It’s time to storm the castle and bang your head. Comrades from the North American power doom scene have united on a four-band split of heavy metal sorcery. Mourn the Light, High Priest, Ice Howl, and Archduid have joined forces to showcase 11 sharp-edged new songs. According to the band’s promotional text, the split features “four hungry bands from the New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal underground, each taking a different approach and putting their own spin on doom.” Today you can listen to the entire split before its official release on Friday, 24th.
Connecticut’s Mourn the Light kick off the ceremony with an epic bravado and sizzling leads. Matching the title’s fatalistic flare, “No One Gets Out Alive” achieves a darker tone with mid-song snarls. Canadian doom rockers High Priest play candlemassive riffs with a downcast melodicism. They mention Solitude Aeternus as an inspiration, and when you enter “The Hall of the High Priest” that’s obvious as ever. As the only band with three tracks on the split, they use the extra runtime to create “Wizard’s Gold” from their mix of shadowy heavy metal and street doom groove.
Indiana power doom project Ice Howl has expanded to a quartet to sound a collective battleroar for this release. Lead by Jason Roach’s hooks and the spirited vocals of Zebah Latifi, Ice Howl has impressively shapeshifted with more grit instead of gloss. Their new track “Final Stand of the Third Age” is an album highlight that soars while flexing its melodic muscles. New Hampshire doomsters Archdruid close the album with two tracks of fuzzy, burly old school doom. The band recruited vocalist Emily Waltz from a renaissance reenactment, so it’s no wonder these tracks sound like they’re combat ready.
Venture into the battleground between traditional heavy metal and doom by pressing play below.
Visit each band below to order a copy and dig into their discography. Plus, catch Mourn the Light and Ice Howl at next year’s Legions of Metal festival in Chicago.
Get enlightened by Mourn the Light HERE
Get flash frozen by Ice Howl’s riffs HERE
Enter the Hall of the High Priest HERE
And join the green outlaws of Archdruid HERE
