“The Hour Be None” has a nice intro. “Call for the hearse” is everything you want from a doom metal band. It is heavy, slow cadenced, fuzz and strong guitar riffs, and the highlight, the singer with a male sepulchral voice. Singer Luther “Finlay” Veldmark has a really great voice. What a throat the man has! He can impose his voice and reach the notes he wants. He goes from the lowest tune to the highest so easyly as the Metal school of singers has been teaching for almost fifty years. The six songs are pretty long in “The Hour Be None.” There are lots of tempo variations. What is not really common in doom metal bands. Hooded Priest got my attention because of this. Tempos are really varied. “These Skies Must Break” gets even a little fast. Of course, not an allegro, but faster than the average.
Hooded Priest are a band that prove that to be doomy, you do not really to copycat everything Black Sabbath did. There is much more room to cover. For instance, one can always get a church organ sound to make things gloomy. The guitarist can always try some different tones and weird sequences, of course, as Jeff Von D does in “These Skies Must Break.” Riffs can be as delicious as in “Herod Again.” For my surprise, at the end of “Locust Reaper,” things got a little bit “The End” of The Doors. The Doors were a bit doomy. Or was only I that noticed that? I mean, guys, there is no formula. You can do everything you want as long as it goes heavy.
Hooded Priest were farther than I expected. “The Hour Be None” is an effort of respect.
Hooded Priest “The Hour Be None” was released on December 1st via I Hate Records.
Track Listing:
- Exiting the Real
- Call for the hearse
- These Skies Must Break
- Herod Again
- Locust Reaper
- Mother of Plagues
Watch “Call for the Hearse” live video here:
