Release Date: August 22nd 2026. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: DD
Songs Of Praise - Tracklist
1.The Devil of Mariazell
2.Meet me in the woods at midnight
3.Blue Jeans
4.When the Sun Bursts
5.The ghost of Oliver Reed
6.Fimbulwinter
7.Crooked Lines
Members
Simon Bismarck (Vocals)
Good Luke (Guitar)
Prince Ben (Bass)
Ghost Pete (Drums, BV)
Ren Ashlea (BV, Blue. Jeans)
Review
Songs Of Praise is the second album from Psychedelic Doom Metallers Bleeding Antlers and it’s not what I expected at all with the band adding levels of Stoner Metal, Groove Metal, Sleaze Rock and some unorthodox Alternative melodies into their music. Bleeding Antlers feel inspired mostly by the likes of Candlemass, Pallbearer and Type O Negative but that only tells a brief part of the story they develop throughout the album.
There’s some highly dramatic, over the top and superbly epic that comes across with each individual track that allows Bleeding Antlers to forge a classic Traditional Doom Metal sound before applying modern day soundscapes into the mix. The record is deliciously dark with the lyrics and excellent vocals delivered by Simon Bismarck with great backing vocals appearing from Ghost Pete and Ren Ashlea.
The Post-Gothic dynamics becomes one of the album's main strengths especially within the standout tracks of Meet Me In The Woods At Midnight and Blues Jeans which have an obsessive Folk Rock trajectory dominating almost everything being played. You can hear the Type O Negative influence taking hold as the DOOM & GLOOM sound becomes quite emotional with some sinister lyrics emerging from the darkness. The album is quite leftfield with the gloomy atmospherics and frenzied grooves that can be quite distorted which was another cool surprise when listening to the album.
Bleeding Antlers experiment with their sound once more with traces of Alt Metal, Industrial Rock, Gothic Rock and Post-Punk appearing which just adds a whole layer of SLEAZE on tracks such as: When The Sun Bursts, The Ghost Of Oliver Reed and Crooked Lines. There is also a great style of subversive humour that’s been added to this record despite the serious tone of the record. It's good to see Bleeding Antlers having fun and letting the listener in on the joke especially with the album title.
For folks not in the know. Songs Of Praise is a long running British TV Show which is best described below from Wikipedia:
“A religious programme that presents Christian hymns, worship songs and inspirational performances in churches of varying denominations from around the UK alongside interviews and stories reflecting how Christian faith is lived out.”
However, Bleeding Antlers are quite serious with their music and they deliver some intense and highly majestic Doom Metal melodies that bridges the gap between Classic, Traditional and Modern Day themes with first rate delivery. This allows Songs Of Praise to be a thrilling record that offers a high momentum of great grooves and spellbinding sounds from start to finish.
Bleeding Antlers are the real deal and this record only proves this point time and time again.
Words by Steve Howe
Thanks to Bleeding Antlers and Metal Devastation Radio PR for the promo.
Songs Of Praise is available to buy now on Digital Download.
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