Occult Hand Order – Silence By The Raging Sea

 

 

Occult Hand Order – Silence By The Raging Sea
Self-released - 2023
Rock, Metal, Post, Doom, Psych, Sludge
Rated: ****

When Shake Promotion sent the promo for the new Occult Hand Order we immediately started spinning it, but first and foremost, the one that came before. Because we surely remembered their 2020 album The Chained The Burned The Wounded, but must admit we had not spun it for a while. What a mistake that was! Cause those five tracks are still as grand as the day we first heard them. Psychedelic doom, stoner, progressive and with grand master level tension arcs. And as we got entirely revved up again by those storming highly atmospheric rockers, that can mesmerize with their restraint and provide release with their delivery, we could not wait to start our first run of their new Silence By The Raging Sea. And once again it quickly becomes obvious that the three from Lyon, France have built yet another highly dynamic wonder world of heavy rock. Surging like an ocean, rolling with the tides, the tension builds, rolls back and breaks upon the shores full of release and riff splendor. It can be as atmospheric, emotive and even meditative as well as wild, savage and yes, raging. And the way they control all aspects of these different heavy approaches is breath-taking. Mastered by Magnus Lindberg from Cult Of Luna the first three tracks alone take you through so many calm water moments and huge heavy rock swells you can already feel battered and bruised by the time Pyre ends. But Pyre does serve as the perfect story telling end to the beginning, even though you might feel spent and wasted by the time its ten minutes and thirty-nine seconds are done, you soon feel elated and a warm sense of euphoria creeping in. And all that after listening to an extremely dynamic heavy rock song. And that’s how it continues and how it ends. Their progressive doom, with its psychedelic touches, post metal meandering and sludge tones is once again one hell of an impressive adventure. Colorful, atmospheric and emotive, the six tracks drag you along on a wild and dangerous voyage. And then there are those moments when they let all the colors fade away, turn their sound into something bleaker and savage and you cannot help but feel the world slowly sinking away beneath you…  

(Written by JK)

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