Guitarist Joe Potash wanted to be in a band where he was the only guitarist, so decided that the best way to do that was to form a band of his own and follow a path of doom. Recording as following on from some demoes where a trio, with additional musicians for live work, this is their debut album and is part of a three-album deal that they have signed with the German label Pure Steel Records. In many ways this takes me back to the early Eighties, as while it is solid doom it also has that NWOBHM feel about it, with that naivety that made the genre such a delight. It doesn’t have the gravitas and desire to take itself seriously as with some other bands such as Candlemass (one of the groups that the promo blurb links them to), but is a fine romp all the same.
There is a real space inside the music, and I’m not sure if that feeling is deliberate or not but it certainly puts them apart from the doom bands that really want to be sludge, as this has a lightness and dexterity that shows them to be quite different to the many within the scene. Overall this is a powerful album with a lot going for it. Some true doom fans may say that this is too lightweight for their tastes, but it definitely suits mine. Fat and powerful, this is good stuff.
