Day: August 22, 2013

Second work for the U.S.-based Stone Magnum and second hit after last year’s already good self-titled debut. The Indiana quintet is composed of musicians who are far from first-rate, and this can be clearly perceived by the ease with which they treat a genre such as classic doom; ours, in fact, treasure the lesson of the greats of the past by putting on the platter a series of compelling songs capable of satisfying the palate of the most demanding listeners. From Time… To Eternity is an album deeply and deliberately rooted in tradition, and it is precisely the credibility with which Stone Magnum offer songs that may appear derivative that makes them, instead, irresistibly fresh and anything but dated. The choice by guitarist Dean Tavernier to devote himself exclusively to his instrument, leaving the microphone to newcomer Nick Hernandez, has brought a twofold and immediate benefit to the band; the singer’s voice is, too, inspired by the genre’s most celebrated vocalists (Marcolin, Lowe), but at the level of performance and pathos it is much more reminiscent at certain junctures of that of Felipe Plaza of Procession. It is precisely the band’s demonstrated ability to provide that extra touch at the level of intensity, as opposed to simply repeating what has already been heard, that makes this album worthy of the highest esteem as well as due attention. A track like the title track, placed at the opening, is a demonstration of the evocative power of the band, which immediately afterwards, all things considered, indulges in two interlocutory episodes before plunging into the Candlemassian (from the title) The Gallows Of Ohrdruf and the magnificent final triptych By An Omen I Went, Uncontained, In The Garden Of Beasts, which represents in the most comprehensive way what is the true essence of Stone Magnum: competence, compactness, simplicity and passion, a few but basic ingredients that can make even the most ordinary courses special. To those who have enjoyed the last beautiful works of Evangelist, Black Oath and the aforementioned Procession, with From Time… To Eternity is offered the opportunity to further enrich their “doom-collection.”

2013 – Witches Brew