Another cool review done by Den.
Groan's
sophomore album, the The
Divine Right of Kings, is nothing short of
heaviness that we saw on the band's
previous opus. Paying homage to the old-school
grooves of Black Sabbath and
combining them with catchy and downtuned stoner rock tunes, The Divine
Right of Kinds delivers almost 40 minutes of infectious riff-fest that you'll
be bound to enjoy for a huge number of spins. Following the first opus "
The Slepping Wizard" and the split with Vinnum Sabbatum, British
doomsters have made a decent follow up
to the previous releases further proving
that they are gaining momentum with each subsequent album. From the first
tunes, the riffs start to speak for themselves as the album opener "Weeping Jesus" immediately
sets the tone of doom and booze
delivering a bunch of heavy and groovy
riffs which feel like a good throwback
to 70-s. The track is only mere 2.3 minutes in length but it quickly gives a
good grasp of what should follow next. Next track, "Sacrificial Virgins" is a riff-worshipping steamroller
paving its way with a set of mid-paced infectious grooves. Although the
riffage is repetitive to some extent,
it is heavy and downtuned to ferocious
degree immediately evoking the
atmosphere of 70-s Black Sabbath concert with the stake of the witch smoldering at the center
of the stage. The riffs get more intense
towards the end of the song and eventually get
boosted by a piercing guitar solo which dances to the tune of the rhythm
till the very end. But is not until the
next song "Magic Man" when Groan fully show what they are up to.
The song starts from the extended preaching from the Groan's frontman Andreas
“Mazzereth” Maslen who stops at nothing to
keep the spirit of rock live. That's what he says :
"Some days the bad, some days unworthy people, unrighteous business
and the conventional grind brings you down. But you’re wise — you’re clever —
you know how to deal with this bad
situation. I’m talking about reaching for the Sabbath, the DC, the Priest. I’m
talking about reaching for the Halen, the Quo, the Creedence. You fight the world with some tasty Stooges. You make
your body move with some Grand Funk, some Foghat. These timeless motherfuckers
bring forth the power that enables you
to deal with it, to get off your ass and fight back. Hell, they may even
inspire you to form a shitty rock and roll band. Never forget the healing power
of rock. Never forget the crucial truth
they bring. Friends, to you, I say this: When in doubt, rock it out."
As the speech finishes, our ears get exposed
to fast-paced assault of old school heaviness which is probably one of my favorite picks on the entire album. The song definitely
lives up to the proceeding speech
as it lays foundation with catchy
rock-n-roll riffage although still managing to sustain sincere appreciation for the heavy rock and sometimes even delving into doom
territory. With so many stuff consistent
within one single track, Groan does it skillfully
and straight to the point which definitely
distinguishes them from a huge number of
modern formations which prefer sticking to the well-recognized formulas rather than raising the spirit of their own.
Over the course
of first three songs, the listener
barely has a chance to take a breath or fully digest the riffage which keeps
echoing in a perpetual loop after the
first spin. On this point you will be
countered with a unexplainable endeavor to take the first 3 pieces for
the second spin, and even if you do you 'll still feel your craving for pure old-scholl riffage is completely
unfulfilled. Hell yeah, as on this point we
plummet the accelerator pedal and delve deeper into the world of Groan
with the " Dissolution"
which unexpectedly starts with a much
more doomy tunes apparently drawing
inspiration from Black Sabbath,
Cathedral and many other deities of British doom pantheon. The tempo here is
slashed to slow doomy grooves and the atmosphere
is dirgy. The chorus is definitely a highlight of the song as "Mazzereth" unleashes amazing vocal performance pointing that you may never know where next the band can stop. The chorus
is followed by a background solo which
keeps the pace elevated until it slows even further with Mazzereth pronouncing final chants "Our God is Dead" for a couple of times.
On this positive
note we are ready for the next nail in our coffin which bears
the moniker "Atomic Prophets".
Here the band shows its true potential delivering probably the most mesmerizing and
unforgettable song on the entire album. The song is more of stoner rock than
doom, and it perfectly lives up to its name concocting the atmosphere of scorched
skeletons of once flourishing cities devastated by nuclear Armageddon.
Being a huge fan of post apocalyptic setting , "Atomic preachers"
perfectly accompanied my 5-th play
thought of one of the best post-apocalyptic
video games of all time "Fallout: New Vegas" substituting Black Sabbath's "Electric Funeral" which evolves around similar Post-Nuke setting. ))
After enjoying
a couple of spins in the rusty cd-player found on the radioactive wasteland ,
"Atomic Preachers" is followed by the "Gods of Fire", which is more catchy and stonerly than its predecessor. The tracks
is pretty straightforward as verses get repeated by a couple of times before
shifting to probably the most infectious hook on the entire album : “Gods of fire/Gods of fire/Fill me with desire/Gods of fire” does
pretty well what it was intended to do perfectly fitting in the overall metal
vibe of the song. The next one, " How Black Was our Sabbath" is pure rock-n-roll attack. Rolling like a 100-ton wagon which has slipped off the rails, this song is
probably the most violent piece of
rock-n-roll on the entire album.
Apparently drawing inspiration from another prominent British act
"Orange Goblin", in particular from famous masterpiece "Coup de
Grace", the song will be a perfect
tune to help you recover
"consciousness" after long
sleepless night.
As you were
occupied with head banging over the course of the entire song, you barely
noticed how the next piece “Let’s Have a
Pint at the Crooked Cock"
signals that it is just about time you forgot about the pressing
matters you may have in the morning and head to the nearest shop to grab some
beer and enjoy the rest of the album. It
starts with some pub noise and clanking glass only to evolve into a next song in the playlist " Black Death". The transition seems almost seemless here
as it kicks in with a good dose of stoner riffs and infectious hooks from the
"Mazzereth".
And finally
the title track "The Divine Right of Kings" comes. Not only it is the
longest track on the album, but definitely a respite from its overall pace(
excluding Dissolution) as it starts with the dirgy sound of church organ and
Gregorian-style chanting. The intro than shifts into the cohesive blend of all
possible styles and influences showing the level of perfection that the band
has achieved on the second album. The song starts with mid-paced fuzzy tunes
which are soon substituted with
some spacious and psychedelic parts, with Mazzereth echoing his vocals over the
top. The transition n from fuzzy riffs to psychedelic tunes seems almost seemless, which further proves that this guys
know how to adhere to the well-recognized formula but at the same time attain
the face of their own. Towards the end, the pace gets more gloomy and dirgy and
the song finishes with the echoing wailing of Mezzareth, leaving the listener in anticipation of another
Groan's story.
GRAB THIS MASTERPIECE IMMEDIATELY IF YOU WEEP
OVER REAL OLD-SCHOOL 9.5/10.
Preview this piece of Doom :
Den asked me to post his foto to unleash some respekt to the mighty Groan !)
have you already liked this ? :
buy CD or LP here:
Twit & Reverb :
