Review: Howling Giant/Sergeant Thunderhoof- Turned to Stone: Volume II Masamune and Muramasa

Style: Stoner Doom (clean vocals)
Review by: Jonah
Country: Tennessee, United States / United Kingdom
Release date: 07-08-2020

Boy howdy I hope you like thick riffs. If you don’t, I’d suggest you pick yourself up and turn right on out of this review. Go find yourself a review of some fancy new band with that “djent” and those “arpeggios” that the kids are into these days. But if you’re like me, and nothing tickles your pickle quite like some absolutely bone-crushing riffage, then this is the album for you. Turned to Stone Volume II is a split between stoner metal greats Howling Giant and equally excellent stoner doom band Sergeant Thunderhoof, and each band has written an epic 20 minute song to really display their individual strengths.

Howling Giant are the less heavy of the two, but that in no way means less good. Their song “Masamune” is a sonic adventure full of gorgeous clean guitar leads, stoner riffs, and spacey vocals. It flows between more complex guitar passages, atmospheric ambient moments, and some really excellent riff and bass guitar work. The drums serve as a driving layer underneath all of it, not necessarily the most complex but providing a really excellent rhythmic base for the sound. Sergeant Thunderhoof turn the intensity up to 11 with their track “Muramasa” which eschews some of the progressive and melodic elements from the first track and instead punches you in the mouth with some absolutely massive riffs, and equally massive vocals reminiscent of Khemmis or Spirit Adrift.

While this is a bit of an odd album to review, as it’s really just two songs and each is from a different band, I can’t recommend this one to fans of the genre enough. Each band is in top form, and this might just be my favorite thing I’ve heard from each of them. This is some of the best stoner doom I’ve heard this year, hell it’s just some of the best doom I’ve heard this year, and I heartily recommend giving it many, many listens. It’ll reward you. So sit back, grab a beer and a totally legal naturally grown herbal remedy (if that’s your thing), and let the music take you on a beautiful journey.

Recommended tracks: Masamune, Muramasa
Recommended for fans of: Khemmis, Mastodon, Sleep
Final verdict: 9/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook (Howling Giant) | Facebook (Sergeant Thunderhoof) | Metal-Archives page (Howling Giant) | Metal-Archives page (Sergeant Thunderhoof)

Howling Giant is:
Sebastian Baltes – Bass and Vocals
Tom Polzine – Guitars and Vocals
Zach Wheeler – Drums and Vocals

Sergeant Thunderhoof is:
Dan Flitcroft – Vocals
Mark Sayer – Guitar
Jim Camp – Bass
Darren Ashman – Drums