Howling Giant – Crucible & Ruin
Magnetic Eye Records – 2025
Rock, Prog, Metal
Rated: *****
Somewhere… At the very edge of creation, a novice god shapes a new world. Fragile, glowing, pulsing, imperfect. Below, a civilization rises from the dust that slowly settles, searching for meaning under the celestial skies. And far beyond the reach of this puny civilization, chaos stirs, twisting their fate in unseen ways. Further outwards, in the deepness of the void, a cosmic archivist watches with pen in hand, chronicling it all… Every triumph… Every fall…
And even though Stoner HiVe has been jotting down words about Howling Giant ever since that first EP back in 2015, I am not that archivist. No, he or she is part of the universe created by the Howling Giant four on their brand new concept album, Crucible & Ruin. And it turns that cosmic myth into molten rock, burning riffs and flowing melody. The Nashville quartet, cause they are four now, since guitarist and synth player Adrian Lee Zambrano joined, have turned another corner in widening their scope. This time they’ve created an entire universe and lore to accompany it…
It's been ten years since that first EP and they’ve kept delivering those beautiful tunes ever since. With The Space Between Worlds from 2019 and Glass Future from 2023 being absolutely stunning. That last one even coming as close to perfection as you can possibly want as a rock outfit. And now, only two years later, they’re back with Crucible & Ruin! Out this Friday, the 31st of October through Magnetic Eye Records.
It all begins with Canyons, a storm of riffs and whirling melody. Born as the different members where demoing new material, the song instantly became a favorite among them. And it’s easy to see why. The guitars roar like tectonic plates shifting under divine hands, triple vocal harmonies soar and take the composition skywards. Canyons feels like the sound of creation itself, vibrant but so volatile, dangerous and so alive.
The opener has a dizzying effect and plunges the listener into the turbulent heart of its universe. Following Hunter’s Mark and Archon up the ante with more aggression, channeling the chaos of gods at war, thunderous riffs, sharpened by all the clashes. A riff foundation from which the civilization might once again be built, dynamic and o’ so heavy, rumbling like ancient engines of creation. And then as we pass into the eye of the storm, moments of glistening beauty surface. Lesser Gods drifts like starlight through the debris, a melancholic instrumental, that shows the band’s softer side, offering a different story telling arc. The perfectly named Archivist, feels like a cosmic journal entry, a slow building of melody and texture that eventually erupts into a wild revelation.
The cosmic puppet master is felt even more during the two finales that are Beholder I: Downfall and Beholder II: Labyrinth. It pulls the threads together in an epic display of scale and scope. The classic riffs giving way to spiraling guitar lines, winding and gliding, the narrative reaching its apocalyptic crescendo as gods and mortals meet their fates. Without any doubt, the addition of Adrian Lee Zambrano has been a master move, it reshapes their sonic DNA and offer even more layers and textures. Offering more interplay between the guitars, lush synth backdrops and the precise delivery of every riff. The sound of a band expanding ever outwards and inwards. Knowing their forte and exploring boundaries by dipping their toes over the edge…
And where their former Glass Future album might have felt like a voyage through nebulae, Crucible & Ruin is there at the moment of creation, inside a star being born. Production that glows with clarity and composition that burn with severe purpose. Their newly created lore is a myth made through heaviness, that balances grandeur and harmony with aggression. And the result is heavy enough to shake the heavens and intelligent to stir every soul. Crucible & Ruin is a cosmic parable told with a shake and a rumble. And somewhere, in the deepness of the void, that celestial archivist must be smiling… As he or she listens to this symphony for the gods…
(Written by JK)
Listen to the first three Crucible & Ruin singles right now...
And come back for more Howling Giant this Friday, October 31st!
