Come weary traveller, warm your bones by the fire and rest. Enjoy a jug of mead and our favourite storytellers Hällas as they regale you with fantastical tales from eras long remembered and revisited.
Hällas are a band who don't know the meaning of the phrase modern, the Swedes play 'adventure rock' which puts them in with the likes of Rush, Genesis, Jethro Tull and Wishbone Ash, as well as squarely in the Swedish revival of these groovy, proggy 70's sounds.
With the three proceeding records Hällas weave musical tales for you to get lost in, this is escapism, from the humdrum and the dark of the real world, into conceptual records that play out like D&D campaigns. On Panorama, their fourth record, they step it up once more, opening the record with monolith of medieval mastery that clocks in at 21:30. Yep that's right the first song is over 20 minutes long but then that's just the sort band Hällas are.
Starting as they mean to go on with reams of vintage/analogue synths and dual guitar harmonies this is the sort of prog that punk bands were terrified by, conceptually driven and full of swords and sorcery. That being said with Panorama though, Hällas are at their most confident, striding prog rock, heavy metal and hazy psychedelia, easier than ever.
This fourth album just oozes bravado, I mean a 20+ minute opener such as Above The Continuum, will solidify that the band are here to take no prisoners, but one that opens with the sci-fi, disco of Meco (look up Meco) before it moves into more traditional prog rock riffs and organ stabs, then back to the flamenco rhythms and closes with orchestral manoeuvres is the creation of band who have no fear.
To go from this huge epic into the strutting glam rock of Face Of An Angel, also displays that Hällas can turn their hand to pretty much anything they want, so long as it's retro, they'll do it better. The Emissary is folky, built around duelling organ/guitar and some choral moments that lead into the piano driven Bestiaus which has all the drama of Magnum, the influence of that inspirational band continuing on At The Summit which is a end of this bold new chapter.
Hällas invite you to climb the mountain and experience the Panorama along with them on album four. 9/10
Indica Blues - Universal Heat Death (Majestic Mountain Records)
When posed with the phrase Universal Heat Death there is a part of me that says “When?” however away from my lust for the end of all life itself, Universal Heat Death is the new record from Oxford riff slingers Indica Blues.
Now if you’ve been paying attention Oxford has quite a speciality in stoner/doom/riffs, Desert Storm and Wall both hail from the city of spires, as do Radiohead so that explains the nihilism. While the band named after the Iraq War take a more pacey sound, Indica Blues keep it distorted and fuzzy, inspired by Sleep and Electric Wizard, their apocalyptic doom is gnarly but keeps a sense of melody too.
Universal Heat Death follows up the equally upbeat record We Are Doomed, an album that was eerily prophetic having been dropped just before the world closed up in the pandemic. This time around let’s hope they don’t do the double and things start getting infinitely warmer. If there is a sharp increase in the global temperature, then this four piece have given us all a soundtrack to the end times.
Pack your bong of choice and press play on Universal Heat Death and you get the first satisfying hit with title track a head nodding riffer where dirty blues riffs sprawl into louche leads from Lewis Batten and Tom Pilsworth. The waves of psychedelic grooves coming from the expressive drums of Rich Walker and the low end fuzz from bassist Andrew Haines-Villalta on Bloodsands PT 1/PT 2 while there’s some stoner chug on The Raven and The Slow Descent Into Hell.
Debt Ridden Blues gets woozy with crashes of heavy that’ll get your shoulders shifting while So Low is built around a desert rock, Indica Blues dragging you into the dying embers of our world as loudly as they can on Universal Heat Death. 8/10
Pyrogaric – Fracture (Self Released)
It’s amazing how something unexpected can inspire the creative mind. In 2024 Pyrograic guitarist Keelan Powell injured himself in a way that stopped him from being able to play guitar, this was not long after they had gained third member Jim MacDonald on bass and it stop their relentless touring schedule dead. In the convalesce the ideas for their third album started to take fruition and once Keelan had healed up they started to write compose and hit Red Rock Studios with Lyndon Price to record their third album entitled Fracture.
From when I was watching their first shows I knew that Pyrogaric would gain themselves a following on the local scene, the combination of Keelan’s fuzzy riffs and Jamey-Leigh Powell’s powerhouse drums and vocals made them an interesting and unique prospect. With two records behind them and countless high profile shows, Fracture is the record that define Pyrogaric of today, their first as trio, they’re louder and more layered in what they do as the bass adds more definition and gives the guitars room to move into the melodic, this record even featuring some harmonies as Lyn provides the additional six stings.
The album is built around its title track featured here twice; once as a chuggy rocker (which steals a bit of the riff from Heaven And Hell) which may surprise long-time fans of Pyrogaric’s slower paced gothic doom drive, and then again at the end of the album as a Reprise which is synth based stripped back version. These two versions of one song shows that Pyrogaric are open to experimentation, even though it’s their defined sound that has taken them to those stages such as Planet Rockstock.
Pyrogaric the addition of another member has also brought some vocals harmonies in the background and means that tracks such as Doom and Magic are amongst the heaviest in their catalogue, taking the form of the serpentine, marching style Pyrogaric have become so known for. Heavy rockers rejoice as the psych/goth/doom/rock thing that is Pyrogaric returns with more ways to give you tinnitus. 8/10
Gavran - The One Who Propels (Dunk! Records)
To mis-quote Soundgarden, The One Who Propels 'fell on blackgaze', as Dutch band Gavran return after an illness related pause in their existence. Now at full strength again and with a third record of melancholic, introspective music they have again released this album through Dunk! Records with the team of Marius Prins (Throwing Bricks) and Tim de Gieter (Amenra, Doodseskader) producing, the band have emerged stronger and more expansive after the issues guitarist Freek Van Rooyen had to deal with a sonic overhaul that has been inspired by hard times and changing in the internal workings of the band.
Universal Heat Death follows up the equally upbeat record We Are Doomed, an album that was eerily prophetic having been dropped just before the world closed up in the pandemic. This time around let’s hope they don’t do the double and things start getting infinitely warmer. If there is a sharp increase in the global temperature, then this four piece have given us all a soundtrack to the end times.
Pack your bong of choice and press play on Universal Heat Death and you get the first satisfying hit with title track a head nodding riffer where dirty blues riffs sprawl into louche leads from Lewis Batten and Tom Pilsworth. The waves of psychedelic grooves coming from the expressive drums of Rich Walker and the low end fuzz from bassist Andrew Haines-Villalta on Bloodsands PT 1/PT 2 while there’s some stoner chug on The Raven and The Slow Descent Into Hell.
Debt Ridden Blues gets woozy with crashes of heavy that’ll get your shoulders shifting while So Low is built around a desert rock, Indica Blues dragging you into the dying embers of our world as loudly as they can on Universal Heat Death. 8/10
Pyrogaric – Fracture (Self Released)
It’s amazing how something unexpected can inspire the creative mind. In 2024 Pyrograic guitarist Keelan Powell injured himself in a way that stopped him from being able to play guitar, this was not long after they had gained third member Jim MacDonald on bass and it stop their relentless touring schedule dead. In the convalesce the ideas for their third album started to take fruition and once Keelan had healed up they started to write compose and hit Red Rock Studios with Lyndon Price to record their third album entitled Fracture.
From when I was watching their first shows I knew that Pyrogaric would gain themselves a following on the local scene, the combination of Keelan’s fuzzy riffs and Jamey-Leigh Powell’s powerhouse drums and vocals made them an interesting and unique prospect. With two records behind them and countless high profile shows, Fracture is the record that define Pyrogaric of today, their first as trio, they’re louder and more layered in what they do as the bass adds more definition and gives the guitars room to move into the melodic, this record even featuring some harmonies as Lyn provides the additional six stings.
The album is built around its title track featured here twice; once as a chuggy rocker (which steals a bit of the riff from Heaven And Hell) which may surprise long-time fans of Pyrogaric’s slower paced gothic doom drive, and then again at the end of the album as a Reprise which is synth based stripped back version. These two versions of one song shows that Pyrogaric are open to experimentation, even though it’s their defined sound that has taken them to those stages such as Planet Rockstock.
They have been adding more synths and gothic influences over the year, inspired by the post-punk sound of the 80’s, especially in Jamey-Leigh’s theatrical vocals, they’ve previously dabbled with synth only cuts on The Gilding Song and more so on previous release The Serpent, here it’s Remember Me, a very potent song about loss.
Pyrogaric the addition of another member has also brought some vocals harmonies in the background and means that tracks such as Doom and Magic are amongst the heaviest in their catalogue, taking the form of the serpentine, marching style Pyrogaric have become so known for. Heavy rockers rejoice as the psych/goth/doom/rock thing that is Pyrogaric returns with more ways to give you tinnitus. 8/10
Gavran - The One Who Propels (Dunk! Records)
To mis-quote Soundgarden, The One Who Propels 'fell on blackgaze', as Dutch band Gavran return after an illness related pause in their existence. Now at full strength again and with a third record of melancholic, introspective music they have again released this album through Dunk! Records with the team of Marius Prins (Throwing Bricks) and Tim de Gieter (Amenra, Doodseskader) producing, the band have emerged stronger and more expansive after the issues guitarist Freek Van Rooyen had to deal with a sonic overhaul that has been inspired by hard times and changing in the internal workings of the band.
Drummer/vocalist Jamie Kobić, continues as the vocalist but moves to guitar in harmony with co-founder Van Rooyen, as they are joined by new drummer Roy Zwinkels and new bassist Tinus Kardolus who takes over from Ritsaart Vetter, this sonically boosted version of Gavran is a much bigger beast, the mixture of doom, sludge, shoegaze and post rock, giving them elongated repeating riffs reminiscent of bands like Pallbearer, hypnotic doom/sludge workouts that keep your neck in constant motion and your mind melting. The dual guitars used to create the ambient and atmospheric moments of solace and quiet as the themes of mortality are played out.
It’s as gargantuan as it is intimate and the tweaked line up means that they can fully explore the band they want to be, a powerful fourpiece who have not only had their aims changed by circumstance but now also their ambition and hybrid style as a band. I will say that the one thing that may dissuade some listeners are the vocals. Though Kobić possesses a mighty range, the sharp changes from cleans and harsh roars into anguished, Ghost Bath-like shrieks could alienate some listeners who may expect this more from black metal. The One Who Propels is Gavran restructured and redefining who they are as a band. 8/10
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