Artwork and Design by Sara-Jane Swettenham
Style: Stoner doom metal, progressive metal, hard rock (clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Green Lung, Elephant Tree, Khemmis
Country: United Kingdom
Release date: 15 November 2024
There are a few characteristics an album can have that signal it was meant for my ears. The Ghost of Badon Hill checked a few of those boxes before I even pressed play: A beautiful medieval art nouveau cover? Check. Connections to Arthurian and Celtic myth and history? Check. The album title itself calling out by name the place where Sir Robin–the not quite so brave as Sir Lancelot–personally wet himself? Hard check.
Badon Hill‘s flavor of stoner rock—at once different and the same to many of the genre’s standard bearers—is heady, ethereal, and mystic. You’ll certainly hear things that bring in an undeniable atmosphere on this album versus the straight tried and true style of say, a Red Fang release. That is to say, Sergeant Thunderhoof are not entirely focused on the bottom-heavy power chords; rather, Badon Hill features ample flowing guitar motifs that paint an audible picture for you, like in the quasi-title track and opener, “Badon,” which starts off with an eerie, melancholic acoustic dirge plucked under the tree of a whistled melody that brings in a little old-west solitude on top of this intro’s old-world spiritualism. On the other end, being true to its genre and laden with bluesy pentatonic sensibilities, some of the tracks on this forty-five minute six-shooter like “Salvation for the Soul” wouldn’t sound out of place coming from the jukebox of a mountain west biker bar.
The “ghost” of Badon Hill is, undoubtedly, vocalist Dan Flitcroft’s haunting and somber sense of melody. I’m the kind of listener that likes to attempt a sing or hum-along even on my first go-through (if I’m loving the vocals enough—which I was), and Flitcroft threw off my wonderful accompaniment by taking it in directions I didn’t expect in the tiniest of moments such as the bridge of “Blood Moon” or those vocal slides in “The Orb of Octavia.” And no doom infused album would be complete without some chunky down-tuned riffs, which this album most certainly isn’t lacking. Although my favorite guitar bits here actually come in the arpeggiated passages that bring in the psychedelic and moody elements to the aural realm we’re journeying through, like in “Sentinel” or the aforementioned “Blood Moon.”
Another aspect Ghost deserves credit for is its top-notch mastering and engineering. I listened to this album a few times for this review–with earbuds, with my over-the-ear headphones, and through my office stereo setup. Through each medium the sound was full and rich, like my favorite cups of coffee. I only have one nit to pick here, and it’s that at times the cymbals in the percussion aren’t as forward in the sound as I’d prefer. Sometimes I’m not even sure which type of cymbal is being hit. With only the prior exception, each element in the soundscape is almost perfectly leveled. Want to focus on the bass? Easy. The mid tom on the drum kit? That’s a little weird (and rarely makes an appearance) but go ahead, it’s there. As with any rock album worth its salt, the crunchy guitars and soaring vocals are the focal point of the mix, and like the finest of those albums they don’t bury everything else.
In all of Sergeant Thunderhoof’s full-length releases Ghost has the second quickest runtime. The shortest track on here is a quart short of six minutes. And on the whole I’d say a lot of these songs don’t have enough material to justify their individual lengths. With little exception they frequently run, progress, and end exactly where they started in terms of tempo, melody, and rhythm. That’s not to say they don’t change in some way. Badon Hill does not lack sonic texture—a track might get louder or quieter or more or less distorted by the end. But the building blocks of the songs stay a little too firmly planted. I was often checking the track progress bar to see how much time was left and wondering if something different was going to be thrown my way. Honestly, the closing track “Beyond the Hill” is a bit beyond the pale and feels like it goes on forever because of this despite the loveliness of the tune itself.
On the whole I absolutely enjoy what we get here; though, if we’re not going to be treated to much variety within the songs themselves, I’d almost rather the Hoof take a punk approach and give us twice as many songs at half the length. However, in my experience that’s not the stoner or doom rock style (nor the band’s, apparently) and in that sense The Ghost of Badon Hill adheres to the genre’s hallmarks.
Recommended tracks: “Blood Moon,” “Sentinel,” “Badon”
You may also like: The Once and Future King by T.H. White, Monolord, Sundrifter
Final verdict: 7/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Metal-Archives | Facebook | Spotify | Instagram
Label: Pale Wizard – Bandcamp | Website
Sergeant Thunderhoof is:
Mark Sayer – Guitars
Josh Gallop – Guitars and Backing Vocals
Darren Ashman – Drums
Dan Flitcroft – Vocals
Jim Camp – Bass
