By Dave Guzda
After many grueling years on the road, doom band Alunah has finally garnering some justified notoriety. The band's second release White Hoarhound is a gritty trudge through some very well crafted material. The band merges Soph Day's captivating Siren-like vocals over grinding dark textures; the combination is brilliant. Soph's clean yet haunting vocal style is steady throughout the album. Her vocals are never harsh and have a consistently bewitching cadence. Paired with the Soph's penetrating vocals are the beastly growls of the guitars. Dave and Soph Day bring plenty of gutsy Sabbathesque guitar tones to Alunah's biting sound. The songs roll along like a massive medieval battering ram: slow, steady and confident of their resulting impact.
The album starts off with 'Demeter's Grief' and its creepy echo laden vocal intro quickly fades to reveal melodies that chug along for over seven minutes. The time passes quickly as the band injects plenty of variety to their song structures, keeping their music engaging.
The song 'White Hoarhound' is a clear standout. Catchy guitar blends with a singable chorus that's punctuated by Soph's elongated 'Oooohs' in "Oh I let my mind flow to the sea /Oh taste the White Hoarhound" to melodious effect.
There are some tight grooves on White Hoarhound thanks to the spirited basslines by Gaz Imber and the well measured song pacing by drummer Jake Mason. You'll be compelled to nod along to the Day Duo's satisfying riffs on tracks like 'The Offering' and 'Belial's Fjord' or 'The Chester Midsummer Watch Parade'.
The coherent lyrics throughout White Hoarhound evoke dark moonlight ceremonies and clandestine pagan rituals to hidden Earth Gods. In spite of the sinister guitar tones and ominous lyrical content somehow Alunah still feels uplifting to listen to.
The album ends with a two part track entitled 'Oak Ritual'. 'Oak Ritual I' is a gentle intro that leads into the sombre meandering 'Oak Ritual II'. In 'Oak Ritual II' there is two minutes of silence, curiously the same length of time often observed for Remembrance Day. The track returns from the silence with some spacey organ laced with unsettling reverberant feedback. With nearly all of the tracks clocking in at over six minutes White Hoarhound give you some substantially solid songs.
White Hoarhound is an impressive sophomore album. Alunah have harnessed the dark sound of doom and hammered out a very compelling spin on it. The vocals are seductive, the melodies enticing and the entire album still drips with Iommi inspired riffage. If you care to feast from the dark alter of melodic doom then this is a mandatory listen.
