Stephen Murray

This review first appeared on The Sludgelord on 23 March 2017 What is it with the sea and some of doom’s more sombre bands? The rich nautical repertoire of songs about the hauntings of dead sailors, ghost ships and ungainly, ill-omened seabirds notwithstanding, the Big Water has proved an irresistible draw for many bands. Indeed, there appears to be three themes prevalent in doom right now: the sea, the occult and H.P. Lovecraft, and the greatest of these is Lovecraft (go on, argue for the occult; I’m listening). Written over three months and recorded live in a few hours, albeit with two different vocal sessions, Greenhorn’s “The Narrator” evokes the sea through a petroleum-jelly-soft Lovecraftian lens. Not to say this track lacks throat, rather that it balances gnarled guitar tones that roil and gurgle with the allure and seduction of ethereal Siren calls rendered in beautiful-if-creepy sung harmonies. The rich vintage glow swathed about both guitar and bass in the solos sati...