Review by Chris Maddocks

Orange Goblin and Paradise Lost both rate Alunah very highly. Highly enough to offer them support slots so what’s the deal? Fans of the aforementioned bands and stoner, doom and psychedelic rock fans as a whole, should find Alunah just their cuppa. They are a four piece from the West Midlands who have been gaining experience and momentum on the live circuit over the last few years.

The album starts off very doomy. A nice slow descending progression, reminiscent of fellow West Midlands doom Godfathers Black Sabbath, sets the scene but soon flares up into a more rocking verse. The tempo of album opener, Living Fast In Ancient Land rises and falls to create a delightfully atmospheric journey. Across their 9 track LP, Alunah are not afraid to change the pace of a song half way through and they use these tempo changes to great effect, keeping the listener on their sonic toes.

There’s a ton of heavy, murky riffs on offer throughout the album and title track, Call of Avernus, is no exception. I especially like the guitar tones used. They’re perfectly dialled in. Warm, hazy and the bass levels no doubt piss off their neighbours as Alunah churn out riff after chugging riff. Top marks.

Magick Lantyrn is a slight departure from the album template. It’s only 2 mins long but it’s little cracker. Smuggled in amongst the longer tunes it’s not just the length that sets it apart. The use of vocals and the mood created are excellent. Best vocals on the album by far. I really wish this tune went on for another couple of minutes at least. If you find yourself in a hazy flat at 2 am waiting for the pizza to turn up you could do a lot worse than sticking this track on repeat.

A lot seems to have been made of the fact that Alunah have a female vocalist. Ok. Good for you. In a genre with such great charismatic lead singers as John Garcia, Matt Pike, Ben Ward and even Ozzy, this for me is where the bar has been set regardless of gender and whilst I can’t fault this collection of well written and well produced songs for it’s musical content, if there is a weakness to this record it’s in the vocal department. I felt the vocals at times lacked conviction and as a result were in danger of being over shadowed by the consistently good tunes around them. Having said that Alunah are a good and very talented band with a lot of potential. I, for one, will watch their progress with great interest.

7/10

http://www.alunah.co.uk/

The album is out now on Catacomb Records and is available from all the usual outlets.