Count Raven
Count Raven is a doom metal band from Sweden that I should have heard already. After all, they’re influenced heavily by early Sabbath, and pretty much all my favourite metal bands have a Sabbath influence. Not to mention the bass player, Fredrik Jannson, played drums on Witchcraft’s “The Alchemist” album before joining Count Raven. I had a huge Witchcraft phase last year. HUGE. As in, that’s all I listened to for three months and forced all those around me to listen to them too. I think I got “The Alchemist” to my mom for Christmas, actually. She loved it, because she’s awesome. Also, the singer recorded one album with St. Vitus called “C.O.D.” though I haven’t heard it as I’m really only familiar with Wino-era St. Vitus. But basically, I need to start doing my homework so I can find this stuff earlier.
I listened to two albums, one from 1993, “High on Infinity”, and their latest from 2009, “Mammons War”. The first thing anyone will notice is that the singer, Christian Lindersson, sounds a lot like Ozzy. A lot. More so on High on Infinity than the latest effort. Once you get past that, although there is heavy influence of the Masters of Reality-era sound, it’s not a complete clone. I find the guitar playing approach quite a lot different than Iommi’s, despite the similar tone. Also, the lyrics are much darker. Lindersson is responsible for the riffs AND the vocals, which I can imagine is a bit more difficult than Ozzy and Iommi tackling them on their own.
The latest CD, Mammons War, has a bit too much synth for my tastes, but keeps that awesome doom metal tone that I love so much. There are some really great riffs on this album, tuned low and played slow. Since I generally hate everything Ozzy’s produced for quite a while now, it’s nice to hear what might have happened if Masters of Reality-era Sabbath made a few more albums. There are parts that remind me of Candlemass too. Maybe I’m trying to hard to compare this band to something.
I do feel bad for saying that sort of thing though. I’m sure Count Raven didn’t set out to be constantly compared to Sabbath, but the similarity is impossible to ignore. I wonder, because I’m only an amateur guitarist and don’t play any other instruments, if I miss subtle differences between bands and only hear the broad similarities instead. I wonder if this is so, if as I listen to more and more, I’ll be able to pick out what makes each band unique. I hope so.
Even if it does sound too much like Sabbath, it’s really good. I totally respect these guys. I can’t take exception to a band that plays good music in the same vein as a band that made some of the best music. If I took exception to every band that honoured Black Sabbath, I wouldn’t have anything to listen to. I totally respect these guys.
The song on the official Myspace, Poltergeist, in my opinion doesn’t do the band justice. I’d recommend picking up a CD instead if you’re into doom metal, heavy riffs, and that kinda stuff. The myspace player I embedded below is from a fan Myspace, which has a better selection of songs.
I’ll admit to rolling my eyes a few times after hearing what was on the MySpace, but after listening to “Storm Warning”, I took back my initial reaction. This is what Black Sabbath would have been doing if they formed in the 90′s instead and it was extremely enjoyable. Very 70′s Metal like Mountain and Sabbath with a lot more UMPH, which I appreciate.
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These guys are playing at the Roadburn fest this year with a LOT of other badass bands. Wish I could go…