ALBUM REVIEW: Worshipper - "Shadow Hymns"

By: Richard Maw

Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 26/08/2016
Label: Tee Pee Records

Musically, with this being somewhere between Black Sabbath (Dio era in particular), Monster Magnet and anything from Witchfinder General to Angel Witch I feel that there is something for most metal fans to enjoy here.  Throughout the eights tracks there are lots of ideas, lots of riffs and uniformly great performances from the band. This album surprised me with its scope and approach, so please lend your support and check Worshipper out as this is a rewarding and well crafted album.

‘Shadow Hymns’ CD//DD//LP track listing:

01. High Above the Clouds
02. Step Behind
03. Ghosts and Breath
04. Darkness
05. Place Beyond the Light
06. Another Yesterday
07. Wolf Song
08. Black Corridor

The Review:

From Boston, Worshipper have turned in a fantastic album here. Their sound is a mixture of hard rock, stoner, doom and good ol' metal. This is immediately accessible with a kind of spacey (think Monster Magnet) vibe to proceedings. A big fat sound does not hurt the band at all as they go “High Above The Clouds” to start things off right. There is good melodic lead work, underpinned by some cool acoustic overdubs. The band are not afraid to up the tempo a bit if needed; “Step Behind” represents the upper end of the bands gears, with a mournful sensibility to the well delivered vocals that matches the music very well; this is no Van Halen party-hearty hard rock record, but is instead a rather reflective listen.

As the album goes on, there are echoes of NWOBHM (“Ghosts and Breath”, “Darkness”) as well as Sleep, Sabbath, Zeppelin et al. Truthfully, there is as much metal as there is hard rock here: and by that I mean real old school metal (no death growls here, and not a DJ in sight!).

Over the course of the album, the band mix up the sounds- acoustic guitar features here and there (“Peace Beyond The Light”, “Another Yesterday”, “Wolf Song”) which expands the album to good effect. Musically, with this being somewhere between Black Sabbath (Dio era in particular), Monster Magnet and anything from Witchfinder General to Angel Witch I feel that there is something for most metal fans to enjoy here. If you want the heavier end of Worshipper's sound, I would direct you to “Black Corridor” as this is a fine and rampaging closing statement.

Throughout the eights tracks there are lots of ideas, lots of riffs and uniformly great performances from the band. This album surprised me with its scope and approach. The band are unique and have their own sound. For any fan of any band mentioned in this review, by all means please lend your support and check Worshipper out as this is a rewarding and well crafted album.

‘Shadow Hymns’ is available here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

RIYL: Black Sabbath, Witchfinder General, Monster Magnet, Sleep