Smoulder: Times of Obscene Evil and Wild Daring (2019)

A cover like that makes me think of bands like Cirith Ungol and Candlemass, and for good reason.  Apparently the artist of this cover also did artwork for releases by Cirith Ungol and a number of fantasy novels.  And so, taking one look at this album cover, it would seem likely that this will be an epic doom metal album, and that is exactly correct.

And lyrically, it is pretty clear what this album will be like as well.  The name of the album is a reference to Michael Moorcock's The Greater Conqueror.  I am not personally familiar with the novella, nor have I read any of the works by Moorcock, but I have a pretty good idea of the subject matter.  It will have references to the kinds of swords and sorcery content that is prevalent in a lot of epic doom metal and quite a bit of power metal as well.  And with song titles like "Ilian of Garathorm" and "The Sword Woman", it is pretty clear that this will appeal to fans of fantasy epics.

The album is basically split into two distinct sections.  The first half of the album features faster-paced (relatively speaking) songs with catchy choruses and sweeping hooks.  "Bastard Steel" is the highlight here with the fastest riff on the album.  The second half is much slower with lumbering riffs that call to mind The Gates of Slumber, a band I absolutely loved.  So I am fully on board with both sides of the album.

What sets Smoulder apart is the fact that their singer is a woman.  This is something that does seem to be becoming more and more common these days.  Iron Griffin is another doom metal band with a woman singing.  Sarah Ann is a terrific singer and her range fits in well with the band's sound.

This is an incredibly impressive debut album by this Canadian doom metal band.  This is another example of why Bandcamp is such a great site.  I am not sure I would have heard of this otherwise.  I would have been missing out.