{"id":96547,"date":"2022-10-14T00:00:21","date_gmt":"2022-10-13T23:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=96547"},"modified":"2022-10-31T17:08:33","modified_gmt":"2022-10-31T17:08:33","slug":"album-review-pilgrim-of-fire-an-age-of-penance-and-oblivion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-pilgrim-of-fire-an-age-of-penance-and-oblivion\/","title":{"rendered":"PILGRIM OF FIRE – An Age Of Penance And Oblivion (2022) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

PILGRIM OF FIRE
An Age Of Penance And Oblivion<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nNaturmacht Productions (2022)<\/span>
Rating: 8.5\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Although this band from Derbyshire in England has been in existence for five years they seem like a new entry to the doom metal charts \u2013 not that there is a chart! Even so, this impressive debut full-length is sure to crack the foundations as members Andi Haywood (vocals and bass) and Marc Hoyland (guitar) traipse through a selection of sturdy monoliths that’ll have your foot tapping.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s something mystical yet unsettling about British doom metal and after listening to such pleasures I\u2019m often prompted to watch movies such as The Blood On Satan\u2019s Claw<\/em>, The Wicker Man<\/em> and Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter<\/em>. Maybe it\u2019s the rustic charm to the riffage or just the general tone of the vocals, but deep within the folds I sense dread and medieval horror.<\/p>\n

\u2018Rest In Oblivion\u2019 has the chugging menace of an old ghost train emerging from a foggy tunnel, roaring through the hillsides to the drive of its pistons. It\u2019s a simplistic trudge with no real aim except to plod and at times test the patience. Vocally, Haywood has a smooth, ethereal quality which at times borders on the forlorn, and again there\u2019s a simplicity.<\/p>\n

The drizzly lumber of \u2018The Bargain\u2019 conjures images of thick moorland mists which caress treacherous bogs. It\u2019s classic, traditional doom metal that will naturally pay homage to the weathered gods of yore. Meanwhile, \u2018Euphoria\u2019 begins subtly then oozes an enormous riff that heaves to the colossal percussion.<\/p>\n

\u2018Gallows Tree\u2019 is the doom metal equivalent to thumbing through the yellowed pages of an M. R. James ghost story, where again there\u2019s that hefty chugging and the ever-present yet half-hinted folk horror feel. \u2018Queen Of Ancient Rites\u2019 and \u2018Servant Of Samael\u2019 roll like charcoal storm clouds clapping with thunderous aplomb before the despondent rumbles of \u2018Ashes Over Water\u2019 cascade like icy shards from black waterfalls. There\u2019s a rainy majesty to such bleak outpourings, yet the duo never bores with its ambling through such murk.<\/p>\n

There seems to be a resurgence of traditional doom metal and alongside Parish, Pilgrim Of Fire is the latest cult of witchfinders sure to burn you alive to the soundtrack of misery, loss and archaic horror.<\/p>\n

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

PILGRIM OF FIREAn Age Of Penance And Oblivion Naturmacht Productions (2022)Rating: 8.5\/10 Although this band from Derbyshire in England has been in existence for five years they seem like a new entry to the doom metal charts \u2013 not that there is a chart! Even so, this impressive debut full-length is sure to crack the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,5085],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-96547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-pilgrim-of-fire"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96547","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=96547"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96547\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":96548,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96547\/revisions\/96548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}