Book of Wyrms
Occult New Age

Third album for Book of Wyrms, the American quartet begun in 2014, they released their debut album in 2017. New album Occult New Age is said to be their fastest, slowest, loudest, and weirdest according to themselves. That all sounds interesting, the cover might not look fantastic, but it seems as though they are quite well-liked amongst many writers and their albums quite acclaimed. This is the first time we here at Hallowed take on this band, so let’s see if it is that “first-rate album, guaranteed to twist your hips and bang your head” that I read about in the press material.

Stoner, doom of the atmospheric kind, psychedelic and progressive might also be added among the words describing the album. Stylistically it is a pretty creative album, I like the use of a female vocalist as that sets them apart from the genre in general, and she also has a great voice for these kinds of albums. The variation and playing time are quite sensible as well, I think around 40 minutes is usually a rather good time to aim for when it comes to most albums. The production and sound are good as well, though not fantastic and they probably could have done more to find a more dynamic sound that highlights the nuances in the music more. That could probably be achieved with very small adjustments.

Occult New Age is a good album, the songs are good, the creativity is interesting, and it has a lot of what you can ask for. But it is not that fantastic and captivating album you want for just sitting down to enjoy the music without doing anything else, for that I would have needed more dynamics and one or two really excellent hit songs. Nevertheless, just for listening when writing this review or something like that it is fine. They do have the elements to make a great album, they just need to combine them into songs in a slightly more exciting way. Perhaps they have done that with one or both the previous albums that I haven’t heard, but otherwise they will probably find that magic touch some time in the future and make that outstanding album they clearly seem capable of doing.

Fans of the band and of the stoner, doom, occult or such things, should have a closer look at this album as it is probably one for you. I like it and I doubt it will be disappointing to anyone, creativity should also always be regarded as something positive. I think Occult New Age is a fun and enjoyable album, not fantastic but probably worth checking out.

 

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