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HIGH COUNCIL
Cruel And Unusual

Self-released (2025)
Rating: 8/10

Twenty-two years after forming, US combo High Council finally gets round to issuing a sophomore full-length outing, although it’s been seven years since debut album Held In Contempt. Mind you, they did release an EP (their fifth, entitled Ember) in 2020.

High Council have an intriguing aura it must be said. Maybe it’s the fact that they dress up like judges, or the inclusion of a flute in their instruments, or some of the strange song titles, but whatever the case this is a good slice of metal.

The title track hits with sharp riffage and the clear vocal prowess of guitarist Bob Saunders. Oddly emphatic yet just as understated, Cruel And Unusual has the look and feel of a cult gem; it’s rich in melody, potent with its axe work and technically admirable as the listener is drawn into a fiery maze of Eternal Champion and Blind Guardian-styled efficiency and power.

It’s nice to put a record on and not know what’s coming and yet be pleasantly surprised by its contents. The Blind Guardian influence certainly comes to the fore on ‘Routed In The Wood (By Eldlings And Brackenguard)’ which begins with soft acoustic and subtle vocal before drifting into a mid-tempo groove. Okay, so some of the falsettos here and elsewhere are a touch uneven, but the use of synthesizers just adds further unexpected unorthodox features that you cannot help but enjoy.

First and foremost this is an album awash with epic heavy metal, but it’s no stranger to subtleties and quirks; ‘Schwarzschild Radius’ is laced with a breezy delicacy and a sweet lingering bass line from Lou DiDomenico, and then there are further acoustic sways with ‘Jackal’ which also drifts toward a mid-tempo doominess.

A few tracks seem to have the ability to open with a wistful acoustic melody as a way of enticing you into a lair of unpredictability. Spattered throughout the album are baroque chants, acoustic bridges, neoclassical elements, chugging riffs, synths and an instrumental jam entitled ‘Wildspace’. High Council deserve high praise.

Neil Arnold

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