Merlock - Onward Strides Colossus Review

An album with the word ‘colossus’ must good. Well, Merlock “Onward Strides Colossus” won’t change the world, but it’s really a good start. Merlock with were “Onward Strides Colossus” able to spice up the mix most Doom Metal bands with the 1970’s Heavy Rock. Their mix is some kind of spiced low-tuned version of Mountain or Ten Years After, if you ask me. For most tracks I’d say the good old The Cult is here as well as in the moody guitars passages as album opener “Sovereign Throne” makes the way. For the heavier and faster parts I’d say the unsung legends of Metal Desolation Angels are the inspiration. The intro is done by a very low-tuned bass of hell which thunders the way up to the initial lyrics of the song. Here Merlock show to be a very unsual band within the unsual bands of Doom Metal with some inspirations on Alice in Chains with slicing guitar interventions here and there.

Vocals are one of the things n the album that resembles most Alice an Chains. Though Taylor D. Waring varies a lot his voice as in “Behold the Sword of Lock” where it gets heavier and raspier almost reaching the low tunes of death growls. It’s impressive how easy the man changes from the eeires high-pitched vocals to the near death growls. The bass surprises here as well as it gets extremely high notes in a strumming that moods out all the song. By the way, the bass here is one of the highlights. Merlock appreciate mix ghostly vocals inside their tracks as they did in “Where No One Goes…” a track whose tittle explains it much better, if you know what I’m saying. Here and there also the guitar use and abuse of mesmerizing riffs that catch the attention of the fan with short but sharp notes. Here Alice in Chains inspiritions appear tall again.

Wow, this has been one of the ost difficult reviews to write until I caught Merlock’s essence. Some would say this is a kind of Stoner Metal band. I really don’t know. To me it sounds as a Doom Metal band with heavy influences of the good old Heavy Rock spiced by modern elements in the song writing. Insterestingly, all the instrumentals are much more linked to 1970’s playing techniques than to modern ones, however, the compositions are pretty modern to some extent. My dear chlid of the night will easily recognize Doom Metal elements here. “Somniloquy,” for instance, has the taste of Post-Black Metal bands with its astonishing picturesque instrumentals.

Merlock “Onward Strides Colossus” will be released on February 24th.

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