Release Date: May 15th 2026. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: DD
No King - Tracklisting
1.Metro Map of Veins 05:49
2.Mongolia 06:02
3.Guardian 05:59
4.Master Race 05:40
5.No King 04:50
6.Hopeless 05:27
7.Sick Dimension 06:31
Review
Firstly I have to thank Doomcakes from the amazing blog Screaming From The Heavy Underground for this great recommendation. As this awesome album would have passed me by.
Finnish Doom/Sludge/Stoner Metallers Fossile debut album No King is quite an electrifying mix of different heavy sounds from the underground scene inspired by the likes of Thin Lizzy, Mastodon, MONOLORD, DOZER and LOWRIDER. The band have a superbly socially aware conscience within their hard hitting lyrics that give this record an extra layer of pissed off aggression whilst keeping in with the grounded reality of the modern day scene. There’s some classic hard rock instrumental solos that remind me of Thin Lizzy and DOZER which allows Fossile to play a fast paced style of Sludge/Stoner Metal throughout the whole album.
Fossile are adept at employing a dangerous style of AMPLIFIER HEAVINESS into their music that fans of MONOLORD will go crazy for as the music can be deliberately slow at times which allows their DOOM METAL persona to take complete control on tracks such as Metro Map Of Veins, Mongolia and Guardian.
There’s also a thrilling NORDIC style of Prog Metal that starts to develop that allows the vocals to have a more restrictive and earnest delivery to them. This allows the record to have a more human and organic feeling especially when the dual vocals take a commanding presence throughout the whole of Fossile’s musical delivery. You can feel that intense Sludge Metal sound coming at you from all directions which is quite a familiar and highly effective musical weapon from the Finnish Heavy Metal Scene that I’ve seen used with bands such as Demonic Death Judge.
No King runs for forty minutes across seven tracks and feels quite longer than it actually is. That’s a good thing as Fossile do many different progressive things with their music which is superbly original on different parts of the album. As I’ve stated previously, this is quite an aggressive and emotionally charged record but one that’s packed full of sublime melodies that have a graceful atmosphere to them. Fossile know when to drop the hammer and play a thuggish vibe to their music but they show great musicianship when playing a more mellow Post-Stoner delivery which leaves you fully satisfied on tracks such as Master Race, No King and Sick Dimension.
This is a record that’s bold enough to comment on the fucked up moments currently going on with the world and Fossile standing by their convictions which I fully endorse. This is a record with BRAINS and BRAWN in equal measure with Fossile demonstrating a great level of maturity you rarely expect within a debut album but these guys are the real deal.
They’re bound to have an exciting future within the underground scene that should hopefully see them gain a loyal following and release more outstanding records in the future such as this one.
Excellent and Highly Recommended.
Words by Steve Howe
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