{"id":94074,"date":"2022-05-26T00:00:40","date_gmt":"2022-05-25T23:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=94074"},"modified":"2022-06-27T17:17:29","modified_gmt":"2022-06-27T16:17:29","slug":"album-review-riders-of-rohan-riders-of-rohan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-riders-of-rohan-riders-of-rohan\/","title":{"rendered":"RIDERS OF ROHAN – Riders Of Rohan (2022) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

RIDERS OF ROHAN
Riders Of Rohan<\/strong><\/span>
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\nCrypt Of The Wizard (2022)<\/span>
Rating: 9\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Only Sweden can produce such a Gothic-sounding heap of fantasy clouded in gloomy fumes and authentically creaking in every bone.<\/p>\n

Riders Of Rohan is a mysterious trio consisting of Tim (vocals and bass), Stickan (guitar and vocals) and Lisa (drums and vocals). This is their debut album which is blessed by the artwork of one Angus McBride and delivered with Tolkien-esque aplomb fused with traditional bluesy rock tinged with psychedelic nuances.<\/p>\n

Of all the albums released so far this year, Riders Of Rohan\u2019s 11 track platter takes me back to my youth of dabbling in Dungeons & Dragons<\/em> and Fighting Fantasy<\/em> glory, where after each dice roll one feared they would encounter fire-breathing dragons, heavy-breathing orcs and fiery wizards. This album provides a soundtrack to such joys as the waft of yellowing pages fills the nostrils and autumnal smoke rises from the tranquil shire.<\/p>\n

Firstly, I want to introduce you to the guitar sound on this thing. It\u2019s like Kiss meets Heavy Load drinking at the fountain of King Diamond while caressed by the murk of Black Widow and Coven, and it sounds real. The bass bubbles like a cauldron of varying spices, the drums hiss and thud like the gas pipes in the basement of my youth, and vocally there\u2019s a strong 70s vibe as we drift towards some obscure cult occasionally blessed by Lisa\u2019s dulcet tones.<\/p>\n

The gloriously oaken opener \u2018Muster The Rohirrim\u2019 is a weird, punky new wave expression built on stark 70s aesthetics as Tim warbles like The B52\u2019s and Dead Kennedys refused his services and so he signed up for a trip to Mordor. The track, like every other offered here, is beyond catchy; poppy, rocky, hints of the occult, fumes of the mythical, entrenched in times gone by where psych, folky flavours married with Black Sabbath<\/a>-esque grooves which can only be matched by the equally peculiar vapours of Iron Griffin.<\/p>\n

\u2018A Night At The Prancing pony\u2019 showcases Lisa\u2019s percussive talents, the band drinking ale at some stuffy inn before jamming up an unorthodox steamy rock affair brisk with Diamond Head-cum-Greenslade imagery and Cirith Ungol suspense.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where we are at, Riders Of Rohan galloping on the scene amidst the dark wave of Tolkien\u2019s black riders only to stoke our fires with The Way Of Wyrd<\/em>-type tales; haunting, sturdy, unpredictable, at times warbling yet organic and fiery. For instance, how does one deliver the joy of \u2018Nan Curunir\u2019 with its utterly cool groove and bewitching lyrics? How does \u2018A Land Of Our Own\u2019 billow with a mid-80s Euro-doom in such authentic fashion? From the trickling folk horror of \u2018Black Rider\u2019, where Lisa comes to the fore by the fireside of spectres, to the struttin\u2019 \u2018Strider\u2019 with its stark percussive bashes and Kiss gallop. But how can one overlook the fizzing doom of \u2018Whispers Of A Nameless Fear\u2019 where the vocals take on a truly sinister turn, and yet \u2018Longbeards\u2019 with effective bass dribble, is mere trippy interlude of punkiness flirting with a possessed Blondie.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s just so much going on here. As each page is flipped, more and more daring images leer out at you, and time and time again I\u2019m taken back to my childhood where heavy metal and Tolkien-esque fantasy infiltrated my innocent layers.<\/p>\n

Often barmy, yet authentically rewarding, Riders Of Rohan mesmerize with a timeless shuffle and antiquarian swagger. As a trio they come fully cloaked, even if unsure as to whether to join Bilbo Baggins or the fires of Mordor, and their wondrously atmospheric rambles epitomise this. Whatever side you take, be sure to have the Riders Of Rohan as your soundtrack for battle.<\/p>\n

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

RIDERS OF ROHANRiders Of Rohan Crypt Of The Wizard (2022)Rating: 9\/10 Only Sweden can produce such a Gothic-sounding heap of fantasy clouded in gloomy fumes and authentically creaking in every bone. Riders Of Rohan is a mysterious trio consisting of Tim (vocals and bass), Stickan (guitar and vocals) and Lisa (drums and vocals). This is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,4853],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-94074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-riders-of-rohan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94074","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=94074"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94074\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":94075,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94074\/revisions\/94075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}