(((O))) Review: Sleeping Giant – The Beauty Of Obliteration

Iceland isn’t the first place that comes to mind when thinking of doom bands, but it’s environment really is conducive to a good bout of monolithic riffs. Like glaciers moving forever forward on their slow journey, Sleeping Giant’s music evokes the slowness and heaviness of continental drift, and with debut album The Beauty Of Obliteration, loo to cement themselves as premier exponents from that beautiful country.

Opening track ‘Conquerer’ is redolent of the kind of background they come from, and musically is along similar lines to Conan. It’s not until ‘Mobiliser of Evil’ that we start to see the band really start to stretch out (albeit still well within the confines of their chosen style). Mixing NWOBHM style riffs with traditional doom brings a more interesting edge to the music. On ‘The Monk’ they veer into Black Sabbath territory with a much more progressive track which is a stand out on the album. There’s a rather splendid moment when they turn up the speed a notch and then venture into a chaotic middle section. Fantastic stuff.

‘Slay The King Of Hell’ is rampant and gnarly, with growled vocals which sound as if they move glaciers. ‘Venom Ripper, Gorgon Blaster’ not only is a great song title, but gallops along at a breathless pace. Completing this fine run is the epic ‘Abysmal Flame’ and it really is a shame that the album ends here as you get the sense of a band really building up a head of steam. Still, there is always the second album to look forward too. Leave them wanting more, as they say. A great debut from a band which we look forward to hearing more from.