The Sonic Overlords – Last Days of Babylon

8/10

Swedish epic doomsters The Sonic Overlords come from seemingly nowhere and delivers one of the finest records of it’s genre of last few years. I’m not only a prog-obsessed metal head, I love me some doom as well. Growing up, one of my favorite bands was (and still is) Candlemass and albums like Epicus Doomicus Metalicus, Nightfall and especially Chapter VI made a huge impression on me. And when Black Sabbath recruited singer extraordinaire Tony Martin, which resulted in magnificent albums such as The Eternal Idol, Headless Cross, Tyr and Cross Purposes, the Godfathers of Heavy Metal finally became one of my favorite bands. I mention Sabbath for a reason here, not just to throw names around. Read on and you’ll see why.

This is actually quite brilliant, I must say. The Sonic Overlords debut album is heavier than Atlas’ eternal burden but the amount of lovingly crafted melodies steeped in Nordic melancholy balances everything into a very pleasing listening experience. The production is perfectly suited for this kind of music and the band sure makes the most of it. Vocalist Marcus Zachrisson Rubin (Ozzy The Coverband) commandeers his troops from the get go with his powerful, rich and soulful delivery. His soaring voice is given flight courtesy of guitarist Morgan Zocek’s mighty fuzzed riffage on stand out songs like the bluesy Sands of Time which sounds like early Whitesnake having an extramarital affair with the aforementioned Black Sabbath. It’s a song simply made to be played in front of a dedicated crowd in a sold out, sweaty club and that can be said for every single track on Last Days of Babylon.

At a compact 45 minutes, Last Days of Babylon doesn’t overstay its welcome and the variety on offer here is just one of it’s many strenghts. Children of The Night makes me think of a insanely heavy Morgana LeFay (even though the bass sounds a bit out of tune in some places) and single track Eternal Heroes (Last Days of Babylon) welcomes Spiritual Beggars’ singer Apollo Papathanasio on one of the most epic tracks on the album. Closing song Past The End of Time sees Black Sabbath’s iconic singer Tony Martin transforming the already mentioned Sands of Time into something that sounds like it could have been recorded during one of his tenures with Sabbath. Highly recommended!

Artist: The Sonic Overlords
Title: Last Days of Babylon
Label: M-Theory Audio
Rating: 8/10
Place of origin: Sweden
Standout track: World on Fire, Sands of Time, Past The end of Time, Utopia