• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

After ten years in the underground, Smoulder seem to have finally arrived. This is a band that always had the pieces, they just never put them together this well before. Their debut album was pretty solid, but this one is a clear leap forward. Guitarists Collin Wolf and Shon Vincent have really stepped up their game, with heavy, inventive, hooky riffs all over the place. The production is better, with more meat on the sound and more depth to the whole proceedings, and vocalist Sarah Ann has never sounded better. This is a pounding, crunching workout of an album that actually gets better as it goes on, culminating in the epic nine-minute closer "Dragonslayer’s Doom," which finishes the album on a really strong note. If you are a fan of Gatekeeper, Champion Eternal, Cauchemar, Sinister Realm, or other, similar bands that dwell in the Trad/Epic/Doom Metal space, then get on this.