Pilgrim: Forsaken Man

Wow, this stuff sounds like it was written and recorded in a garage in the mid 70s by a bunch of musicians having a really bad trip. We are dealing with incredibly heavy and tortured doom metal, obviously inspired by the early doom metal bands. Pilgrim are slated as an epic doom metal band, but I do not really think that their music is epic – yes, the songs are long, but that is not necessarily what makes music epic. No, this is heavy – crushingly heavy and doom-laden with simple, slow droning riffs and is more akin to acts like Black Sabbath, St. Vitus, and Pentagram (except Pilgrim are way heavier).

I think this is massive, and potentially the best thing to happen in doom metal since Cathedral released their first album. It certainly is as heavy and oppressive as Forest of Equilibrium. I really like how Pilgrim blatantly disregard the conventions of modern popular music by having a 3:30 minutes long instrumental section of heavy droning riffs and heavy trippy drums in the beginning of 'Forsaken Man' before the verse kicks, sung in a raw 70s doom rock fashion. The other track 'Quest' is just as dark and heavy and even more melancholic in atmosphere and melody, but it also contains an uptempo bridge which is more in the vein of early Candlemass before it morphs into a more Sabbath-esque pattern and the song slowly breaks back down into its heavy main body.

Now, this is only two tracks, but I would happily listen to an entire album of Pilgrim's music if it all sounds like this, because it is really authentic and back to basics doom metal. I would have loved a couple of heavy blues-based solos, I admit, but I can live without them. The production is very raw with the guitars and bass having a lot of bottom and being quite dominant, while the drums are kept more in the background – I think it is a shame about the drums because big booming drums, I think, fit perfectly into the general sound universe of any doom metal release. Before condemning Pilgrim for lo-fi production, we have to remember two things, though: 1) this is a demo release, which makes lo-fi production forgivable and 2) the way that this demo is produced has a very convincing 70s doom-rock feel to it which actually suits the music extremely well.

Doomsters should definitely check out Forsaken Man because it is an amazing doom metal release – and it's only two tracks! I really look forward to hearing a full-length release from these guys, because Pilgrim might well be the next torchbearers of the dark flame of doom metal passed on by the likes of Black Sabbath, St. Vitus, Count Raven, Candlemass and Cathedral.

Track Listing:
1. Forsaken Man
2. Quest

Added: July 19th 2011
Reviewer: Kim Jensen
Score:
Related Link: More Information
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Language: english

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