Thorndale - Spiritual Chains

-

Thorndale is a heavy/stoner doom band of international origins.   Their latest release, "Spiritual Chains,” is their second EP.    I wasn’t familiar with the band before but they sure as hell are on my radar now.  

“Spiritual Chains,” is a short but sweet little piece of music, with 6 songs clocking in at just over 23 minutes.  As I mentioned in the intro, the album’s sound is very much rooted in doom but they aren’t afraid to speed up at times, either.  Regardless of what tempo they choose, this album has more riffs than uh…something that would have a lot of riffs.  Seriously, guitarists Peter and Maarten, along with bassist Zigor, provide some of the best and most catchy riffs I’ve heard ALL YEAR.  


Vocalist Gustavo has an incredible voice—smooth, expressive, yet heavy and powerful.  This dude sings his ass off and supplies the band with an incredible amount of energy.   Backing all of this up is guest musician on drums, Rob Stone.  He’s a beast and never lets you forget it. 


Since it’s such a short album, I will say a little something about each song.  I do want to say the band uses their time well.  Each song fits into the overall scheme but have their own identities—there isn’t a bad second to be found here.


“Veins of the Phoenix,” begins with wailing guitar before settling into an avalanche of riffs.  The lyrical stanzas and the chorus are both earworms, not only because of the vocals but the drums as well.  Within a minute, the song reveals how ‘warm’ the album sounds—I bet this would sound killer on vinyl.  Near the end, the tempo picks up and the riffs get more groovy while the vocals get a rough edge about them.    The band definitely isn’t afraid to get down and dirty. 


“Battles Fought In Vain,” opens with hammer heavy riffs and a stark melody that runs through the gauntlet of bass and drums.  I love, love, love that main groove too.  Huge! The vocals and guitars compliment each other so goddamn well!  The dueling guitar solos are fantastic too!  


“Gods of Pain,” is filled with sharp, tight drumming and dizzying solos over top of crushing grooves.  The riffs behind the lyrical stanzas are really heavy and just get heavier as the seconds tick by.  The middle part is especially rocking–the bass and drums just KILL this part so well.  


The heaviest song (that is saying a lot too) just might be “Twenty Thousand Souls.”   This might be in reference to the number of heads that get whiplash if enough people heard this song.  The vocals are melodic here with an urgent swagger to them.  They get rough later—very deadly but if they don’t kill you, the insane lead guitar passage that follows definitely will.  After another round of the chorus, the song rocks balls out until the end.  This song is epic and my favorite on the album.


The title track has a huge southern USA vibe to it without all the meth and inbreeding to go along with it.  Hey, I live in the south so I’m allowed to make fun of it.  The solos are psychedelic and the riffs are a freight train that doesn’t seem to end.  I like the melodic chorus a lot too, a nice touch.


“Exiles and Masters,” rivals “Twenty Thousand Souls,” for biggest musical battering ram.  I feel this one has a really big stoner vibe—just a really cool atmosphere that seems laid back, but the rhythm begs to differ.  The solos are some of the best on the album too. 


I hope Thorndale puts out a full-length soon because “Spiritual Chains,” has whetted my appetite so much I just might starve to death if they wait too long.  One of the better surprises of the year!  Doom fans GET ON THIS.  


Rating: Excellent












Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hexecutioner - Tornit

-
Image
Hexecutioner is a doom/stoner/sludge metal band from Seattle that formed in 2020. Their latest release, “ Tornit ,” is their second full-length album; they have also released a demo. The band’s style is Doom with a capital DOOM. It embraces the elements of the genre without shame—and bludgeons my ear drums with them. The songs are mid-paced and built upon RIFFS, RIFFS, RIFFS, and more RIFFS. Oh and some RIFFS too.   The band’s approach is both classic and hypnotic—they take one riff, run with it, and hammer it over and over until I realized I had head banged so much I turned into a worm. But that’s just fine with me, because the next riff arrived and pulled me back together—and the process repeats. I don’t get high but if I did, I could see myself listening to this and then waking up three days later naked in the woods.   The tone and fuzz of these masterful notes, the bass included, laces their brand of doom with a filthy layer of sludge. It’s heavy as a real...
Read review

November Fire - Through A Mournful Song

-
November Fire is a doom/stoner metal band from New England that formed in 1991.  Over the years members would come and go as the band recorded demos and played gigs throughout the Boston area; the band stayed active until 2004 and, after some sporadic reunions, returned to the scene in 2022.   Flash forward to 2024 and the band drops their full-length debut “ Through A Mournful Song .” My time with this album was well spent.  I’ve no doubt this is one of the more unique metal albums I’ve heard this year.  I would say doom is their foundation but they are hard to categorize.  A lot is going on in these songs and across its forty-minute runtime, the band doesn’t shy away from exploring variety within its dynamics.    There are a lot of psychedelic tendencies across its breadth and it often times has an unhinged quality, almost supernatural in a way.  The vocals from bassist Terry go a long way adding to the band’s special atmosphere.  His...
Read review

Devil Moon Risen - Fissure of Men

-
Devil Moon Risen is an Arizona based band with a very unique sound.  They formed in 2020, in the middle of the pandemic and dropped an EP.   Their brand of high energy and catchy music combines punk, desert rock, and stoner doom into a truly dynamic sound that blazes from start to finish!  Oh and they also include sludge and old school heavy metal into the mix!   “ Fissure of Men ,” is their debut full-length album…and it is a massive achievement! The band is a three piece but they sound even bigger. Chihuahua Chad (I hope that is his real name) plays bass guitar, upright bass, and vocals.  His bass is a huge component to the album, if not the main one.  He is absolutely pulsating, steering the direction of the band even while he compliments the other two member’s own styles.  His vocals are extremely varied, everything from cleans and screams.   Guitarist Rocky Destructo (awesome) has just a big of a job though as the album’s onl...
Read review