Hailing from Munster, Germany's HIGH WARDEN was founded by vocalist / guitarist Alastair van Morgue-Gul and drummer Sadistic Hammer in 2022. The first sign of life from this self-proclaimed "Morgul Doom Commando" was the demo Land of Stone, released in early 2023 by DYING VICTIMS. Initially hired as a live bassist, Lord Perish joined the band as a full-time member that year. With their lineup thus set, HIGH WARDEN prepare to ride into battle with their full-length debut, Astral Iron. The title serves as an aesthetic springboard for their idiosyncratic sound. Granted, HIGH WARDEN are influenced by legendary bands like Reverend Bizarre, Doomsword, Bathory, Manilla Road, Pagan Altar, Trouble, and Mercyful Fate, but their version of epic heavy / doom metal is as foreign as it is familiar: Slow Heavy Metal, as they accurately refer to it. Recorded live, Astral Iron pounds and pulses vibrantly, deploying riffs coursing and crushing barbarically before leaving wide-open spaces in anticipation of that next addicting slash of ancient steel. HIGH WARDEN's tones match their execution - earthen and mossy, grit encasing clarity - and each of the album's five primary tracks ("Burgfrieden" is a hauntingly serene synth interlude that gives way to feedback) lumber forward with epic aplomb and high adventure. The vocals of A. v. Morgue-Gul are plaintive and poignant, illustrating tales mainly based on individual thoughts but suitably packaged as analogies to various fantasy works (like those of J.R.R. Tolkien), historical events, and legends & myths. Unbelievers only need to hear Astral Iron's closing epic "We Shall Burn at Foreign Shores (The Choice of Achilles)" to witness the blanching power of HIGH WARDEN!
