COUNT RAVEN "The Sixth Storm" [12" LP, Black Vinyl, Gatefold]
2022 - Doom from Sweden
Detailed Description
Twelve years have passed since the release of Mammons War, the last record from Sabbath-worshipping Swedes Count Raven, and for my money probably the best record they'd ever released. It had a more brazen, bright, slightly modern sound than earlier cult classics like Storm Warning and Destruction of the Void, but the concept was much the same, a quality continuity for a style that sadly the originators hadn't been peddling in quite some time (with the exception of 13). Big, catchy, traditional doom metal riffing, great vocals in that mocking, melodic, demonic Osbourne style that for me is like breathing air at this point; the memorable but mildly flawed execution that will creep me out more than most of the band's potential successors ever have, even the most distinct among them like the late Eric Wagner, or Messiah Marcolin.