Black Heavy Metal of Death duo Thundering Hooves return with their second full length album “Radiance”
I’ve kept close tabs on Thundering Hooves ever since their debut “Vestiges” so when this duo creep back in with a folk horror-looking cover from the talented Katie Vicary then, of course, it’s going to pique my interest.
Opening track ‘Embers’ slow and foreboding start whilst maintaining a blackened death is embedded with doom elements that interweave effortlessly which spill over into a track loosely based on the 1796 novel “The Monk” by Matthew George Lewis “A Howl From the Cloister” features additional vocals from Jo Chen as does the following title track “Radiance”.
As the album continues into the macabre tracks such as “The True Death” and my highlight track of the album “Danse Macabre” swirl in like a creeping mist the latter track alluding to Ingmar Bergman’s 1957 classic movie “The Seventh Seal” which after playing this album I reacquainted myself with.
There is one final offering, coming in at nearly seven and a half minutes “The Key” perfectly encapsulates the aesthetic of the album tremendously, I had doom-laden undertones, mixed in with maniacal fury embedded with good old-fashioned heavy metal riffs.
Still conjuring images of half-forgotten rituals.
Rick Eaglestone
Radiance is available now via Mercenary Press