There’s not a lot to say about Naked Star, the band, their Facebook page listing them as simply Tim and Jim, albeit a bit of research shows they are in order a multi-instrumentalist from Seamount and vocalist from Vampyromorpha. And you know what, that’s not a problem, this three track EP introduction to the band simply letting the music do the talking.
‘Follow The Iron Cross’ ticks all the boxes for a slab of retro doom, from the opening sound effects of a thunderstorm to the fuzz laden bass, via the thundering drums and down tuned guitar, and right into the snarling vocals, this is doom in its purest form. It’s not funeral, it’s not blackened, it’s just Doom with a capital D, and could have easily have been found on an old 8 track at the back of Bobby Liebling’s cupboard covered in thirty years of dust and rusty needles as it was in reality emailed to me in mid 2016. This old school approach continues unabated with ‘Bury Me A Demon’, the uncomplicated sound giving it the feeling of having been recorded live in a garage by a well baked band in a fog of THC and beer fumes, a sound that belies the fact that with Tim handling guitars, bass and drums makes that image an impossibility.
Rounding off the EP, or side two if you get yourself the 10” vinyl EP, is the title track ‘Bloodmoon Prophecy’, a ten minute master-class in the form. The title and lyrics surely denoting a youth spent watching Hammer horrors by the score, whilst the music is clearly played by a worshipper at the altar of all things Sabbathian, played at a pace to keep heads hypnotically banging throughout the whole ten minutes.
This EP is announced as nothing more than a taster for a future album, and based on the quality on display, it’s definitely one for the Doom fan to look forward to. So, why after all this praise did I only score it a measly 8/10? Simple; I want more!
(8/10 Spenny)
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