Band:	Karavan
Album:	Unholy Mountain
Style:	Psychedelic doom metal, Stoner metal
Release date:	June 2023

01. Throne
02. Chase The Dragon
03. Bonfire Ritual
04. Mars
05. Rot
06. Demon Slime
07. Unholy Mountain

What do you get when you mix Sleep's Holy Mountain and Norwegian black metal influences? Karavan's Unholy Mountain, of course!

Recently, the two metal subgenres I've been enjoying the most are stoner doom metal and black metal. So it seems almost poetic that I would stumble upon this album — a rare example of the combination of these two musical styles. To be fair, Karavan offer a style that can be primarily categorized as psychedelic doom with the characteristic slow, fuzzy riffs clearly inspired by bands like Sleep and Electric Wizard. The obvious element that appears out of the ordinary is something which originates from Karavan's homeland of Norway: the prominent use of raspy, blackened vocals.

To many, it might come as a surprise that Norway, the land of cold, bitter, mournful melodies, would also be home to bands of the hazy, hypnotic riffs of the stoner metal variety. And, while they are clearly in the minority (with only 13 out of 359 Norwegian bands on Metal Storm bearing a "stoner" style tag), compilations such as WEEDIAN's Trip to… series have demonstrated that Norway has some proper stoner doom quality to offer. If you go through that WEEDIAN compilation of 30 stoner doom acts from Norway, you'll find that almost all retain clean vocals with either an eerie style like Ozzy Osbourne's or with an American twang pioneered by bands like Kyuss back in the '90s.

Karavan are one of the bands which stand out with their use of blackened vocals, adding a unique, hard edge to their mesmerizing music. But it's not only the vocals that set Karavan apart for me. For some reason, even the guitar riffs feel slightly inspired by black metal. The fuzzy, lulling stoner style, which usually fills me with a warm and, well, fuzzy feeling, sounds here more icy and strained. In a way, it's unsurprising that stoner and black metal should combine so successfully, as they share many characteristic aspects such as lo-fi production, repetitive riffs, and, sometimes, even occult lyrical themes. Yet, one of their most crushing songs, "Demon Slime", shows how the band push the boundaries of the stoner formula, leaning with their musical intensity almost into (blackened) sludge territories.

One more element which I find deserves special praise is the drumming. Usually in the stoner genre, the drums keep up a solid beat — nothing more, nothing less. In the case of Karavan, however, the drummer creates such engaging rhythmic patterns that I sometimes find myself ignoring the guitars (which should not go ignored!) and focusing solely on the percussion. While the vocals are an essential piece of this band, I especially recommend listening to the purely instrumental track "Rot", in which all the instruments battle for the spotlight.

In conclusion, if you're on the lookout for finest stoner doom — with a special vocal delivery to spice things up — Karavan's Unholy Mountain should be your destination!