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GODTHRYMM
A Grand Reclamation EP

Transcending / Cosmic Key Creations (2018)
Rating: 8/10

Halifax, England-based Godthrymm is the lastest doom metal band on the block, and A Grand Reclamation is their debut EP.

The outing consists of four tracks, constructed by vocalist / guitarist Hamish Glencross (Vallenfyre / ex-My Dying Bride / ex-Solstice), guitarist Lee “Chaz” Netherwood (ex-Solstice), bass player Rich Mumford (Malediction) and drummer Shaun “Winter” Taylor-Steels (My Dying Bride / ex-Anathema / ex-Solstice). The end result is a mighty, creaking doom-quake of dark, foreboding and above all, mountainous structures that tumble like great black waterfalls.

The opening title track is a seven-minute cauldron of thick substance built upon those epic vocal booms of Glencross and Taylor-Steels’ immense percussive booms. It’s only natural that this combo will feature flecks of the bands they originally played with, and those grandiose stirring melancholic melodies bring the same glorious aches as early My Dying Bride and Anathema. The rich, monstrous riffs are also streaked with subtle tones before the avalanche of whining morbidity comes through like a slow-motion wave of gloom.

The equally gargantuan ‘Sacred Soil’ trudges with moodiness. The chugging riffs are punctuated by morose melody as the drums nod in prolific fashion as if in agreement with the whole suspenseful gorge that has been carved out by these experienced warlords of woe.

However, rather than opt for the doom-by-numbers sound that so many acts seem to be tempted by, this quartet instead injects so many twists and turns by way of those more delicate nuances. And not once do these fragile passages detract from what is above and beyond a sturdy, stony wall of atmospheric doom. Hamish Glencross’ vocals act more as commanding warnings; booming, far-reaching echoes of a man on a hillside gathering his tribe, as behind him his comrades construct thick barricades out of hefty riffs.

But this isn’t an EP that lumbers or slogs in spite of the mid-paced territory it adopts. ‘The Pantheon’ comes rolling with ominous presence as those sombre chords reach out from the haze to touch the sky. Glencross’ voice here is a tad dirtier; lower in tone and chesty as the combo heaves itself along like a great primitive machine. For eight-minutes we tap, nod and shudder along to this mighty tome, as Godthrymm marry together an immense and purposeful groove of classic doom and deathlier chimes, but never once being out of tune with the elephantine and the epic.

The whole EP winds its way like a great serpent and into the closing short instrumental of ‘Forevermore’; a mere trickle of subtlety to round off this grand doom slab.

Neil Arnold

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