Nuclear Blast
2012
1. Starlight Slaughter
2. Sword Of The Ocean
3. Valhalla Rising
4. Storm King
5. Silver Moon
6. The Hunt
7. Son Of The Last Breath Part I: Nattfodd Part II: Vedergallning
8. Iron Hand
9. Draksadd
Grand Magus are a band who have put out two albums I've loved in Wolf's Return and the last, Hammer Of The North. They've also put out some albums that I've liked, but not quite loved in the other three. Either way I was expecting an enjoyable album out of this one, but I did wonder if they could continue the awesome sound that Hammer Of The North brought forth. Basically, I tend to like this band doing doom/stoner stuff, but I love them when they just go balls out metal like on Wolf's Return and Hammer Of The North.
After listening to The Hunt I'm left with the same sort of uneven, hit and miss impression of the band. I want to be excited about them and I am at times, but other times their material is just 'pretty good'. Grand Magus have yet to make anything I haven't liked, but I feel the same way after listening to this one as when Iron Will followed up Wolf's Return. The material just isn't as strong and it ends up being a little disappointing. Nothing here hits with the kind of epic build up as a song like Hammer Of The North or blazes like I, The Jury. What we have here is a less Heavy and more groove and some of it runs together. This isn't a bad album as a stonerish groove album, but it also lacks the heaviness this band is capable of bringing and the tracks bleed together a bit. The Hunt is a decent epic sounding track, but again not quite as good as some that have come before. Still, it is one of the better ones here. Iron Hand is also pretty good as a heavier and somewhat speedier pick up. I wish more tracks on The Hunt had this energy level.
Overall, I just fail to be impressed here. This is pretty good, but it's not that remarkable and I know the band can and has done better. Maybe Grand Magus should spend some more time between songwriting sessions. This theme of Great album, pretty good, Great album, pretty good makes it hard to fully invest in them so to speak. The Hunt might be worth it if you like groove based metal with slightly gruff mid-range vocals. This isn't their best work though.
Highlights: The Hunt, Iron Hand
Rating - 3.0/5
2. Sword Of The Ocean
3. Valhalla Rising
4. Storm King
5. Silver Moon
6. The Hunt
7. Son Of The Last Breath Part I: Nattfodd Part II: Vedergallning
8. Iron Hand
9. Draksadd
Grand Magus are a band who have put out two albums I've loved in Wolf's Return and the last, Hammer Of The North. They've also put out some albums that I've liked, but not quite loved in the other three. Either way I was expecting an enjoyable album out of this one, but I did wonder if they could continue the awesome sound that Hammer Of The North brought forth. Basically, I tend to like this band doing doom/stoner stuff, but I love them when they just go balls out metal like on Wolf's Return and Hammer Of The North.
After listening to The Hunt I'm left with the same sort of uneven, hit and miss impression of the band. I want to be excited about them and I am at times, but other times their material is just 'pretty good'. Grand Magus have yet to make anything I haven't liked, but I feel the same way after listening to this one as when Iron Will followed up Wolf's Return. The material just isn't as strong and it ends up being a little disappointing. Nothing here hits with the kind of epic build up as a song like Hammer Of The North or blazes like I, The Jury. What we have here is a less Heavy and more groove and some of it runs together. This isn't a bad album as a stonerish groove album, but it also lacks the heaviness this band is capable of bringing and the tracks bleed together a bit. The Hunt is a decent epic sounding track, but again not quite as good as some that have come before. Still, it is one of the better ones here. Iron Hand is also pretty good as a heavier and somewhat speedier pick up. I wish more tracks on The Hunt had this energy level.
Overall, I just fail to be impressed here. This is pretty good, but it's not that remarkable and I know the band can and has done better. Maybe Grand Magus should spend some more time between songwriting sessions. This theme of Great album, pretty good, Great album, pretty good makes it hard to fully invest in them so to speak. The Hunt might be worth it if you like groove based metal with slightly gruff mid-range vocals. This isn't their best work though.
Highlights: The Hunt, Iron Hand
Rating - 3.0/5
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