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░ ██ ██ Artist: Burning Saviours ██ ██
▓ █░░ ■█ Album: Boken om F÷rbannelsen █■ ░░█
■ █▓▀ █ Year: 2014 █ ▀▓█ ░
█ ▓ Rel. Date: 2015-04-25 ▓ █
▒ ▒ Genre: Psychedelic Rock ▒ ▒
█▄ ░ Label: I Hate Records ░ ▄█
░ █▄ ░ Source: CD ░ ▄█
░ █▓ Type: Compilation ▓█ ░
▓ █ Quality: VBR, 44.1kHz, Joint Stereo █ ░ ▓
▓ █ █ ░ ▓
▄ ■ ■ ▓ ■
░█ █░ ▀
█ I remember first checking out Burning Saviours █
█ nearly a decade ago, they were definitely one of █
█ those 70s throwback/doom bands, alongside █
█ countrymen Witchcraft, who seemed to be taking the █
█ whole thing to the next logical step of nostalgic █
█ retrogression. That's to say they sound a lot like █
█ a band from 40 years ago, even to the point where █
█ the production on their records mimics that █
█ formative epoch. Now, three records and a number █
█ of single recordings later, they haven't altered █
█ the approach; so Boken om f÷rbannelsen, a █
█ collection of four single recordings spanning █
█ 2011-2013, is pretty much textbook Sabbath/Cream █
█ worship which succeeds in sounding like the hard █
█ rock of the members' now distant youths...and █
█ whether or not you'll enjoy this really depends on █
█ your ability to stomach more of that relatively █
█ idea-less, retro rock & roll which seeks to stand █
█ on the ceremony of pre-paved riffing progressions █
█ and songwriting structures rather than fire up an █
█ original spark. █
█ I'd say that, while this sounds pretty authentic █
█ in terms of how the instruments are mixed and █
█ having a singer (Mikael Monks) with some genuine █
█ charisma, this well might just have been tapped █
█ too often and for too long to preclude me turning █
█ up my noise at some of the chord progressions, █
█ which are more or less timid rehashes of songs █
█ like "War Pigs" or a million others you could tune █
█ into on your local endless commercially recycled █
█ hard rock radio station right this second. A lot █
█ of those spider-crawling blues grooves that people █
█ have been getting high to since 1969, threaded █
█ with a slightly tormented melodic scream which is █
█ very able at sculpting a chorus which resonates █
█ far more than the rest of the songs. That these █
█ tunes were penned to be singles is evident, so █
█ there's a lot of consistency in terms of their █
█ pacing, a lot of chemistry between them, some even █
█ being thematically linked. The guitar tone is █
█ fantastically clear with just a little of that █
█ genuine old 70s mud, while the leads are █
█ relatively raw and emotional and generally well █
█ enough written...the bass plods away without much █
█ individuality and the drums are lethargic but a █
█ perfect fit to the peppy mid-speeds. █
█ They do occasionally deviate from the central rock █
█ formula here, like the eaves of ringing harmonic █
█ blues that inaugurate "Doomus Maximus" or "I Am █
█ Lucifer", but at the most modern the latter sounds █
█ like an alternative to the Ghost debut Opus █
█ Eponymous with a different vocalist. To be █
█ truthful, people who love that album will actually █
█ appreciate this a lot from a more directly █
█ Sabbath-ian vein, there are certainly a number of █
█ cuts like the cleaner "Midnight" or "The Offering" █
█ which give off the vibe of ritualistic █
█ pipe-smoking hippie doom wafting through the █
█ rafters of our nostalgia. Ultimately, while I have █
█ no question that the band members were able to tap █
█ into that lifeblood of ancient heavy metal while █
█ in-session to compose these, and perhaps felt the █
█ same wonders of their predecessors, they're only █
█ doing that by basically borrowing material that █
█ had come before and paraphrasing the note █
█ passages. Boken om f÷rbannelsen is a pleasant, █
█ occasionally catchy offering, and it's nice to █
█ have the disparate singles collected into an █
█ actual product of higher value, but the Burning █
█ Saviours ultimately cop a little too much █
█ derivative inspiration to stand out from the █
█ shadows of their distant forerunners. █
▓ ▓
▒ ▒
░ 1. F÷rbannelsen 5:44 ░
░ 2. Midnight 5:54 ░
░ 3. The Offering 4:56 ░
░ 4. Spirit of the Woods 3:39 ░
░ 5. Doomus Maximus 5:25 ░
░ 6. The Nightmare 3:35 ░
░ 7. I am Lucifer 5:29 ░
░ 8. Hon Dansade med D÷den 3:22 ░
░ 38:04 ░
░ ▒ ▒
▓ █ ░ ▓ ░
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