Artist: The Bretwaldas Of Heathen Doom
Title: Seven Bloodied Ramparts
Type: EP
Label: King Penda Productions

Nothing like having a short, snappy band name, is there? I mean, in an age where half of us can’t even be bothered to type the letter E in the word text, and ppl is apparently a valid word in the English language, how can a band with such a verbose name possibly take off? The average kid will get distracted or fall asleep half way through reading the cover, and that’s before they’ve even got around to listening to the music! Besides, what’s a Bretwalda, I hear you ask? Well according to the gospel that is Wikipedia, a Bretwalda is a ruler of an Anglo-Saxon kingdom from the 5th century onwards, who achieved overlordship of some or all of the other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. So, it’s not just a silly made-up word as I initially thought.

At least the name holds no surprises as to what this Birmingham based duo are about. ‘Welcome The Rider’ rides in with a punkish bassline and an inviting riff that grinds down into a sluggish, doom-laden verse. The riff here is mighty and you can feel Thor’s hammer being swung through the air aiming to crush the skull of the enemy. Things plod along at a fairly down-tempo pace, proudly prowling the land. ‘Raising The Wind’ chugs along while the drumming here is rather distinctive, and then ‘A Handful Of Dust’ buzzes overhead before zoning in and again the riffs are crushingly heavy, mighty and metal as fuck and the humongous bassline sits alongside refusing to stay buried.

‘Flight Of Curse’ is a slight change of tone sounding rather melancholic at times. There’s a backdrop of chaotic, icy guitars that gives it more of a blackened edge, while it’s a huge, oppressive ‘War Pigs’-esque riff that brings in ‘Grey Wolf.’ As it kicks in proper this one sounds darker and moodier than the proud Heathen warrior soundtracks that precede it and I am reminded a little of Paradise Lost. The vocals throughout are gruff and gravely with that monotone delivery I’d attribute to Lemmy. They are pretty uninspired to be honest, but they kind of suit the music. Perhaps some cleaner vocal lines would make things a bit more interesting in this department, a la Primordial, as this would fit the tone of the music nicely and add a bit more light and shade to things.

With a slack bassline, ‘Rise’ kicks up a raw and aggressive furore with some fast-paced drumming and punked-up riffage. There’s a definitely punk element to this that comes across on a couple of the tracks that mixes things up a bit and stops this from sounding too generic. The production is unpolished, and everything about this release screams old-school. Overall there is a good mix of influence behind this, but fans of classic, heavy doom should enjoy it the most and while there is plenty of room for improvement this is a solid release.

http://www.myspace.com/bretwaldasofheathendoom