Grand Magus - The Hunt review
| Band: | Grand Magus |
| Album: | The Hunt |
| Style: | Doom metal, Heavy metal |
| Release date: | May 25, 2012 |
| A review by: | R'Vannith |
01. Starlight Slaughter
02. Sword Of The Ocean
03. Valhalla Rising
04. Storm King
05. Silver Moon
06. The Hunt
07. Son Of The Last Breath
1 - Part I: Nattfödd
2 - Part II: Vedergällning
08. Iron Hand
09. Draksådd
10. Silver Moon [demo] [Limited edition bonus]
11. Storm King [demo] [Limited edition bonus]
12. Sword Of The Ocean [demo] [Limited edition bonus]
The hunt for quality metal of the more traditional sort is often long and arduous nowadays. Fortunately The Hunt delivers! Grand Magus is a consistent group who manage to provide set after set of uncompromising and catchy tracks.
In terms of their heavy/doom styled offerings they are a band that is always straight to the point, so I will try to be as well. Each track runs in much the same vein, from the excellent opener "Starlight Slaughter" showcasing the distinctive vocals of Christoffersson to the strident closing track "Draksadd." The bass of Fox is especially well exhibited, fueling addictive songs such as the title track, an album highlight. Newly recruited drummer Witt of heavy/stoner outfit Spiritual Beggars, for which Christoffersson previously provided vocals, also makes his presence felt in tracks like the riff happy "Silver Moon."
Things change with Part 1 of "Son of the Last Breath" a cello dominated piece courtesy of Fox before bursting into Part 2 with bombastic riffs driving out into an ending characterised by background vocals. The following track "Iron Hand" is the shortest and more energetic song of the album and is certainly one of the strongest.
The production provides for a satisfying density although the dominance of the bass and guitar do seem to overbear the drum work to an extent, most especially where the bass receives an added emphasis, such as the case with "Valhalla Rising."
All in all this is a satisfying output that will reward those who are seeking some decent heavy metal.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 8 |
| Songwriting: | 8 |
| Originality: | 7 |
| Production: | 8 |
 | Written on 15.10.2012 by R'Vannith enjoys music, he's hoping you do too. |
Comments
Comments: 15
Visited by: 233 users
| Ag Fox Angel No More Elite Posts: 4774  |
Been listening to Grand Magus since joining MS (when it was nominated in the MSA 2008). And this is their weakest output imo. But it's still far from bad. Probably rating it a 7.0 myself Definitely agree with the opening sentence though!
---- loves 小巫
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| silenius Posts: 532  |
One of their weakest albums tbh, but still good! took me a while to get into aswell as i felt something was missing, but evantually the feeling subsided and i could enjoy it.
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| Rulatore Posts: 1108  |
I was SO dissapointed with it. Simply boring, I thought that wasnt the same band that released "Hammer of the North"
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| BloodTears ANA-thema Elite Posts: 11835  |
This was the first album I listened from them and I really dig it. I've been listening to it a lot this year. Since I didn't listen to their previous albums, I don't have the general "disappointed" feeling. Very straightforward metal and just fun really.
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| RottingDeathHead kingnothing_92@yahoo.com Posts: 212  |
I thought it was pleasant listening just like every other album they have put out.
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| R'Vannith ghedengi Elite Posts: 3099  |
Some of you were disappointed with this one I see, personally I didn't find much of a difference between this and the previous two in terms of memorability, though "Iron Will" is probably my favourite. This one lacks the same edge that those two had I think, still very catchy though!
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| BudDa Elite Posts: 887  |
Haven't yet got around listening to this save for a couple of tracks released earlier. Its always fun listening to them. It is "Grand Magus" and "Monument" that I extremely enjoy. "Hammer Of The North" was also good, but in 2010, I ended up preferring Sahg's III to it.
---- Freeze! Step away from the hubris.
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| Ag Fox Angel No More Elite Posts: 4774 |
Written by BudDa on 16.10.2012 at 15:56 oh yes... Sahg's III was very much overlooked. I was baffled as to why it didn't get into the awards haha But still, there's Ghost. so in 2010 (for me), Ghost > Sahg > Grand Magus. <--- all three got a 9 from me I think and 2010 Grand Magus > 2012 Grand Magus =P
---- loves 小巫
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| BudDa Elite Posts: 887 |
Written by Ag Fox on 16.10.2012 at 17:53 Haha. No! Sahg III is such a classic. Ok. I'll admit, I loved Ghost's Opus Eponymous, I actually couldn't get enough of it in 2010 but it wore off with time. So. Sahg > Ghost > Grand Magus. (9, 10, 7). Does that make sense?
---- Freeze! Step away from the hubris.
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| Ag Fox Angel No More Elite Posts: 4774 |
Written by BudDa on 16.10.2012 at 18:15 yes, it does. But I rarely update my votes unless it's something I didn't like before, then suddenly like it haha. Speaking of which... I really should listen to those three albums again. Definitely the best heavy metal albums released that year
---- loves 小巫
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071  |
Ghost wore thin after three listens already. Hammer Of The North was by far Grand Magus' weakest up to that point, Sagh III just ruled them all and also live Sahg ruled them.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996 
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| neonxaos Posts: 166 |
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| Druss Posts: 277  |
Thanks for the review, R'Vannith, probably would'd've never even found it otherwise, tried it out yesterday, and really enjoyed it. There seems to be some inconsistencies in how people are describing this to their past albums, are they more of the same, or....?
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| R'Vannith ghedengi Elite Posts: 3099 |
Written by Druss on 19.10.2012 at 20:02 Glad you enjoyed it, and yes I would say stylistically there is very little difference if any. neonxaos mentions the production there, while I wouldn't describe it as terrible it does give the album somewhat of a different sound, takes a little of the edge of the music if you know what I mean. Despite that I found this one catchier than the previous one, but "Iron Will" is the go to album from the last three in their discography I think. Check out the title track from that album, probably my favourite GM track. As for their first three albums, I'm not sure how they compare as I haven't listened to those either yet. I've heard bits of their debut and it sounds significantly more "stoner-ish" from what I gather.
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| Druss Posts: 277 |
Well, that's it, I normally wouldn't find this my sort of thing (the kind've not too aggressively delivered heavy metal, i.e. some of early Black Sabbath), but it was really catchy, one of the few albums I tried out that day that managed to actually keep my attention, while not needing too much attention, a great combo imo. Cheers for the recs, I'll get on 'em 
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