Tuesday 5 January 2021

WATCHMAN - Behold A Pale Horse (EP Review)


Release date: December 28th 2020. Label: Self Released. Format: DD

Behold A Pale Horse – Tracklisting

1.Bowls of Wrath 06:01
2.Wormwood 04:53
3.The Second Death 04:10


Members

WATCHMAN - Everything

Review

Watchman is a one-man Apocalyptic Doom Metal Unit from the Midwest, USA. They’ve just released their new EP – Behold A Pale Horse.

More info about this cool project is below:

Watchman is the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist, producer, and audio engineer Roy Waterford. Drawing inspiration from Black Sabbath, Electric Wizard, and Sleep among others, his debut album “Doom of Babylon” is a product of the artists’ bluesy, psychedelic rock influences channelled into eight heavy doom metal tracks.

Behold A Pale Horse is a great introduction to the dark and mysterious world of Watchman. The EP is blends Psychedelic Doom and Stoner Rock/Metal with an almost Americana Folk/Outlaw way of life inspiring the gloomy theme of the record and some of the lyrics that Roy Waterford has written here.

The Doom/Stoner Metal parts of the EP is very modern but it’s the vocals that makes everything standout with opening song Bowls Of Wrath making a mighty fine impression. The music and instrumental work is first rate with Roy showing his love and appreciation for bands such as Black Sabbath. The dark lyrical content lives upto the DOOM METAL aspect of the EP. The thunderous and heavy guitars are played at a great pace. If you dig the Americana Doom of ACROSS TUNDRAS then Watchman will speak volumes to you.

The other two songs on the EP – Wormwood and The Second Death – continue with the gloomy Americana presence that inhabits Watchman’s dark world. The swirling Psychedelic rhythms never outstay their welcome and bring a classic 70;s Prog Rock touch especially on the standout track – Wormwood.

With WATCHMAN promising a full length album called Doom Of Babylon to be released in Summer 2021 then this solo project could be a name to look out for in 2021. Behold A Pale Horse is a fantastical and dark ride that seriously impressed myself from the very first listen though it’s only become a much better release with repeated listens. 

Behold A Pale Horse is a stunning debut release and I’ll be waiting patiently until the debut full length album is released. As I feel that Roy has barely scratched the surface with WATCHMAN and there will be a bigger and far-out adventure for us all to fully devour and experience.

Words by Steve Howe

Links:

Instagram | BandCamp