Release Date: April 08th 2022. Record Label: Self Released. Format: DD/Vinyl
They Seek My Head - Tracklisting
1.Heart of the Sickle 04:56
2.Punished 03:40
3.Becomes the Gold 03:58
4.Covet 03:52
5.Nail & Tooth 02:59
6.The Crawl 04:58
7.Lorded Over 03:34
8.They Seek My Head 03:47
Members
Nathan Hickey - Drums
Christian Pearce - Guitars
Greg Broadmore - Guitars
E.J. Thorpe - Vocals
Review
New Zealand Doom/Stoner Metal powerhouse unit End Boss make a mighty entrance with their debut album They Seek My Head. The band has Beastwars drummer Nathan Hickey in their ranks who knows a thing or two about creating heavy Sludge/Doom/Stoner Metal sounds. End Boss are a different band to that great band with End Boss playing a Blues Rock and Hard Rock style of Doom/Stoner Metal with some vintage Psychedelic flourishes.
End Boss are quite a confident unit on their debut album with lead vocalist E.J. Thorpe making some LOUD NOISE of her very own. E.J.’s vocals are astonishingly powerful with a BLUES ROCK edge but one fitting of a HEAVY METAL platform. The music is powered by the aggressive Twin Guitars of Christian and Greg respectively. We all know what a fantastic drummer Nathan already is and he brings his own sludge masterclass to proceedings on this album.
The songs on the record are varied with the sludgy psychedelic grooves merging superbly well with the gloomier and doomier based aspects on the early stages of the album with songs Heart Of The Sickle, Punished and Becomes The Gold setting the high standard early on. I loved the psychedelic mid-tempo changes of Punished especially when E.J.'s vocals being perfectly tuned in with the heavy guitars. The atmosphere moves between Post-Doom and Post-Stoner on Punished and Becomes The Gold.
End Boss evokes the musical creative spirits of bands such as Royal Thunder and Windhand. A winning combination that you feel and hear from start to finish.
Other standout songs include: Covet, The Crawl, Lorded Over and They Seek My Head.
The band impresses the most on the second half of the album as the music becomes more heavier and distorted especially on Lorded Over and They Seek My Head. The album which End Boss co-produced with regular BEASTWARS producer James Goldsmith is simply fantastic and has similar powerful levels of gloomy atmospherics oozing from every corner.
End Boss have delivered a superbly rich and adventurous album packed full of thunderous grooves and delicious vocals to match. This record also points out another great band from the New Zealand Heavy Rock and Heavy Metal scene has truly arrived.
Words by Steve Howe
Thanks to Sheltered Life PR for the promo.
They Seek My Head is available to buy now on DD/Vinyl
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