Grand Magus - Grand Magus
Release Date: 2010Sep28 (US)
Label: Metal Blade Records
Rating: 4.5/5
Grand Magus is a Swedish doom metal band comprised of vocalist/lead guitarist Janne “JB” Christofferson, Fox on bass/backing vocals and SEB on drums. This album was originally released in 2001 on Rise Above Records. “Gauntlet” gets things off to a good start with a bluesy feel, strongly evoking Black Sabbath (isn’t it required that all doom bands pay homage at the altar of Iommi/Butler?). You have to get past the first three songs to get to the best parts of this album. “Black Hound Of Vengeance” is a lovely track. The intro is dripping with blues, evoking Pentagram. JB’s vocals seem to work very well with the overall flow of this track. “Coat Of Arms” follows with dirty, grungy doom. For some reason, the guitars and time signature make me think of early Alice In Chains. It’s a comparison that might seem out of place, though you can find out for yourself. “Generator” sounds like a three-way between Blue Cheer, Hawkwind and Led Zeppelin. It’s a little soft, slower and harmonic in nature. “Lodbrok” also pays tribute to the gods of doom, and it sounds like it came right out of the Sabbath playbook. Two more excellent picks are “Mountain Of Power” and “Tale of The Unexpected”, which takes on a feel similar to Ozzy Osbourne’s solo work around the 2:15 mark.
One of the biggest flaws of doom metal is sounding too much like the forefathers of that style. Grand Magus manages to pay tribute to their influences and keep things to where they engage the listener instead of driving the listener to death via boredom. I honestly cannot think of a bad track on this album and I recommend that you play the living daylights out of it.
FCC: None
Try: All, but especially 4,5,6,8,11
01. Gauntlet
02. Legion
03. Never Learned
04. Black Hound of Vengeance
05. Coat Of Arms
06. Generator
07. Wheel Of Time
08. Lodbrok
09. Black Hole
10. Mountain Of Power
11. Tale Of the Unexpected
12. Grand Magus
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