Release Date: June 21st 2024. Record Label: Blues Funeral Recordings. Formats: CD/DD/Vinyl
Voice Of Storms: Tracklisting
1. Summer's Bride
2. The Gift
3. Heaven's Eye
4. The Fawn
5. Hidden Bridges
6. Palisades
7. Diana
8. Silver
9. Widow
Band Members
Jack Thomas - guitar, vocals, keys
Adam Nohe - drums, vocals, percussion
Matt Strobel - guitar
Ryan Aliff - bass, upright bass
Review
Sludge/Stoner Metal Riff Technicians Horseburner return with their fourth album Voice Of Storms and sees the band continue their Progressive and Technical based sounds on their acclaimed 2019 album The Thief. You can see why the band have well deserved comparisons to legendary bands such as Mastodon and Baroness as the band craft similar sounding Progressive themes but with a more outlandish premise especially on the more fast-paced and aggressive moments on the record.
Voice Of Storms sees Horseburner embrace that popular Post-Stoner and Psychedelic attitude that has served King Buffalo, Howling Giant and Restless Spirit recently but this time round the band adds sludgier levels of Ambient rhythms and a flat out classic Prog Metal score within the tracks of Summer Bride, The Gift and Heaven’s Eye. Horseburner weaves Prog Rock storytelling that may have a slight feel of OPETH at times but with the ferocious sound of modern-day MASTODON which still sounds quite vibrant.
However, that doesn’t stop Horseburner exploring other areas of music such as Folk Rock, Stadium Rock and even twinges of Jazzy interludes on the later stages of the record. There’s always a lush sounding heavy progressive groove that allows Horseburner to retain the status quo of their dominant Sludge/Stoner Metal destructive appetite.
There’s a sublime sense of great storytelling within this album which can be quite therapeutic even when Horseburner adds a more deeply aware and hard hitting social conscience into the mix. This allows Voice Of Storms to be quite a clever multi-charged record that’s populated by pulsating upbeat Psychedelic rhythms and extended instrumental passages.
The vocals are always engaging which flirt between bittersweet melodic vocals and a muscular Sludge/Stoner Metal style that’s became quite the mainstay for Horseburner over the last couple of records.
Other standout tracks are The Fawn, Hidden Bridges, Diana and Widow - that allows Horseburner to include other deft styles of Sludge/Stoner Metal that will appeal to fans such as Torche and High On FIre. Throw in some classic sounding THIN LIZZY inspired twin guitar energy and Horseburner are finally becoming masters of creating highly original music to call their own.
Voice Of Storms is beautifully produced and fully realized with robust production values that allows Horseburner to deliver a highly atmospheric record that’s bursting with classic sounding songs from start to finish. This is without doubt Horseburner’s best album to date and perhaps where all their future releases will be compared against. It’s quite simply an unmissable album.
Words by Steve Howe
Thanks to Purple Sage PR for the promo.
Voice Of Storms will be released on CD/DD/Vinyl via Blues Funeral Recordings from Friday 21st June 2024.
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