgettable lead guitar. Nothing wrong with that vibe, but I want the blood, the bats, the moon, the skeletal talons, the gravestones, and this offering largely just floats around the cemetery like the haze from a bong, intermingling with the fog and gaslight but never drifting too low to associate with the more frightening denizens of its environment.

Verdict: Indifference [6.75/10]

https://regainrecords.bandcamp.com/album/old-ghoul

Lucifer - V (2024)

The first few singles I had heard of Lucifer V before its release were alright, but didn't leave me quite so excited as I was for its predecessors. Turns out that was the usual smoke & mirrors of maybe a label or band members choosing material that wasn't quite the best, because nearly every other track on this album is absolutely the nut. It might lack some degree of surprise and progression that I'd felt for prior entries, and a lot of the writing here seems like it's hanging out on the plateau with Lucifer IV, but still snooping about for points of ascent, higher grounds to scale of pools of diabolic lava to dip its toes into, and in the end I've even come around to some of those advance tracks as cogs in a very consistent, grooving occult hard rock machine.

The moody "Slow Dance in a Crypt" and "At the Mortuary" were the two I had encountered, and the former has its place as something bluesier, but a little too predictable in its progressions. Still, if you're at the prom, with someone missing most of their flesh, I think this is the exact sort of song you'd hear playing in the end credits of that particular Carrie sequel, and it does have a nice twist in the end with the pianos and elevating vocal line. But when you've got so many other scorchers here like the Priest-y "Fallen Angel", or "Riding Reaper" which I could hear ending up on an old 70s Scorpions album, everything really balances out. Lucifer revels in taking the familiar and then giving it a little spin here, a chord change there that makes it freshly memorable and unique to their own legacy. A few of my favorites here are tucked away near the end like the rocking "Strange Sister", or another bluesy piece, the creeping "Nothing Left to Lose but My Life", but by this point I've listened through the whole album and don't find any compulsion to skip past anything.

Production is steller, the band pulls off one of those cleaner 70s-style atmospheres and yet it can go toe to toe with modern rock, and helps translate the darker vibes to the guitars. It's just a perfect tone for everything...organs, acoustics, drums, and especially Johanna's voice, which is still one of the best out there, she might not have the craziest range, but there's a wicked smoothness to her pitch that hangs tight even when she becomes a little more desperate and shrill, and again it adds to the sense that this is an unearthed relic. But that's not to take away from the other players here, like Nicke who's fills and thundering totally moor "Maculate Heart" so that it kicks even further ass, and the sweet guitars of Martin and Linus which knock out the harder punching chords and burn bluesy through the airbrushed muscle car nightscape this album once again created for the Swedes. Another excellent Lucifer album, I'd probably place it on par with III, I had a slightly stronger connection to IV; though at this rate I hope they can keep this up to X.

Verdict: Epic Win [9/10]

https://www.facebook.com/luciferofficial

Acid Witch - Rot Among Us (2022)

Acid Witch has evolved into what must easily be one of my go-to Halloween bands and sounds. Sure, the aesthetics and influence were always present from their debut, Witchtanic Hallucinations, with its crushing, raw psychedelic doom, but as they've gone on patiently creating new content across the last 15 years, they've developed into a much more varied, progressive style, but without abandoning the down to earth, everyman production values and campy horror inspirations. Slasher Dave has been quite busy with his solo synthesizer/score work, pumping out some really great albums like Halloween Howls, Frights and The Jack-O-Lantern Murders, and I suspect a lot of that actually turns around and informs the direction that Acid Witch takes, but it's also why this material feels so fresh and original.

Evil Sound Screamers was quite an involved, trance-inducing slab of spooks and grooves, but Rot Among Us takes us even a little further than that. You don't really know what to expect with their newer material, because they no longer just settle for the crushing stoner haze of their first two full-lengths. Each of their cuts is like a weird narrative of their own unique horror cosmic, from the Carpenter-like synths that support the guitars and impish chants in "Gather Each Witch" to the chumpy chug and take of the title track, with its goofy and endearing vocals that adorn the more melancholic, melodic riffs. You still have some of those stock, swaggering stoner blues grooves in places like "The Sleeper", but they never bore you to death with anything that even hinges on predictable, they'll churn into a more thrashing riff, or slip in some minor instrumentation like cute little synth tone when you don't quite expect it.

All the while they can still kick out the deeper, bolder rasps, screams or growls, or the bigger riff, but they save these for specific moments where they'll have an impact. They just like to play around with your expectations first, like the antagonist of some cheesy B-horror film, and it makes for a really fun time, and an album that can appeal both to the horror/exploitation hesher and stoner rock fan alike, without taking itself too seriously. Combine this with that earthen, natural feel to the instruments, like they're giving a clean, personal performance of this in your basement while you smoke a bag and stare at all your posters under a black light, and there's really just nothing else quite like Acid Witch. They are their own entity, on their own terms, and the albums just keep getting incrementally better with each progression. This is also my favorite of Shagrat's album covers for them yet, how cool is it to have an artist like that in-house?

Verdict: Win [8.25/10]

https://www.facebook.com/acidwitchofficial/

Lake of Tears - Ominous (2021)

Had Lake of Tears remained consistent through its near 30 year existence, I would count Daniel Brennare's baby as one of my favorite doom bands of all time. Yet for every record I worship...Headstones, A Crimson Cosmos and the wonderful surprise that was Moons and Mushrooms, there seem to be a few disappointing duds that feel almost like contractual fulfillments that don't exactly forward their music or aesthetics in any tangible way. Forever Autumn from 1999 was as dull as a stump (though I seem to be in the minority there), and the band's last effort Illwill left something to be desired. After a decade, the longest break in Lake of Tears' history, Daniel returns with Ominous, an album that, while not quite in the company of those favorites, is compelling and sees the Swedish doom outfit along a fresh path...

What if you took the band's simple, drudging sound and complemented it with electronics that feel at once both novel and retro? Throw a little distortion on the vocals, a little sci-fi influence mixed with their usual introspective lyrics, and I am back on board in a big way. Ominous is by far the band's biggest risk, their most 'experimental', but at the same time it still feels distinctly like Lake of Tears. The moody, dreary ambience of "In Wait and In Worries" is propelled by a guitar pattern that wouldn't have been out of place on their older records, and "Lost in a Moment" takes its more tribal, dissonance riffing and swirling bits of ambiance into a big rocking rhythm that feels like right at home. Even the soothing "Ominous Too", which reeks of David Bowie jamming with Pink Floyd, is transformed into something essentially Brennare, and even gives you a payoff riff deep in its depths. The album's dark tones certainly live up to the great cover artwork, and the electronic beats or synth tones never feel intrusive, but a natural mutation of the style the band has been cultivating for so long...

It's not perfect, as there are a few empty moments or tracks without a real climax, but there's probably something here for fans of all the bands' prior phases...and further...like the pseudo-death metal riffing behind the windy, frightening atmosphere of instrumental "The End of This World". Psychedelic, gloomy escape, touching upon the fantasy inspirations of their yesteryears, but from a different angle invoking a bleak futurism. Does Brennare go far enough with this here? Maybe not, maybe there are moments where he pulls back to the secure, pastoral 70s-informed doom of the first 3-4 albums, familiar patterns in the chords or choruses, but clearly there was no intention to thoroughly repeat himself, and Ominous benefits from all the new ground it churns through, while giving you a look back at the greener fields behind.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

http://www.lakeoftears.net/

Heavenwood - The Tarot of the Bohemians (2016)

Heavenwood decided to go all out with its fifth album, and not only come up with an interesting tarot concept for the titling and lyrics, but also deliver what must be their heaviest and most dynamic album yet. Not to say that they're not still incorporating all of the Gothic and doom metal elements you've come to expect, it's not a far cry from 2011's Abyss Masterpiece, but this one actually beats up on the listener with a selection of really heavy guitars, riffs that draw upon a lot of groove metal or thrash in addition to the stable of influences they already had. You'll also notice that the drumming here is just massive compared to their older recordings, with lots more double bass hammering and just a lot more going on which accents the busier guitars.

Fear not, they'll still blaze off into some gorgeous, sorrow-stricken melody, and the vocals still have that mix of weighty growl and bark which juggle between the British death/doom influences and the more gritty Goth guy sound. But where you've got that, they'll use the ramped up intensity to thunder it right into your skull this time. There's also a little bit of a progressive metal swagger in spots, just in how they form some of the choppier guitar patterns, The Tarot of the Bohemians feels like its ready to take on everything, that the Portuguese band is keeping up with everything going on around it and up to the challenge of modernizing, not unlike how Greece's Nightfall evolved itself through the years. This is essentially like mid-ought's Paradise Lost if it were given steroids so you could listen to it at the gym, its tender and mournful moments boxed in on all sides with heaving, hawing beefcake guitars. You were never going to see a fight in a Heavenwood pit before this album...

Or maybe not even a 'pit' at all. But through that, they keep some of the exotic mystique that bled through their sound on Abyss Masterpiece or Redemption, and the album still seems distinctly rooted in their sound, but an ironclad version of that which is much more taxing to perform. Hell, in "The Emperor" they start slowly blasting to a tremolo picked death metal riff! And you'd think that they shouldn't even try to touch such an idea, but it fits in quite flush with the Gothic architecture of their overtures. I do think some audiences might find this a little much if they were expecting Swallow 2: The Stomaching, it does have a bit of the brickwall vibe of a lot of anything goes modern metal albums, but in the end it's a welcome and formidable progression by a band willing to explore further shores than those that lapped at the lake on the 1996 debut.

Verdict: Win [7.78/10]

https://www.facebook.com/HeavenwoodOfficial