Thursday, 6 May 2021

10,000 Years - II (Album Review)

 

Release Date: 25th June 2021. Record Label And Formats: Listed End Of Review.

II - Tracklisting


Descent

Gargantuan Forest

Spinosaurus

The Mooseriders

Angel Eyes

March Of The Ancient Queen

Prehuman Walls

Dark Side Of The Earth


Members


Erik Palm - Guitars

Alex Risberg - Bass/Vocals

Espen Karlsen - Drums


Review


Swedish Psych Doom/Sludge/Stoner Metallers 10,000 Years made a great impression with the Stoner Metal community with their debut EP released back in Summer 2020. It’s hard grooves matched with almost fantastical lyrics appealed to fans of bands such as High On Fire, Sleep, CONAN, Mastodon and Monolord but with their own impressive style of music shining through.


Fast forward a year later and the band are back with their debut full length album - II. The album is what you would call a concept album. I won’t spoil what the story is but you can check on the album’s BandCamp Page or check out my recent interview with the band here.


10,000 Years open the album up with Descent. A 25 second onslaught of Thrash/Doom grooves that offers a thrilling narrative to open the album with. I wasn’t expecting a heavy and brutal style song especially with the short running time. Imagine early era High On Fire but played at a much faster pace.


Second song - Gargantuan Forest - opens with a more subdued style of music with the antagonists of the story getting used to their wild and varied surroundings. The song is a mixture of Psychedelic vibes with elements of Doom, Sludge, Stoner and Post-Metal appearing but with that “Swedish” trademark style of “Heavy Psychedelic Doom” being the main glue that holds everything together. If you’ve listened to recent albums by Monolord and DOMKRAFT then 10,000 Years offers a similar style but with more “Sci-Fi” influenced lyrics and ideas driving the song home. The vocals are superb with them being quite aggressive from start to finish.


Third song - Spinosaurus - allows 10,000 Years to expand into more Punk based territory with a more vibrant fast-paced style of music that veers almost into the realm of Thrash Metal. The song runs under 4 minutes but remains one of the standout tracks on the album. The lyrics have a bleak sense to them with the music constantly changing from one style of Heavy Rock to the next. 


Fourth song - The Mooseriders - is where the band move into Psychedelic Rock/Metal overdrive with a major High On Fire influence leading the way. The song is very multi-layered with its musical structure and the lyrics have been written for this song. 


There are 4 songs left on the record and 10,000 Years excel even further on the 2nd half of the album with more bombastic and highly original ideas of their own. As they bring more thrilling ideas to the overall story of the album. 


Other great songs on the record include: Angel Eyes, March Of The Ancient Queen and the gloriously epic final song Dark Side Of The Earth.


Each song represents an exciting chapter of the story that 10,000 Years have created for this release, The band are quite daring on this release especially on the later stages of the record where they have to wrap things up and end the story on a satisfactory conclusion.


What’s even more impressive is that this album was recorded over a 3 day period. The album sounds wonderful and is superbly produced. So top marks to everyone who helped make this album. 


II is a brilliantly entertaining album and for myself personally, will rank as one of the best debut records of 2021. 


Words by Steve Howe


Thanks to 10,000 Years and Infecting Cells PR for the promo.


II will be available to buy on the following formats and record labels from June 25th 2021:

Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , ,