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Having your debut released by the mighty Cruz del Sur Music means your band must have chops and that is certainly true of Toronto's Smoulder. Times of Obscene Evil and Wild Daring is an epic slab of sword and sorcery adventure from places untouched by modern times. The cover art is a stunning depiction of what to expect from the music within and the band pounds through doomy behemoths like "The Sword Woman" and "Black God's Kiss", at other times galloping hard and fast, brandishing "Bastard Steel". The echo-soaked vocals give the songs an openness and feeling of expanse and the guitars balance riffs and leads well. I don't find the songs as catchy as I would like, even after multiple spins, and I'm not completely sold on the vocal lines, but I can't argue with the overall atmosphere on Times of Obscene Evil and Wild Daring. I might not remember each song individually but that doesn't stop me from wanting to hit repeat once the album is done. There's room for improvement but Smoulder have come up with an excellent debut, nevertheless.