Release Date: May 19th 2023. Record Label: Sleeping Church Records / Three Moons Records. Formats: CD/Cassette/DD
A Pilgrimage To Nowhere - Tracklisting
1.The Searing Eye
2.Thundering Epochs
3.Onward to Penumbra
4.Doomhex
5.A Multiplicity of Causalities
6.Nexus Exitium (Pyrophylaciorum)
7.Conjuration of the Obsidian Colossus
8.The Phantom Electric
Review
Costa Rican Doom/Sludge/Post-Metal/Stoner Metal Heavyweights Age Of The Wolf return with their new album A Pilgrimage To Nowhere and the band have a heavier, progressive and more focused sound. The band have included some bone-crunching grooves with perhaps more focus on tone, sound and melody compared to their previous album.
The vocals are a mixture of clean vocals, harsh growls and even some death shrieks along the way. The music is quite intense with Age Of The Wolf playing similar sounds to bands such as Mastodon, CONAN, High On Fire and EYEHATEGOD. With regular outbursts of sonic based Psychedelic violence, the record can be extremely downright nasty when it wants to be. However, Age Of The Wolf adds some deft Psychedelic Rock/Metal touches which is perhaps down to the Post-Metal part of their overall sound. This allows the band to play more technical strands of Progressive Metal which becomes more apparent on tracks such as The Searing Eye, Thundering Epochs and Onward To Penumbra.
The production values have that classic mid to late 2000’s feel where Sludge Metal and Post-Metal scenes started to become more part of the mainstream metal scene. A Pilgrimage To Nowhere remains essentially a modern day album thanks to Age Of The Wolf’s technical ability which sees the atmosphere become more Thrash and Groove based with that haunting underground energy holding everything together.
If you’re a fan of the Mastodon era of Leviathan and Blood Mountain then this album contains that similar Progressive Sludge Metal energy but still allowing the band to do their own thing especially on the later stages of the album with great songs such as: Doomhex, A Multiplicity Of Causalties, Conjuration of the Obsidian Colossus and The Phantom Electric.
The album becomes darker and daring in the second half where Age Of The Wolf brings a stripped back approach to the songs but still allowing themselves the time and space to fuse different elements of the Doom, Sludge and Stoner Metal scenes.
Another area where the album excels at is the “AMPLIFIER WORSHIP” or the “DISTORTED FUZZ” volume levels which brings the most exciting and heaviest parts of the album. There’s too many great parts to mention but Age Of The Wolf remains blissfully aggressive and heavy throughout the album.
A Pilgrimage To Nowhere is the type of album that could offer Age Of The Wolf bigger and better opportunities within the Doom/Sludge/Stoner Metal Underground Scene. They’ve released a first rate release that’s packed full of brilliant and thrilling grooves with a daring creative narrative that ultimately leaves you wanting to hear more.
Words by Steve Howe
Thanks to Mona at All Noir PR for the promo.
A Pilgrimage To Nowhere will be available to buy on CD via Sleeping Church Records and Cassette Tape from Three Moons Records. Both from May 19th 2023.
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