The DevilsHorns

Out of Norway, home of Black Metal and all things evil, Stoner Doom band Karavan have released their debut album. Unholy Mountain. With riffs riddled with fuzz and a vocalist with a distinctive voice for this style of music, Karavan have taken their first tentative step into what is an incredibly strong genre of metal.

There are a few hints that this is not a straight-forward Doom album. Firstly, the running time is under 45 minutes, they have an instrumental track that lasts just over 3 minutes and, ultimately the riffs are just not heavy enough. This is not really a criticism, as the riffs ooze a stoner vibe. Fuzz is the watchword here, each of the 7 tracks on offer drips with it.

It is a very decent opening. A similar development is demonstrated on the excellent ‘Chase the Dragon’, but this time it is the final 2 minutes of the track that excel, allowing the listener to get their groove on.

What then follows is an album that never really strays from its comfort zone. Unholy Mountain is fully aware of what album it wants to be. With a few curveballs thrown in, including the aforementioned instrumental, ‘Rot’ (potentially unnecessary) and the top notch ‘Demon Slime’, the album also has the variety to keep the listener interested.

Karavan occasionally wander into an area where the promise of the album is close to outweighing the delivery and execution, but they always pull it back. There is enough interesting things happening and enough creative song-structures that you will want to listen again. Although not a top 10 album of the year contender, there is every chance you will say to yourself, ‘I fancy a listen to Unholy Mountain today’, and you will have a good time, which is all you really need.

Band Website: https://karavandoom.bandcamp.com

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