If there’s a silver lining thus far into 2022 it’s that at least we don’t have to wait too long for some good old-fashioned spine-busting metal. We’re barely out of January and we already have fresh releases from the likes of Enterprise Earth, Shadow of Intent and Fit for an Autopsy. Yes, I am aware that Omicron is all the rage back home and some folks are still under lockdown but believe me new riffs and blast beats go a long way in lifting one’s spirits.
One of the stranger discoveries of recent years is that Doom Metal works really well in Welsh. And, of course, if it’s recorded in Wrexham (because, fuck Swansea!) Such is the ongoing revelation that is Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard, now on its third album, Yn Ol I Annwyn (New Heavy Sounds).Continue reading
Taint went under-appreciated in their day so it’s good to see the band’s spiritual successor HARK carrying on the torch. The Welsh quartet, featuring former Taint frontman Jimbob Isaac and former members of Whyteleaf, have just released their sophomore album Machinations (Season of Mist), and it’s a belter.Continue reading
If there is one thing that can be said about Welsh doomsters Spider Kitten it’s that they are not short on imagination. Their previous album Cougar Club (Rugland) saw the tale of an imaginary gothic sleaze bar of their creation, and in the near future another album will center around a psychopathic Welsh drifter in America called Yakbone Wolftooth. Even this mini album Behold Mountain. Hail Sea. Venerate Sky. Bow Before Tree (Undergroove) has a fascinating story that reaches beyond its tricky moniker, and unfurls a well-researched account of Norse mythology. Considering this is an album that was only meant as a stop gap, other bands really need to pull their fingers out it seems.
Despite its consisting of 3 tracks (the last of which being a near 15 minute long player) this mini album still has an approximate 30 minute duration of slow, grinding sludge and doom. Imaginative as their lyrical influences are, sonically this is fairly straight forward in formula for the most part. ‘Bearded Axe’ finishes off with some traditional, folk like instrumentation which continues into the beginning of the ‘Gore Swan’ but otherwise there is precious little deviation from the brute force of the riff.
Musically it may not be as breathtaking in scope as its story would maybe warrant but the album does generate a worthy atmosphere; as an example the addition of the ravens calling adds to the grim and gritty tone that the Norse mythology suggests; and for what wasn’t originally even meant to be a full-on project is quite a remarkable achievement.
7.0/10
CHRIS TIPPELL