Doom can sometimes be quite a challenging listen. It’s certainly fair to say that it’s not a genre for everyone because it can drag at times and become awfully long and drawn out if you don’t connect with the music right from the get-go. Blood Eagle is a fairly hit-and-miss album. There are some real high points, but there’s also moments where you can’t help but feel the song is being dragged out and could have done with a few minutes shaving off.
Foehammer is an excellent track. A little more energetic than some of the other songs, it begins relentlessly hammering drums, followed by bellowed vocals on top, and the track just seems to have a lot to give, despite it being the shortest of the album – although perhaps that’s why, as it does feel like there’s a lot squeezed into this track, but in the best possible way. You seem to notice something new on every listen and it makes for an engaging song as a result.
However, there are a few more tracks that are a slight struggle to connect with and probably the best example of this is Altar Of Grief, with a long and drawn-out introduction that slowly merges into the main body of the track, but it’s unclear at which point this happens and when the vocals begin they sound almost like an afterthought. Due to this track being the closer of Blood Eagle, it’s quite a disappointing end to the album and leaves things a little open ended as a result.
It’s an alright album, but it definitely takes a few releases to grow on you and there are a few moments where it you do find yourself wondering if the track is going to do something different or continue on the same route for another few minutes.
5/10
