ninehertz

Sonic Lord - now there's a name that leaves you in no doubt about what you are to receive. A nice slab of cosmic doom, perchance? You're not wrong. Their most recent release, Trawling Through Sludge, is a two-track demo of dense doom riffage.

Hailing from the original home of heavy metal, Birmingham, Sonic Lord may take their base from their regional compatriots, Black Sabbath, but the more helpful and modern comparisons here are with the mighty Electric Wizard, particularly pre-Dopethrone era, and New Orleans' sludge pioneers Crowbar.

Displaying an ear and writing ability for good, healthily thick riffs, Sonic Lord create a darkly enjoyable atmosphere throughout the demo's twelve-plus minutes. Despite lending themselves to the style, the vocals unfortunately are the weak link in the music - never breaking from the spoken (or, more accurately, barked) narrative style into any kind of 'singing' at any point. Yet it is a minor discretion that doesn't really detract from the impressive groove created. Definitely worth checking out.