Early moods began life in 2015 and are now comprised of Oscar Hernandez on lead guitar, Chris Flores on drums, Elix Felciano on bass, Alberto Alcaraz on vocals/synth and Eddie Andrade on guitar. They are a Doom/Heavy Metal band from Los Angeles, California that pays homage to bands like Candlemass, Witchfinder General, Pentagram, Trouble and Sabbath, and release their second album `A Sinner’s Past` this month.
We are introduced to this release with `Last Hour` a hearty slice of doom tinged metal with some reflective vocals spread atop. It begins as a slow burn but does pick up a little pace as it evolves without losing it`s intensity. All kinds of animal or human sacrifices are conjured up with the title `Blood Offerings` which may well be made to satisfy earth fertility, purification, and penance. It`s a further mediative presentation with some churning riffs and a slightly demonic spoken word oration just after the mid-point.
Title track `A Sinner’s Past` has a grinding nigh on hypnotic consistency while again the lyrics are reflective and almost mirror the texture of the aural accompaniment. It does almost take a time out on route and becomes slightly mellower with some absorbing intricate guitar riffs before resuming it`s original path. It gathers pace in the final seventy seconds or so before racing to a conclusion. A title such as `Unhinged Spirit` may summon up irrational or disturbed souls but this number is a pounding thumping heavy doom laden engaging listen that sucks you into it`s layers of sound and hurtles off in the latter section.
`The Apparition` may allude to a ghostly or phantom appearance and musically it`s a heavy slow burn of a number, somewhere between doom and stoner in sound with some riffs shared on route and some brief spoken word and growled vocals in the latter part. The track `Walperguise` may refer to Walpurgis night, one of the four biggest holidays along with Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve, and Midsummer In Finland, which witnesses the biggest carnival-style festival held in its cities and towns. In other countries there are bonfires and cowslips are hung to ward off evil. The song itself is a grungy explosive kind of mesmerising piece with riffs aplenty as it leads us along it`s absorbing voyage ending with some fiendish rumbling.
`Hell`s Odyssey` evokes a demonic pilgrimage or excursion and this track has a kind of crusade like ambience, a sort of call to arms. It has a mobilisation or a rally behind the flag resonation about it. Although it veers off slightly in the last couple of minutes of life as if racing into battle or conflict. The album closes out with `Soul Sorcery` whose wizardry or magic weaves this way and that as it grows and progresses.
`A Sinner`s Past` is a pretty full on listen full of hooks and riffs that will suck you into it`s many layers. It has elements of heavy metal, doom , stoner come psyche as it blossoms before your eyes and will need a few listens to really seep in. A release to definitely set some time aside for.
Rating 8/10
