Pÿlon – Armoury of God
Quam Libet Records – 2011
Swiss doom masters Pÿlon – guitarist/vocalist Matt Brand, bassist Jan Thomas and drummer Andrea Tinner ) return with their final installment of their doom trilogy – Armoury of God. The trilogy includes their previous releases Th’ Eternal Wedding Band and Doom. The album has 11 tracks, which includes three instrumental tracks – “I Lyki Stin Kardia Mou”, “Cosmic Treasure” and “Death Is All Around” which clocks in at over 7 minutes. The album starts out with the crunchy “The First Church” which has a good mix of plodding section and mid-tempo grooves to keep things moving along. Matt’s haunting vocals really add to the atmosphere of the song. “The Worm Within” starts off with guitar distortion, which is interesting. Then it fully kicks in with its crawling tempo. It speeds up around the two minute mark where guest guitarist Vale Baumgartner lays down some magnificent fret-work before it returns to the snail-crawling tempo. “In From the Funeral Fields” is a haunting tune which really showcases Matt’s vocal abilities. They added some keys to give the song a nice feel, similar to Nomad Son. “Gravestar” and “Hollow Sky” are next and both are stinky heavy and are the two longest songs on the album at 9:23 and 8:45 respectively. Vale again lays some spectacular guitar work on “Gravestar” that just makes the song all that more delightful. “Cosmic Treasure” has an ambient feel to it. It’s similar to some songs on Troglodyte Dawn’s Kyna release. “I Lyki Stin Kardia Mou” follows right after it. It’s not very often that you hear two instrumental tracks in a row from the band. The song is actual a motif heard in “The Worm Within” with some added parts. “Hunter Angels” comes drudging along next with more heaviness. And to add to it is the use of growling vocals along with Matt’s haunting vocals. It adds to the doomy goodness of the moving solo by Vale. “In Serpent Tongues” starts off with some spoken word before sludging its way through. Vale again delivers another excellent solo that just amazing you at his talent. It’s technical without being overly done and emotive without being totally sappy. “Somewhere in Nowhere” is another plodding song where Matt’s vocals really shine. The only issue I have with it is that it seems too short. The album closes out with “Death Is All Around” which showcases all of the members – Matt, Jan and Andrea. This song really shows how tight they are as a band and how they’re able to work their craft so well. All throughout the album, Jan and Andrea provide the backbone for the songs and on “Death Is All Around” they are able to be a bit freer and really show their handy work – which is a boon to the listener. The new release by Pÿlon is fantastic and definitely worth getting if you’re even remotely into doom metal. On a side note, Pÿlon’s next album will be a vinyl-only release so be on the lookout for that.
Rating: 6.5 out of 7
