Your Highness – Under The Weight

 

 

Your Highness – Under The Weight
Polderrecords – 2024
Metal, Sludge, Stoner
Rated: ****

These Belgian mothersludgers have been releasing albums since 2011 and their new, fourth one, is called Under The Weight. We’re talking about Your Highness and their sludge and stoner metal is this time colored with a huge variety of majestic touches. A bit of blues here, some Americana and roots there, a bit of oriental and only a bit of their older influences like punk and hardcore. Well, a bit, they’re always there of course. Ever since releasing Cults ‘n Cunts back in 2011. But they’ve grown so much since then, and the way they’re now able to stretch the tension, to build the arcs and tell their story is stunning. The way opening oriental, Hindustani intro track Agni, calling up the Hindu god of fire, transitions into that crushing second track and single Fire To The Storm. Crushing, but always with a second line of melody flowing underneath or on top, so beautifully done, offsetting the theme of destruction that runs through the album with sheer perfection. Absolute stomper Above The Odds, feels like a crackdown on your senses, setting fire to your nerve endings, clenching your every muscle, howling your doom. Celestial Burst sees Your Highness returning to the thing they did on Fire To The Storm. A miniscule timelapse towards the intro so it seems, relentless chugging ensues and enters that rootsy and bluesy americana sounding guitar. Intense and with more emotion the vocals remain harsh and gruff and somewhere a bit buried in the mix there seems to be a second voice screaming along. It adds to the atmosphere and it adds to the weight of this track, immediately turning it into the focal point of the album. The sound running deep and makes you feel Your Highness has no use for anything narrow, it’s incredibly wide and huge, and seems to be meant for the ages. Like granite. And when the whistling starts, you feel the devil standing behind you, urging you forward, towards the blaze. And blaze it does, the entire forty minutes of Under The Weight, feels like a fire that can fuel itself for a thousand years…

(Written by JK)

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