The term “heavy” is incredibly subjective. Each individual interprets it differently, depending on their personal tastes not just in metal, but also music in general. And yet, more so than in any other qualifier in music it seems, the question of whether an album or artist is heavier than another seems to propagate fighting words. But it’s hard to argue against the word being applied to Belfast sludge/doom quartet War Iron—a band that once added a second bassist to make their sound more devastating. For these guys, heaviness is the way of the walk, no matter where your point of view on the term lies. And in their case of their third full-length, Precession of the Equinoxes, it’s also quite good.
The band’s dropped the second bassist this time out, with Ross Duffy bringing his guitar back into the fold. And while things aren’t quite as thick sounding as on previous full-length, The Fifth and Final Sun, the guitar adds some color through higher notes, and ultimately maintains the right level of assault on your ears.
Precession seems to be split right down the middle between sludge and doom. The first half brings the latter style, and opens fittingly with a track called “Bludgeon Lord.” Duffy creates a slow and crawling tempo, and melds seamlessly with David McCallum’s bass to create a suffocatingly thick and muddy sound and feel. Vocalist Andrew Bagwell—or “Baggy” for short—is so gutteral and caustic that you can almost feel the Earth’s plates shifting a little with his delivery. I can’t help but draw an comparison to Thou, and to the first time I heard “Fucking Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean.” We hear a similar style on “Summon Demon Scream the Abyss,” only this time, the band adds a few progressive chord guitar jams, showcasing a technical ability that is oftentimes severely lost on similar attempts in the genre.
Things get sludgier from here on out, but make no mistake: the foot’s still firmly on the pedal of doom in the background. Think of something like Eyehategod or Iron Monkey…only on downers. Listening to the two closing tracks feels nasty, murky and heavy as a concrete slab. Baggy’s vocals become all-out deadly, and the guitar and bass that operated so perfectly as a unit are now in your face, in direct competition with each other. It’d be all too easy for the rhythm to get lost in the chaos and go overboard, but Marty Harvey shows an impressive degree of restraint His patience is incredible, and keeps the songs from derailing altogether.
It’s hard not to look at closer “From Napalm Altar” as the highlight on Precession. The song combines everything the band’s done up to this point into a surprisingly cohesive mammoth of a finale. It’s perhaps the best evidence of War Iron’s ability to be unwaveringly crushing, yet still cater to fans of many different genres. And it shows us that for these guys, “heavy” is just another day at the office.
-Josh
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