SLOMATICS

Canyons BLACK BOW

Northern Ireland’s long-running doom crew hit a rut

Slomatics should be no stranger to anyone who likes their metal low and slow, given how many EPs, LPs and splits they’ve had cratering the UK’s doom landscape over the past 15 years. With Canyons they confidently wrangle their riffs and drag their listeners on another epic journey, albeit one without any unexpected detours. Occasionally things threaten to gape into something strange and quasi-orchestral, but it’s not long before the reins are yanked and the band grunt back into the same old stock groove. It’s a bit of a shame, really – after all, if we want to listen to a sub-par version of Sleep in 2019 we can always just settle for

The Sciences.

FOR FANS OF: Sleep, Bismuth, Electric Wizard spiritedly feisty ride. Carpe Diem gives a nod to System Of A Down and the gloriously spiralling fretwork of Glowing

Orionid reveals glimpses of Primus and Tool. Taking melodic metal as its base, with slices of death, strident hardcore, and sudden introspective calms, this seven-track is as geeky as it is bursting with butch riffs. The Way Laura Won’t is particularly special but the weird pace and intoxicating groove of Skinbox makes it the album’s most magical track.

FOR FANS OF: Eden Maine, Poison The Well, Pantera Widely travelled rock vocalist returns to his heavier side

This is a chance for peripatetic vocalist Jeff

Scott Soto to show what he can do with the more metal side of his personality. For the third album under the Soto banner, he and his band let rip on tracks like HyperMania and the title track. Thankfully, they never forget the importance of a decent tune, which shines through most obviously on World Gone Colder and the power ballad Torn. But ultimately, Origami sails closer to early Queensrÿche more than anything else. In fact, Detonate and AfterGlow almost sound like offcuts from that illustrious band’s Rage For Order album.

Maybe Origami doesn’t quite have the cohesion to be indispensable, but it gets close.

FOR FANS OF: Blind Guardian, Iced Earth, Queensrÿche