JOINTHUGGER - Surrounded By Vultures (Album Review)

Release Date: October 31st 2021. Record Label: Majestic Mountain Records. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl

Surrounded By Vultures  - Tracklisting

1.In Dire Need Of Fire Ch. 2

2.Midnight 

3.Empty Space

4.Delysid Rex

5.The Calm

Review

Heavy Psych Doom/Stoner Rockers JOINTHUGGER have come storming back with their 2nd album Surrounded By Vultures. A more expansive sound compared to their previous releases with the band focusing more upon sonic exploration that evokes memories of SLEEP and MONOLORD. Maybe not as distorted as two bands but JOINTHUGGER still manages to play a more daring style of Progressive based Doom/Stoner Metal that soon goes into the 70’s Doom Rock and modern day Psychedelic territories.

Opening song In One Need Of Fire Ch. 2 is an instrumental heavy take on modern day Psych Doom/Stoner Rock with heavy flashy guitars with a little sense of distortion and sludgy grooves. The song feels like it has a beginning, middle and end with JOINTHUGGER bringing some wild ideas to the party. There is also a YOB quality and feel to the heavier Psychedelic parts but this is mostly JOINTHUGGER playing a thrilling sound that becomes quite FREAKY and OUT THERE towards the end of the song.

Second song Midnight is the longest track on the album, lasting nearly 10:30 minutes. It’s a sprawling piece of Psychedelic Doom Metal with the Stoner Rock influence dialled back a bit and the band sound more dangerous on this track with a Sabbathian and Uncle Acid influence being calmly added to the more sombre moments. The song does take time for JOINTHUGGER to fully come into their own sound but when everything hits just right this becomes one of the best songs on the record. Excellent and different vocal styles bring a flash of 60s and 70s classic hard rock that actually works with the modern day Sludgy elements that’s bursting to come out to play from the backdrop that’s holding everything together.

The album takes more creative spins and turns for the better on third track Empty Space with JOINTHUGGER changing musical direction yet again with the heavy Stoner based guitars dictating the action with the band delivering  a great style of both Classic and Modern based Psychedelic sounds. JOINTHUGGER have played this style to great effect on their previous releases but it’s with this song where everything feels right and the band feel like a more powerful creative unit.

The final two songs Delysid Rex and The Calm offer seventeen minutes of Psychedelic and Trippy vibes, perhaps becoming one the best things that JOINTHUGGER actually adds to their overall sound. 

Everything feels self contained on this release with each song having a different story to tell each other.  Fantastic lyrics really add to the experience of Surrounded By Vultures by bringing a cool Spooky and Occult Rock feeling to the album. Though the standout part is the instrumental work with JOINTHUGGER proving to be one of the best upcoming Doom/Stoner Metal bands from the Norwegian Scene. They have a great outlook of blending Classic Heavy Rock grooves with the more threatening modern day riffs that’s littered throughout this record.

Surrounded By Vultures is a delicious, adventurous and dark slice of Psychedelic Doom/Stoner Rock. 

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Majestic Mountain Records and Sheltered Life PR for the promo.

Surrounded By Vultures will be available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl via Majestic Mountain Records from October 31st 2021.

Links

Facebook | BandCamp

Nordic Doom Giants JOINTHUGGER Announce Second Release of the Year with SURROUNDED BY VULTURES

Photo Credit: Pål Bellis Photography

Formed in 2012 amidst the Norwegian fjords, Jointhugger are an explosive trio that recall the cosmic doom of rock colossic like Shrinebuilder, Sleep and YOB.

Having first come to the attention of Majestic Mountain Records following the release of their debut, I Am No One in 2020, an unhallowed union was quickly established to herald the arrival of not one, but two new records in 2021. The first, a sublime one-track EP – Reaper Season – was released to high praise earlier in the year, foreshadowing the arrival of their latest and most lethal entry into the annals of Nordic Doom; Surrounded by Vultures.

“Surrounded by Vultures is the second instalment in a trilogy of albums connected by correlating titles, united by their opening tracks,” explains Nico. “It’s a chronicle of Jointhugger’s journey as a band over the last ten years and our lives as people.”

Now counting drummer, Adam Suleiman (Saint Karloff), among its ranks, the band recorded the album live before handing over mixing and mastering duties to Haldor Grunberg at Satanic Audio. Featuring a curated selection of old and new tracks that offer a candid glimpse into the inner world of Jointhugger, ‘Midnight’; the first sprawling and cinematic single from the record reflects deeply on the chaos of existence and creation. Drawing a crushing heaviness and doom rock assault that lays waste to the turbulence of dominion.

Pre-order Surrounded by Vultures, the brand-new album by Jointhugger with Majestic Mountain Records here, ahead of its official release on Sunday 31st October 2021.

FFO: Domkraft, Electric Wizard, Saint Karloff

Jointhugger on Facebook | Bandcamp | Instagram | YouTube

Jointhugger - Reaper Season (EP Review)

Release Date: 02nd April 2021. Record Label: Majestic Mountain Records. Formats: CD/DD/Vinyl

Reaper Season - Tracklisting

Reaper Season

Review

Norwegian Psychedelic Doom/Stoner Metal collective Jointhugger made a mighty impression last year with their acclaimed debut album I Am No One. The release showed a band with a keen ear for aggression and melody in equal measure with influences ranging from the best known bands from the underground Doom/Stoner Metal scene such as SLEEP and YOB.

Jointhugger have returned with their new EP - Reaper Season - which consists of a singular 18 minute plus song that sees the band venture through many different elements of the Psychedelic Doom/Stoner Metal platform. The band have refined their aggression on this release and have taken a “YOB” based approach for this release with the song starting very slowly with lush psychedelic grooves dictating the action.

The band have a lot of ground to cover on this song and the mood turns into a more bombastic style of music with the atmosphere having a more modern sound and feel. The heavy drumming and guitars allow the vocals to slowly drift in and out with relevant ease. The Prog Rock/Metal tendencies of this release is quite different compared to Jointhugger’s debut album. This has a murkier style of Doom/Stoner Metal with an almost classical “Rock Opera” structure being heard on this release.

The song despite the impressive long running time is always constantly changing and on the move with many different parts to the song. Everything feels and sounds in the correct order with a soulful dynamic with flashes of classic Doom Rock/Metal to the more modern Stoner Metal flavours heard towards the later stages of the song.

Reaper Season has a more spaced out element that I didn’t initially expect but this allows Jointhugger to be more adventurous with the creative choices they made for this EP.

This EP is the first of two releases that Jointhugger have planned and going by the evidence on this EP alone then Jointhugger could be on the verge of bigger and greater things. Reaper Season is a wonderfully epic EP with Jointhugger releasing an even better release than last year’s debut album.

Excellent and Highly Recommended.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Sheltered Life PR for the promo. Reaper Season will be available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl via Majestic Mountain Records from April 02nd 2021.

Links

Facebook | BandCamp

Jointhugger - I Am No One (Album Review)

Release date: May 1^st 2020. Label: Interstellar Smoke Records. Format: DD/Vinyl

I Am No One – Tracklisting

1.In Dire Need Of Fire Ch. 1 08:16

2.I Am No One 09:44

3.Domen 08:56

4.Nightfright 10:48

Members

Nico - Guitar/vox

Tore - Bass

Dan - Drums

Review

I Am No One is the debut full length album from Norwegian Doom/Stoner Metallers Jointhugger who used a variety of different Cosmic and Psychedelic sounds throughout this album. The music is quite raw-sounding and feels like the album was recorded live with it’s rough and ready approach the band use for the majority of the album. Though, it’s quite a vivid style of music that Jointhugger employ here with the music having a direct and aggressive Doom/Stoner Metal groove.

Opening song – In Dire Need Of Fire Ch. 1 – is loaded with top-heavy FUZZ based riffs with the band soon moving onto different and aggressive style of Doom/Stoner Metal with a trippy undercurrent of Psychedelic Rock/Metal with echoes of Black Sabbath and SLEEP being heard in the background. The song is equally as progressive with the band using the 8 minutes plus wisely to their own advantage. The song is purely instrumental with Jointhugger keeping the song flowing with rich ideas from start to finish.

Second song – I Am No One – is the second longest track on the album running almost 10 minutes in length and Jointhugger open the song with a distorted Post-Doom sound that moves along a slow pace that offers a cold atmosphere as well. The song does take time to fully find it’s rhythm but once the heavy riffs appear then Jointhugger are on menacing form playing their hybrid Psychedelic Doom/Stoner Metal style of music. The vocals from Nico are a welcome addition and you feel more connected to the album and the band itself. The heavy and dirty FUZZ sounds offer an extra layer of heaviness which makes this perhaps the standout song on the album.

Jointhugger experiment with their sound on the 2^nd half of the album with Ambient Soundscapes and Post-Metallic vibes allowing this part of the album becoming slightly more sinister compared to the first song.

The final two songs – Domen and Nightfright – is the heaviest parts of the album but Jointhugger still offer moments of deliciously twisted Psychedelic Stoner Metal that leaves I Am No One being quite an adventurous and different sounding album you would initially expect.

I Am No One is an album that is bolstered by top-notch production and allows Jointhugger to play by their own rules and this makes this quite an exciting album to add to your music collection.

Excellent and Highly Recommended.

Words by Steve Howe

I Am No One is available to buy now on DD/Vinyl from Insterstellar Smoke Records.

Links:

Facebook | BandCamp