Over 3 years have passed since The Wounded Kings last release, the crushing ‘In the Chapel of the Black Hand’, and these Dartmoor Doomsters have returned in style. True to form, there is a heavy occult edge to the album; even the title ‘Consolamentum’ is the sacrament of the Cathar movement, a medieval organisation set up in protest against what they perceived to be the moral, spiritual and political corruption of the Catholic Church. Naturally, with their abhorrence to war and killing, Cathars were murdered and persecuted out of existence by the good Christian church!
Anyway, away from history, and back to the music. With the first track ‘Gnosis’ it is apparent that the listener is in for a slice of epic doom. The track is over 13 minutes long, opening with a riff that drags like footfall of the builders of Stonehenge pulling along their giant slabs hewn from the hills. It is a full five minutes before the first lyric, “I saw the devil” rolls out of the speakers, and it is with the presence of Sharie Neyland that the band play their ace. There are far too few women in metal, and even less in the more extreme realms, and Ms Neyland’s voice, crying out like a Wiccan prayer, is a fine addition to the canon, her higher tones being different to the normal male vocals of the genre, as well as being a fine counterpoint to the bass heavy riffing. Indeed, ‘Gnosis’ sets a high standard for the rest of the album to live up to, particularly with the addition of the psychedelic tones of Hammond organ and Mellotron into the mix.
The doom pace continues with ‘Lost Bride’, the band’s two down tuned guitars being easily equalled in presence by the battering bass and drums, swirling away together beneath the occult vocals. Following on is the positively sprinting instrumental break ‘Elige Magistrum’, a track that sounds like it is a minute and a half out take from a longer song, which fades out before ‘Consolamentum’ fades up with keyboards creating the atmosphere of some hellish choir over a stripped back drum beat. The title track then builds up layer upon layer, with the addition of mythological lyrics and even an acoustic guitar break, creating a number that is an equal to any from Electric Wizard’s recent releases.
Stand out for me on the album is ‘The Silence’, a track that is anything but. As well as the massively heavy riffs, and a fair slice of synth wizardry, Sharie Neyland really opens up the sustain, the long tortured notes making her voice another instrument in the whole mix. With its dense wall of sound, this is a track that is well deserving a light show live to complement the dark, trippy tone.
With ‘Conolamentum’ The Wounded Kings have done themselves and British doom proud.
(8/10 Spenny)
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