I don’t know much about Trondheim, Norway (I know nothing about Trondheim, Norway), but judging from HIGH PRIEST OF SATURN, it must be what Richard Corben used to create his vision of Neverwhere. A Strange land where men ride flying pterodactyls over spired temples, and in those temples priests sacrifice nubile young women to nameless gods with twisted blades. If this reference was too obscure for you (Heavy Metal the movie), then just picture a Conan comic, but with more pterodactyls.
HIGH PRIEST OF SATURN’s first full release is a dark, doomy, smoked out journey through psychedelia. The songs are long, deliberate, thick-layered, landscapes. Merethe Heggset’s vocals are haunting. Andreas Hagan keeps perfect pace on drums. Never putting the melody to the whip. They don’t care how long it takes to get to the top of their mountain. All that matters is the trip there.
Every guitar lead adds all the colors your ears might be missing, and brings new peaks to the songs dynamics without becoming a hand-job to the musician. Which is what every guitarist should be striving to do with their leads.
I highly recommend this release for anyone who loves stoner/doom/psychedelic songs. If you like to put your own special mushrooms on the pizza, let this album help you digest.
Tracklist:
1. The Protean Towers 2. Kraken Mare 3. Crawling King Snake 4. On Mayda Insula
Lineup:
Martin Sivertsen – Guitars Andreas Hagan – Guitars, Drums Merethe Heggset – Vocals, Guitars, Organ, Bass