Saturday 2 April 2022

The Long Hunt - Threshold Wanderer (Album Review)

 

Release Date: April 1st 2022. Record Label: Self Released. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl

Threshold Wanderer - Tracklisting

1.Prelude 01:46 

2.The Tower 05:24 

3.The Golden Bough 06:15 

4.Night Falls on Black Wings 12:33 

5.Crossing the River 04:10 

6.Procession of Dust 12:11 


Members


Trevor Richards: Guitar

Allison Kacmar Richards: Bass

Mark Lyons: Drums


Review


Threshold Wanderer is the new album from Pittsburgh Doom And Gloom Instrumentalists The Long Hunt. The band have released two other releases before this one and this is my first experience with the band so I can’t comment how this one ranks against their previous efforts. With that being said, The Long Hunt have released an outstanding album with Threshold Wanderer. The album conjures six tracks that transcends the Instrumental Doom/Stoner Metal structure with echoes of Americana Post-Doom and Hazy Psychedelic Stoner Metal allowing the band playing well executed styles of slow paced and fast paced grooves. 


There is an epic music video that accompanies this album as well which you want a more visual and “out there” experience. As this album is quite a dark and complex album hitting upon themes such as nature, life, death and rebirth.


The Long Hunt open the album up with Prelude, a very cool offering acoustic guitars and cold-hearted psychedelic atmospherics. 


Second track The Tower offers a very strange sound with echoes of Post-Rock, Post-Doom, Prog Rock and even Classic Rock before the band reach their creative destination around the half-way stage of the song. This allows The Long Hunt to “open” up their gloomy Americana sound by playing heavier and meatier slices of groove based Doom/Stoner Metal. The song becomes a more interesting experience towards the end of the song with some YOB-esque flourishes appearing. One of the albums more thrilling and delicate compositions that are held here.


Third track The Golden Bough brings a fresh “Classic Rock” and “Blues Rock” perspective that I didn’t expect at all. Quite funky and wonderfully surreal at the same time. This song has such an “easy-going” quality that the song fits superbly with both areas of Classic Hard Rock and Modern Day Doom/Stoner Metal sound the band use for this song. 


Fourth song Night Falls On Black Wings is the standout and heaviest track here with The Long Hunt simply going for the Doom/Stoner Metal jugular. The song has the right balance of slow-paced grooves and the faster aggressive Stoned Out riffs. Flirting with elements of Ambient Post-Rock sounds and Post-Stoner flair bring a fine level of distorted melodies along the way. The song lasts almost thirteen minutes and The Long Hunt play some of the finest parts of the album on both of the albums lengthiest tracks.


The final two songs Crossing The River and Procession Of Dust allows The Long Hunt to end the album on a high with more epic sounds of Doom/Stoner Metal spliced with Classic Rock, Psych Rock, Post-Rock and Prog Rock leaving you wanting more. Procession Of Dust is the other longer track contained on this album and is another mesmerising track that ultimately leaves you wanting to hear more from this album.


As I stated earlier in the review, Threshold Wanderer is an outstanding album that oozes style, charm and originality with a fine amount of heavy hitting grooves that build up for a soulful and almost out-of-body experience. 


Words by Steve Howe


Thanks to Mettle Media PR for the promo.


Links


Linktree | BandCamp