{"id":105529,"date":"2025-09-19T00:00:29","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T23:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=105529"},"modified":"2025-10-07T13:44:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T12:44:08","slug":"album-review-naevus-back-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-naevus-back-home\/","title":{"rendered":"NAEVUS – Back Home (2025) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

NAEVUS
\nBack Home<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nDying Victims Productions (2025)<\/span>
\nRating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Blessed with an engaging yet almost amateurish piece of cover art, Back Home<\/em> 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<\/em>. The band\u2019s current line-up is Uwe Groebel (vocals and guitar), Oliver Grosshans (guitar, ex-Sacred Steel), Sven Heimerdinger (bass) and Mathias Straub (drums, Sacred Steel).<\/p>\n

Due to the gap between album releases (sophomore effort, Heavy Burden<\/em>, appeared in 2016), it is nigh on impossible to compare this new full-length with previous albums, so to an extent I\u2019m treating Back Home<\/em> 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 \u201cMemories, I have lost\u201d<\/em>, before a formidable chorus emerges. \u201cBack home where the sun escapes,\u201d<\/em> Uwe moans. \u201cBack home where darkness descends,\u201d<\/em> he continues over a trudging riff. It\u2019s effective in its simplicity and the band also doesn\u2019t become gloopy or fuzzy or in the least bit stoned.<\/p>\n

\u2018The Dead Don\u2019t Sleep\u2019 rumbles like something The Obsessed would put out; a weathered groove that\u2019s stark and catchy and epitomises the thunderous nature of the Naevus sound. Meanwhile, \u2018Ghost\u2019 slows the pace yet it\u2019s delightfully melodic with the stomp of the drums. The brilliantly titled \u2018Master Of Shiver\u2019 is as equally paced, a stony trudge hardened by bass and drum which in tandem form such a tough spine.<\/p>\n

\u2018My Fire\u2019 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\u2019s nary a flash of pace in sight, Naevus remaining comfortably in that steady ploughing motion yet without dragging its audience into something dull. Closer \u2018Free The Ravens Fly\u2019 is monolithic, a colossal traipse where its lethargic riff becomes thicker with each resounding plod.<\/p>\n

Back Home<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,5979],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-105529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-naevus"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105529","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105529"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105529\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":105530,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105529\/revisions\/105530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}