Their line-up consists of:
Chad Davis - Guitars/Drums/Vocals
Phil Swanson - Vocals
Previous members/session:
Brandon Munday - Rhythm Guitar
John Mode - Bass
Dave Easter - Drums
Tracklist:
1. Deny the Cross
2. The Burning
3. Rite of Samhain
4. Spiral Vacuum
5. Who's to Blame?
6. Sea of Trees
7. Lucky Bones
Total playing time: 47:23
Hour of 13 is back with their latest full-length '333', and doomy it is! Reminiscent of classic acts such as Pentagram and Witchcraft, this one is sure to trick you into thinking it is the 70's all over again. Lyrically, their influences stem heavily from the Occult, as can be detected in the over all style this band delivers, both musically and vocally.
Originally, they started off in 2006 as a two-man project created by the highly talented, Chad Davis. A few line-up changes occured over time with Phil Swanson's departure and rejoining, but Hour of 13 is once again the solid duo they incarnated as.
The doomsters leave a handful of quality material in their wake since formation worth checking out, but we can rejoice in nostalgia with their most recent work '333'. The first track 'Deny the Cross' definitely reminds me of Black Sabbath or Cathedral with the vocal style. We can observe the reference of 333 being half the value of 666, which lends nicely to their theme of Satanism, the Occult, and all that is dark. The release has a nice pace to it with pick-ups and leads throughout each song, followed by instrumental, yet melodic, doomy break downs.
I am no expert on this genre by any means, but I did enjoy this album as a whole and recommend it to those of you into traditional heavy metal and retro doom. I'm not even old enough to know what the 70's felt like, but I see this band for what it is and the sound that they aim for. It would definitely hit the sweet spot of fans to similar bands mentioned above, along with other notable acts of a recent nature.
A purely dark heavy metal album for the isolationist in all of us -Chad Davis
