West Virginia's Brimstone Coven are another occult/doom rock act that
cite everything from Sabbath to Zeppelin to The Mamas and The Poppas as
influences. What's interesting about these guys is the fact that they use
three-part vocal harmonies, which we used to hear quite a bit in classic rock
music. Listening to “As We Fall” right now definitely reminds me of several
classic tunes that my mother and father used to enjoy and it's assured that
(aside from the horror natured lyrics, even though the old man loved Sabbath)
they'd probably enjoy a disc like this one as well. You just don't hear music
like this anymore, and it has a production quality that literally feels like it
came right out of that sixties/seventies golden era of music. There are still
thick nudges of doom to be had, but this I more of a classic rock album that
focuses mainly on the vocal melodies and choruses, when it's not mesmerizing me
with such catchy leads as can be found on “Beyond The Astral.” Trust me, that's
one song that you'll never forget. It's also one of the main reasons this album
was brought to focus, as well as the catchy but unfortunately short “Black
Unicorn.” As nice a chorus as it may be, I wish they could have beefed the
piece a little more in the vein of many of these other cuts. To be honest,
there's not much here that isn't five minutes or more and the fact that “Black
Unicorn” barely encroaches three is a bit of a bizarre oddity to me. Still, it
can't be helped and it's not too much of a deterrent as I'm making it out to
be. There are nine chunky tracks here to make up for it, and each one of them
delivers in the way that classic rock albums did. I mean, you can hear the
influences here. Some of this shit goes way back to Thin Lizzy even, if not
Cream, Pink Floyd and Mountain. Damn, talk about time-traveling.
Even if you're
not into the whole occult thing, there's still enough classic rock and trip
factor here for you to enjoy this one. The songs make for great singalongs,
the melodies are certainly something you'll hum, and there are some nice
moments on the disc in which you can pull out an air-guitar. Some might not get
the fact that the record is mastered in a style that might seem a little dated,
could be compared to the dreaded “dad rock” millennial term and ultimately won't
appeal to them. I'd hope they'd find something in this classic and nearly
forgotten sound, but that's like asking for a miracle sometimes. In any case,
those who know the sound will surely love it and think of it as a blast from
the past and a well-needed refresher from the menagerie of derivative crap that
gets released from rock and metal on an almost daily basis. It might sound a
bit old, but there's some real magic here and I have a good feeling that you're
going to be able to overlook the production as soon as you've noticed it for
yourself. These guys are great and I hope we'll get to hear more from them in
the future.
(10 Tracks, 54:00)
8/10
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