Patriarchs In Black – Visioning
Reviewed by: Kenneth Gallant
Review Score: 8
If you are looking for some classic doom metal with a modern touch, then look no further. Patriarchs In Black return with album number three; bringing a slab of tracks to satiate all those doom metal fans out there. Both John Kelly (Type O Negative) and Dan Lorenzo (Hades) unite with a bunch of great guest vocalists and bass players for Visioning.
The new album has twelve blistering tracks of classic doom metal, combined with a dash of modern sounds and a seasoned peppering of crossover rap/punk. The end results are staggering, just based on the pedigree of musicians involved. The music is chock full of melodic riffs that brim to the surface; burning a hole right inside your brain. I think that’s the best way to describe the album’s effect of this reviewers ears.
‘Entry’ starts out with the sombre sounds of a violin (courtesy of Jonathan Eng) that runs for just under a minute, but quickly breaks into ‘What Do They Know? (For The Champions)’. The beat is infectious and I get some Kings X vibes with the harmonies. The next track ‘Before I Go’ is filled with moody guitars and features guest vocals from Karl Agell (Formerly of COC). I was a huge fan of Agell’s vocals on COC’s ‘Blind’ album from 1991, so it was a treat to hear him on this track.
The next track ‘Heart Of Spite’ starts right away with the heft of the guitars up front and is aided with some spirited vocals from Hob Traynor. The track sticks to a slow tempo, but the bluesy swagger of the riffs is music to my ears. ‘Low Price’ follows, featuring Mark Sunshine (from Riotgod) on vocals, quickly becoming a catchy piece along with Lorenzo’s stellar playing back things up. The punky/rap vibes of ‘Welcome To Hell Again’ kick in immediately with Lorenzo pulling double duty on bass and guitar. The song is extremely catchy and entertaining as all hell, plus the vocals from Kelly Abe and OMC really click here.
Then the blues kick hard when the opening of ‘Whiskey On My Mind’ erupts, but there’s stellar support from vocalist Frankie Diaz and bassist Sal Juvara for the added dimension. ‘Empty Cup’ features vocals from Exhorder’s Kyle Thomas who rips it up hard and brings back the doom in spades. I’ve always been a huge fan of vocalist Jason McMaster (Watch Tower and Dangerous Toys), who brings a ton of soul to ‘Curse My Name’. This is followed by the rap vibes found in ‘A Few Good Men’ with heaping amounts of groovy punk goodness that pick up soon after making this a pure winner. The track is also amplified by the vocals of Kelly Abe and DJ Puzzle on the turntables.
We get a folky instrumental called ‘Birth’ that brings back Jonathan Eng on the viola with Dan Lorenzo on acoustic guitar. I feel like the song is a bit out of place, but it only runs for two and a half minutes. At least they make up for it on the final track Visioning. The song springs to life as a jazzy slap to the face, but quickly mutates into a sludgy mess of doom and blues. The vocals of Mark Sunshine stand out here, and upon hearing his greasy delivery; he ties it all together with a rather neat bow on top.
Visioning is a solid record teeming with a whole host of styles and genres. You have to hand it to the electrifying combo of Kelly and Lorenzo. They play off each other like a well worn glove and it certainly helps to bring in a bevy of guest vocalists to back them up. Kyle Thomas and Karl Agell added to the mix and how can we not forget the other vocal contributions from Mark Sunshine and Kelly Abe. This line-up of musicians really knocked it out of the park, so don’t delay on getting your hands on a copy of this release.
Visioning is in stores July 19th from Metalville. Pre Order Here.