Beyond The Strange Horizon
Apollon, 2022
9/10
Listen to Beyond The Strange Horizon
A Bergen, Norway trio who take influences from 5 decades of heavy metal sounds, Strange Horizon know their way around a muscular riff, and these 8 doom tinted tracks certainly aren’t difficult to enjoy.
“Tower Of Stone” gets the listen off to a thick and thundering start, where smooth vocals and melodic guitar work makes for an inviting climate, and “Fake Templar” follows with dense fuzz as a grungy landscape unfolds with much precision.
“Divine Fear” occupies the middle spot and recruits the very fluid rhythm section that balances both grit and tunefulness, while “They Never Knew” picks up the pace with a dynamic thumping that’s also danceable thanks to the bouncy bass lines.
Further still, “Turning The Corner” is a bit more tame, but no less captivating as the setting is stripped bare with a raw recording, and “Death In Ice Valley” exits the listen and quickly finds itself in murky, doom metal-esque territory that’s firm and exciting.
For fans of Black Sabbath, Saint Vitus, Melvins or the Sub-Pop label in the early ‘90s, Strange Horizon definitely deserves to be in constant rotation.
Travels well with: Castaway Hounds- Come On Down; Suburban Savages- Demagogue Days