Horsehunter
Caged in Flesh
Magnetic Eye Records
Release Date: 21 April 2015
Review by Callum Doig
The doom metal scene has had a handful of acts that fire some top quality artistry in their 10-30 minute tracks, and some of them have the potential of becoming some of the best groups within the genre, past, present and future. One of those acts happens to be stoner/doom quartet; Horsehunter. After a number of support slots for big international bands such as Sleep, Conan, High On Fire and Kylesa, Horsehunter has received acclaimed feedback from critics on their live shows. And with their debut four track release ‘Caged in Flesh’, the doom quartet is set to bring a whole new aura of their genre to the metal community worldwide.
My favourite among the four tracks is the first song ‘Stoned To Death’, which follows a 16 minute trip into a psychedelic void of multiplicity, with the exert of distinctive approaches that transcend from slow and sludgy to moderate groove tempos. With the vocal sharing between bassist Himi and guitarist Mike, the aura they give off sets a perfect path of the characteristics of what ‘Stoned to Death’ follows in the influences of Sleep, Baroness and Kylesa all the way through.
The title track ‘Caged in Flesh’ takes you into one hell of a heavily trippy twelve-minute ride. Going towards a heavy approach for their first three minutes, the band later switches to some nightmare-sounding drones that resemble a noise music influence synchronising with daunting screams of the band up until they reach up to their six and a half minute mark, returning to their stoner doom blend for the rest of the track.
‘Nightfall’ serves as a three minute instrumental, consisting of a bleakish mellow guitar track alongside a dark ambient score nearing the end of the song. I treat ‘Nightfall’ like a prelude to what Horsehunter had available to finish ‘Caged In Flesh’ in their grand finale ‘Witchery’. ‘Witchery’ holds no surprising barriers, as the song blasts some aggressive traces throughout half of what the track offers. The band take a different step with some dark ambient tactics, with drummer Nick Cron keeping the rest of the band in sync with the somewhat mellow, yet dark guitar implementations.
Horsehunter set a good example as to why one should never disregard the doom metal subgenre. They are one of the rarest bands to find that carry no traces of negative qualities in their music and in the underground scene. ‘Caged in Flesh’ is the best representation of how doom metal is performed in true top quality. So, if you ever see a poster with their name on it in your city, you’d better be sure as hell you’ll be at that gig, because Horsehunter have but a continuation to set more amazing quality as artists.
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