Release Date: September 04th 2026. Record Label: Self Released. Format: DD
Vulture Neck - Tracklist
1. Höst (2:46)
2. Rat Riders (7:03)
3. Phantom Carriage (5:16)
4. Raining Fire, Raining Stones (3:44)
5. Bright Lights Descending (5:53)
6. Hand Of A Drowning Man (5:55)
7. Abyss Made Of Stone (7:06)
Members
Östen Jäderberg - drums
Magnus Öhrn - vocals and bass
Martin Sällström - vocals and guitar
Elin and Hanna Jäderberg - backing vocals on Bright Lights Descending
Review
Vulture Neck’s debut self-titled album continues with the rebellious Power-Trio attitude they brought on their acclaimed 2023 debut EP but on a more grander scale as they have more time to play with. This allows Vulture Neck to create heavier levels of sludgy surroundings which sees a Stoner Rock attitude develop with areas of Doom, Sludge, Psych sounds to converge on a mountain top of classic hard rock themes.
The sound is quite raw sounding with a distinctive Garage Rock / Proto-metal attitude forming within the opening tracks of Host and Rat Riders which sees Vulture Neck bring a determined focus into their music. There are small elements of modern day Swedish Sludge/Stoner Metal forming that remind me of the likes of Dozer, Cities Of Mars and Firebreather. The sludgy sounds become quire progressive with Vulture Neck adding a gloomy atmosphere behind the scenes.
The vocals are not the most refined but they perfectly match the music that Vulture Neck stunningly creates throughout the record. Shades of Doom & Gloom become more commonplace within the album as Vulture Neck bring an end of the world scenario into their music. The lyrics are quite bleak and get straight to the point on tracks such as Rat Riders, Phantom Carriage, “Raining Fire, Raining Stones” and Bright Lights Descending.
There’s also some great melodic parts of the record which you only begin to notice on repeated listens with Vulture Neck applying some great musical mechanics within both the “HEAVIER” and “QUIETER” aspects of the album. The warped atmospherics constantly moves to the greyer areas of Doom, Sludge and Stoner Metal but Vulture Neck always allow themselves and the listener to have some brief uplifting musical passages which allows the record to be transformed into a wicked Classic Hard Rock sound that remind me of Black Sabbath and Budgie at times.
Vulture Neck always tries something different with each track and for the most part everything comes off superbly well with the record not afraid to take huge risks that allows the album to be refreshingly different and slightly offbeat at the same time. The instrumental parts are epic and superbly cinematic when they’re fully required to but Vulture Neck always have the balls to apply logical Proto-Metal decisions to disrupt the musical flow which leads to some of the most exciting sounds of the album to fully emerge.
One of the main standouts of the album is the Progressive attitude that Vulture Neck apply to their music that shows shades of the legendary RUSH in places and even Mastodon when the band fully transforms into Progressive Sludge Metal monsters. There’s something for everyone to seek out and fully explore with this excellent recorded and produced album. Vulture Neck delivers the goods with a great supply of grounded melodies and hard hitting grooves that will leave you mightily impressed from start to finish.
Excellent and Highly Recommended.
Words by Steve Howe
Vulture Neck is available to buy now on Digital Download