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EARLY MOODS
A Sinner’s Past

RidingEasy (2024)
Rating: 8/10

It’s good to see Los Angeles, California-based doomsters Early Moods back in the old routine of channelling traditional, heavyweight Candlemass, Pentagram, Witchfinder General and the more syrupy aspects of Soundgarden. Those with a penchant for the stripped back late 70s and early 80s mustiness will really enjoy this eight-song slab.

This sophomore outing was always going to be a winner after the band’s superb self-titled 2022 debut album, although the quintet has really excelled when it comes to creating memorable riffs, but most importantly is the fact that for 50 whole minutes the band maintains the quality. It’s so easy for doom bands to wane as their album unravels, but Early Moods keeps up the variety towards the back end of the opus.

Doom metal can at times bore, but there are so many songs here that brim with a character as ‘Walpurgis’ bubbles with a psychedelia, while ‘The Apparition’ literally makes the hairs on the back of the neck stand up due to its brooding nature. Early Moods have the ability to take what are essentially traditional and stark doom designs but inject an energy that prevents them from being mundane.

Amidst the heavy rolls the band charges things up with ‘Hell’s Odyssey’ and the title track, both of which break away from the more solemn grooves and in turn bring a degree of lighter stirs. Obviously there are elements of Black Sabbath with the record and in turn Trouble, particularly in some of the bass work from Elix Felciano.

Opening track ‘Last Hour’ and the excellent ‘Blood Offerings’ are certainly no stranger to those traditional elements which also come caressed with a Candlemass haze. Alberto Alcaraz remains reflective on those vocal tones and he is complimented wonderfully by the sometimes grunge-caked riffs of Eddie Andrade and the phantasmal leads of Oscar Hernandez.

Although this is a fine tome of a record it doesn’t match the impact of the debut, simply because I knew what was coming this time around, but A Sinner’s Past remains an often ominous long-player that acts as a stormy soundtrack to watch the grey skies gather.

Neil Arnold

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