Altar Of Oblivion-Salvation

Shadow Kingdom Records
2012

Say what you will about me (and trust me, plenty has been said about me already folks!), but I am truly a sucker when it comes to the dollar CD boxes at my local used record/CD store. No names please (why should they get a free plug when they don't carry any CDs by my girlfriend's favorite band, Cowboy Mouth?), but said store does do me a solid every now and then. On today's outing (to trade in a little of this and a little of that-mostly misc. items that my kids wanted to trade really) I was able to pick up this 30 minute EP from Danish epic/doom metal band Altar Of Oblivion. Getting this (relative speaking) new EP (as well as "Hardcore Hooligan" by The Business) for $1.00 was a nice surprise. Granted I had no idea what exactly as I was getting as the name was somewhat familiar, but I couldn't quite place it. Given that it was on Shadow Kingdom Records well, right there the fact is maybe it an easier selling point to me. I have a great deal of respect for Shadow Kingdom Records. So, I paid the $1.00 for this (along with the dollar for The Business and a few extra dollars spent on some AC/DC and Mother Love Bone CDs) and walked on out to my car. Of course having the kids with me meant no "real" heavy metal until I got home. So, instead of checking this little nugget out it was some AC/DC for the ride home. Slipping this into my CD player then (while I cleaned up my bedroom) my first thought was "well, isn't this some nice Candlemass worship going on" followed by the thought "Mik Mentor is one inconsistent lead singer". The thing is neither point really kept me from turning the EP off or thinking that my dollar bill had been wasted. Instead, I felt like my dollar had been well spent. I also realized that I had heard the band before at some point in time. One of the songs on this EP really struck a cord. Weird. Besides an obvious love for bands like Candlemass (and Black Sabbath and St. Vitus) the band does dip their collective toes into traditional heavy metal which means this doom isn't 100% pure doom. That is fine by me as pure doom is well....kind of a doom downer sometimes. Not all the times mind you, but now and then even I get a little depressed from the constant onslaught of post-Sabbath riffs that these sort of bands like to unleash. While this is not the group's latest release (that honor falls upon "Grand Gesture Of Defiance") it does seem to be a fairly good representation of the group's overall skill from most accounts. While this Danish epic/doom band does not yet possess all the needed skills to take that extra step forward there is enough about the band to enjoy if your into this sort of thing. Certainly worth the price I paid!