Warpstormer – Warpstormer
London Doom Collective – 2024
Metal, Doom, Sludge, Thrash, Punk
Rated: *****
Here Comes Hell! No, here comes Warpstormer! Their debut self-titled full-sized album! And it comes out tomorrow! We were absolutely smitten with their first battering ram EP called Here Comes Hell back in 2022. And we’ve not been able to stop spinning their newest release. Out on London Doom Collective, tomorrow, Friday 29th of November, it’s a new calling card for the brand new full fledged line-up. Was that first EP recorded by vocalist Richard J Morgan formerly from OAK with aid from close friends Matt Folley (drums) and Green Lung guitarist, Scott Black. It has now turned into a solid four-piece consisting of bassist Simon Doggett, guitarist Adam Davies and drummer James Loh. Serious line-up, serious intent and seven tracks that make a serious bid for your list of favorite albums of 2024. Intro tune Black Herald is trumpet call over a lost battlefield, setting the scene for a sprawling sci-fi metal album of gargantuan proportions. And where one might expect that science fiction touch to take center stage, it does not. What comes next and thunders over us, is a seemingly endless barrage of intense metal riffs and sludge tones, thrash speeds and punk energy. Oracle, the second track, like a marauding and galloping boom, that becomes ever bigger and towering. Fast paced and constantly shifting gears, with a few sidewards glances Oracle becomes that homerun swing early on. Cursed, Cold, follows, slows down, turns the sound ominous and leering, still sludgy, the doom gets the heads a nodding. Monolithic sludge prog metal comes next, Beyonder opens subdued and atmospheric before exploding in Baroness like metal exuberance, opting to go everywhere and riff the hell out of everything. Intricate and relentless, the composition seems to tumble over itself and roll down into an abyss, from which we get treated to some gritty yet entirely winning harmonies and you get to hear a majestic solo rise from those depths. A Liar’s Crown Motörhead’s their doom metal sound and stoner edge home, like an iron beast, flat out through the eye of a beer can and up your daughter's leg with no quarter asked and non-given. Fester, churning and whirling, with a bit of that earlier sludge prog, some classic metal flourishes and ditto drums, opting for more wilder, technical yet very tasty approaches as the track transitions from one part to another. Extremely gnarly sounds and o’ so detailed, giving you every room to latch on to whatever instrument you wish to follow for your grand escape. The Edge Of Time closes the album in grandiose fashion, opting for a wide vista, a slowed doom opening march and tones to dwarf the horizon. A galloping classic metal session in the middle has you storming towards that distance. And as you know, lying in wait around the bend… A break down that becomes like a sinkhole of noise. Draining away all of that Warpstormer energy and yours with it. But luckily, Black Herald is here to reinvigorate you immediately…
(Written by JK)
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Review for Warpstormer – Here Comes Hell
