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NAEVUS
Back Home

Dying Victims Productions (2025)
Rating: 8/10

Blessed with an engaging yet almost amateurish piece of cover art, Back Home is the newest release from a German band that has been on the block since the early 90s. This is only the third album from Naevus, who returned to the metal fray in 2012 after becoming defunct in 1999, a year of their first full-length record, Sun Meditation. The band’s current line-up is Uwe Groebel (vocals and guitar), Oliver Grosshans (guitar, ex-Sacred Steel), Sven Heimerdinger (bass) and Mathias Straub (drums, Sacred Steel).

Due to the gap between album releases (sophomore effort, Heavy Burden, appeared in 2016), it is nigh on impossible to compare this new full-length with previous albums, so to an extent I’m treating Back Home like a debut record. Naevus are adept at constructing heavy but catchy doom metal, somewhat in the vein of Trouble. The riffs are relatively simple as the title track nods with a traditional doom groove and the vocals are clear as Groebel reflects “Memories, I have lost”, before a formidable chorus emerges. “Back home where the sun escapes,” Uwe moans. “Back home where darkness descends,” he continues over a trudging riff. It’s effective in its simplicity and the band also doesn’t become gloopy or fuzzy or in the least bit stoned.

‘The Dead Don’t Sleep’ rumbles like something The Obsessed would put out; a weathered groove that’s stark and catchy and epitomises the thunderous nature of the Naevus sound. Meanwhile, ‘Ghost’ slows the pace yet it’s delightfully melodic with the stomp of the drums. The brilliantly titled ‘Master Of Shiver’ is as equally paced, a stony trudge hardened by bass and drum which in tandem form such a tough spine.

‘My Fire’ is an absolute monster of a track, lumbering on such a groove that one only has to peer above to see the clouds darken. Leaden streaks of Saint Vitus merge with Trouble as Groebel croons with elements of despair amidst cold rolling melancholic tides. There’s nary a flash of pace in sight, Naevus remaining comfortably in that steady ploughing motion yet without dragging its audience into something dull. Closer ‘Free The Ravens Fly’ is monolithic, a colossal traipse where its lethargic riff becomes thicker with each resounding plod.

Back Home is what doom metal should sound like; forget all this fuzzy bearded and weed-soaked wizard waffle. Kick back and feel the weight of grey humidity as Naevus transports you back home to the traditional values of doom metal.

Neil Arnold

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