This should be a total no-brainer as far as essential purposes go. Another outing for the band based around Tim Schmidt’s distinctive classic heavy metal guitar and Phil Swanson’s deeply emotive vocals and once again with the backing of the always worth a look Church Within Records. Fourth time out for a band who were great first time around. If you’ve missed them, then take bit of the doom from Hour Of 13 and add it as spice to classic heavy metal touched by doom with steel solid riffs that drop melody and notes like gold coins into a furnace. The only thing that worried me here was the ‘kind of concept album’ in the press release. It’s a heady concept of the divine on one side but used as an extended metaphor for love.
Opening song ‘Surrender’ is just classic Seamount; Swanson’s voice on the edge seemingly of breaking with emotion as the guitars weave a golden cage around him and the rock solid riffing. ‘The Fool’ takes that sound into an even more melodious direction but with the second guitar, drums and bass providing the heavy rise and fall of a great undertow riff. ‘Echoes’ begins an almost ballad approach, a lighter touch that tumbles into the hard riding ‘Just For Fantasy’ with a hook line hidden in the riff that is like a pure bit of undiscovered NWOBHM. It really is a grin inducing, rolling song that with the slower moody doomy title track leaves you on a high by the album midpoint.
This is clearly in the hands of real artists; the songs are beautifully crafted, polished but, if you’ll pardon the pun, earthy. The pacing, too, is spot on. The songs flow and feed off and into each other to make a journey of the album rather than a fine collection off songs.
‘Aphrodite’s Child’ is a bit odd; imagine Warrior Soul circa The Space Age Playboys’ down tuned and slowed and you’re close. It is a bit off a jolt if I’m honest but it may well be that it’s a needed jolt. The preceding songs have such a theme to them that another would have made me too passive and it shakes me enough that the clashing acoustic guitar of ‘Isolation’ can be properly absorbed for the fine song it is. ‘Do It Again’ highlights maybe the bleeding obvious, but if so forgive me: This is not passive music. Try and half listen, or use it as background music and you will either miss most of the beauty in those guitar runs and snaking, serpentine rhythms or you will just lose where you are in it. Focus on it, let it command your attention with songs like ‘Everything Divine’ pumping hard or the true for all of us ‘Music’ and you are rewarded tenfold.
This is another exemplary, exciting, beautifully arranged and performed album from a far too often overlooked band. Classic metal meets timeless heavy rock and the world seems so much better for it. It commands attention so give in now and save yourself the trouble, buy.
(8.5/10 Gizmo)
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