The Hounds Of Hasselvander - The Ninth Hour (2011)

A sonic blast of fuzzy doom - the creation of Joe Hasselvander, drum lord of such metal kings as Pentagram and Raven. 'The Ninth Hour' is Joe's third opus, here he handles drums, guitar and vocals, coming across like a swampy hybrid of Lemmy and Scott Weinrich of St Vitus, mixing the coffin creak of Pentagram, St Vitus, early Trouble and a doomier Motorhead. This is an immense record that oozes on monstrous sludge riffs and monolithic drum scuzz but isn't afraid to carve out catchy melody, the oaken 'Salem' a prime example of '70s bluesy mulch and creepy Pagan weirdness. The monstrius title cut, sliding in at an epic twelve minutes or so, flutters in with eerie rain fall and one note piano as if creating some type of horror soundtrack before lurching into some type of neanderthal gloom doom, right up there with the likes of Candlemass and the likes, only less glassy, but more so dirty. The track never leaves its slug-like crawl as the guitars wail and the drums reverberate like chilling thunder. This is the soundtrack for the perfect black mass, a stirring, satanic behemoth of a doom record that somehow carves a brand new corner into this tried and tested of genre. Most certainly fans of Pentagram and St Vitus will find this captivating. 7.5/10